the ratio that makes you future-proof

Christian Ray Flores here,

This is the Wednesday edition of the XE Newsletter — reserved for paid subscribers.

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the ratio that makes you future-proof

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a built-in rebellion against becoming a cog in a machine.

Maybe it comes from growing up in the USSR — the entire country was one giant machine, and every person was expected to play their part.

That instinct has mostly worked in my favor. Every career I’ve pursued, I’ve enjoyed fully. But at times it backfired — when I found myself back in cog territory, working for the machine instead of breaking free of it. Sometimes I jumped out too fast for my finances to keep up. It cost me — a lot.

But in the long run, that rebellion was a lifesaver. It forced me to find the right ratio between functionality and vitality.

That ratio is the line between being future-proof… and being a casualty of the AI revolution that’s about to flip the entire work ecosystem upside down.

Most people today run on about 80% functionality / 20% vitality.

Functionality is the stuff you’re hired to do. Skills. Education. Tasks. Deliverables. That’s the baseline. Even if you own a business — if you’re stuck in the business instead of above it, that’s still functionality.

Vitality is different. It’s the spark only you bring. The perspective, the intuition, the special touch that multiplies value 10X compared to anyone else. It’s the part that’s least developed, least valued, and least invested in — which is why so few rise above commodity status.

If you want to thrive in what’s coming, the ratio needs to flip. The starting point is 50/50, and eventually 80% vitality / 20% functionality. That’s when you stop being replaceable and start being indispensable.

We all want that. The question is how.

Here are 4 shifts I’ll unpack for my paid subscribers — the practical moves to get there. This idea (which I first heard from Daniel Priestley) is also at the core of a short video I recorded called From Undervalued to Undeniable. I recommend you watch it. It’s just 9 minutes and it shows how this ratio plays out in real life.

In the next 7 days only - I am offering a handful of 1:1 calls to map a journey like this one.

👉 [Watch the 9-minute video]

for paid subscribers: the 4 shifts to increase your vitality