My $25,000 Hat
Getting down to business
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
- Albert Schweitzer
My $25,000 Hat
Sometimes, the most powerful connections to our purpose come through the simplest objects.
When I got my first “real” job in high school—a full-time summer position with the local public utilities—they handed me a couple of blue polos and a mesh-backed trucker hat with the public utilities’ logo. The work wasn’t glamorous, it was mowing lawns, flushing hydrants, crawling into tight spaces, whatever needed doing. It was sweaty, dirty, humbling work. And that snap-back hat quickly became my constant protection from the sun.
By mid-summer, it was splattered with paint and grime, but each morning I’d throw it on without hesitation. Somewhere along the way, it became more than a hat. It was a signal, a switch that flipped in my mind. Time to get to work.
Years later, whenever a tough project or heavy manual labor came my way, I’d still reach for that old, paint-stained cap. It had become my “getting down to business” hat, a tangible reminder that I will never let effort get in the way of success.
For those who know me, seeing me put it on means one thing, there’s some serious work to be done, and I’m committed to doing it right. That hat became my personal trigger for purposeful, focused effort.
My old hat taught me something one of history’s richest men once paid $25,000 to learn.
Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at Dominican University of California, studied goal-setting and found that writing down your goals increases your likelihood of achieving them by 42%.
It’s not magic—it’s psychology. Writing it down forces clarity. It takes vague intentions and turns them into specific targets. And once they’re on paper, they become a visible reminder and a silent accountability partner.
But even with a list in hand, most people overcomplicate the path to results. That’s where an often repeated apocryphal story about J.P. Morgan comes in.
One day, a stranger approached Morgan holding an envelope.
“Sir,” the man said, “in my hand I hold a guaranteed formula for success, which I will gladly sell to you for $25,000.”
Morgan replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope. However, if you show me and I like it, I give you my word as a gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.”
The man handed over the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of paper. Morgan read it, nodded, pulled out his checkbook, and paid the full amount.
The paper read:
Every morning, write a list of the things that need to be done that day.
Do them.
Morgan didn’t pay for new knowledge, he paid for the reminder that success is rarely about knowing more. It’s about doing what you already know you should do, consistently. Clarity beats complexity.
My paint-stained hat and Morgan’s expensive piece of paper serve the same purpose: simple triggers that cut through the noise and focus on what matters most.
Put on the hat → get to work.
Write the list → do the work.
This is true for individuals and for teams.
Sports: Start each practice with a list of 3–5 priorities. No guessing. No wandering. And then execute relentlessly.
Business: Open meetings by identifying the purpose, goals, and timeline of your time together. Begin with the end in mind.
Education: Help students identify the day’s learning targets. Writing them down makes them tangible and trackable.
In every area of life, clarity builds confidence, and confidence drives action.
Morgan’s $25,000 “secret” isn’t fancy or profound. Neither is my old utilities hat. But both work because they strip away the noise to decide what matters most and to stay focused on the task at hand.
Write it down.
Do it.
That’s how championships are won, businesses are grown, and legacies are built. What’s your hat? What’s your daily list? And most importantly, who are you going to do that good work for?
“Our life is the sum total of all the decisions we make every day, and those decisions are determined by our priorities.”
- Myles Munroe
Connecting this quote to the story. The quality of our daily decisions, and ultimately our success, depends on what we choose to focus on and act upon each day.
This week’s Chasing Influence tip: Don’t just have a list—work the list.
If you enjoyed this story, a series of three Chasing Influence workbooks is available. Stories are accompanied by discussion questions and answers. Each workbook contains 33 lessons to use with any team.
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