Sometimes the most important work isn’t launching the business or chasing the dream but making sure you can actually hold what you’re trying to build.
In this piece, Silo Rhodes shares a powerful reminder: Get your house in order first.
It’s short, real, and might shift the way you approach ambition.
By Silo Rhodes
Teaser:
Starting a business while your personal life is in chaos doesn’t make you ambitious—it makes you a flight risk to your own future. The structure you build on dysfunction will eventually collapse under the weight of what you refused to face.
Starting a business when your own house is in chaos is a surefire way to set yourself up for failure—and quite possibly a full-blown midlife crisis.
When I first set out to legitimately pursue entrepreneurship, I got a clear download:
Get your house in order first.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Your home. Your habits. Your emotional environment. Your relationships. Your internal state.
Because your house is your business.
And if your house is in disorder, your business will be too.
The mess you don’t address becomes the mess you unconsciously lead with.
The Mirror Between Home and Hustle
I received the download to “get my house in order” about eight years ago—back when I was still married. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what that meant. I thought it was about organizing my space, managing my time, creating a stronger daily rhythm.
What I didn’t know then—but would soon learn—is that the part of my house that needed the deepest realignment was my marriage. That realization didn’t come overnight. But the moment I began cleaning out the emotional weight, the dissonance, and the cycles that kept me from peace, everything started to shift.
I’ve been divorced for three years now. And during that time, I’ve watched the difference between aligned leadership and chaotic ambition play out clearly. I got my house in order, and things started falling into place. My ex didn’t, and things began falling apart.
That’s not a statement of judgment. It’s just what happens when structure is built on top of unresolved internal conflict.
And it’s not lost on me that many of the entrepreneurs I’ve met who are building incredible companies… aren’t doing it with their original spouse.
Maybe it means something.
Maybe it means nothing.
I’m not here to speculate.
Just observing patterns—and listening when they speak.
Bigger Kids, Bigger Consequences
One thing I’ve learned as a leader, a healer, and a father is this:
Adults are just older kids with more trauma.
Sure, they may have more skills. They may speak better. Manage projects. Earn titles. Lead teams. But if their emotions aren’t managed, if their inner world is still running on childhood wounds, then all that success is just a dressed-up ticking time bomb.
Unhealed adults will sabotage their teams.
They’ll blow up partnerships.
They’ll project their pain onto their business.
And worst of all, they’ll destroy their own opportunities before they even begin.
I’ve watched this play out in real time.
I’ve experienced it in past partnerships.
I’ve witnessed people unravel right at the moment things were about to align—because the emotional infrastructure wasn’t there to support what was coming.
Why the Foundation Always Comes First
You don’t build the second story of a house when the ground floor is cracked.
You stop.
You repair.
You reinforce.
Because anything you build on top of instability will either collapse or cost you something far greater to keep upright.
So if you’re thinking about launching a business, starting a new project, or stepping into a leadership role—look at your house first.
Look at your habits.
Look at your relationships.
Look at the way you handle discomfort.
Look at your spending.
Look at your sleep.
Look at the space you call home and ask: Is this built to hold me through expansion?
If it’s not, stop right there.
Not out of fear—but out of wisdom.
Final Thought
There’s no shame in pausing to clean up what you’ve been avoiding.
In fact, it’s the most strategic move you can make.
Because when your house is in order, your business won’t feel like survival.
It will feel like alignment.
And everything you build will have the strength to grow without burning you out in the process.
