Why “Making It” Feels Impossible in the US Right Now

BigDeal

Codie Sanchez

Marketing, Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 970 Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2026

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is it still possible to ‘make it’ in America these days? Housing costs 12 years of salary instead of four. Credit card debt hit $1.28 trillion. Nearly half of Americans can't afford rent or a mortgage. And the old playbook — work hard, get a degree, climb the ladder — is quietly breaking down for millions of people who did everything right. This episode is different. No guest. No script. Just me, raw and unfiltered, talking about what's actually happening in the economy, why making it feels impossible right now, and what it's going to take to win anyway. Because the truth is, you're not crazy. It IS harder. But that doesn't mean you're stuck. You’ll learn: • Why avocado toast was never the problem • How $8 trillion spent on Middle East wars could’ve reshaped life for Americans struggling with rent and groceries • Why 54-year-old Wharton MBAs are getting ghosted in final interviews and what that says about hiring today • The three non-negotiables for making it: relentless focus, borderline delusional confidence, and refusing to quit • Why boundaries aren’t about work-life balance, they’re about protecting the two hours that actually move the needle • Why nobody is coming to pick you or save you and what to do instead • The story of a member who unlocked $975K in new revenue by pulling one lever in a struggling business • Why curiosity and better questions are becoming the real edge in the AI era If you've felt overlooked, exhausted, or like the rules changed halfway through the game — this episode will remind you that winning is still possible. But only if you're willing to do what most people won't. Use CODIE30 for 30% off your first 3 months and make your newsletter real at https://beehiiv.link/uth844 ___________ 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:50 The Hard Truth: It's Not Just You 00:02:28 Where Your Tax Dollars Are Really Going 00:03:52 The Corporate Layoff Playbook: Why Nobody's Hiring 00:06:00 Nobody Is Coming to Save You 00:07:47 The Three Answers: Never Quit, Lock In, Kill Distractions 00:12:22 The Power of Questions Over Answers in the AI Era 00:12:59 Confident Execution: The Race Car Driver Mindset 00:16:07 The Sacrifice Question: Who Are You Really Working For? 00:17:26 Your Unlock Is Possible: The Path Forward ___________ MORE FROM BIGDEAL 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podcastbigdeal 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigdeal.podcast 📽️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@big.deal.pod MORE FROM CODIE SANCHEZ 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@codiesanchezct 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codiesanchez 📽️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realcodiesanchez OTHER THINGS WE DO 🌐 Our community: https://contrarianthinking.typeform.com/to/WBztXXID 📰 Free newsletter: https://contrarianthinking.biz/3XWLlZp 📚 Biz buying course: https://contrarianthinking.biz/3NhjGgN 🏠 Resibrands: https://resibrands.com/ 💰 CT Capital: https://contrarianthinking.biz/4eRyGOk 🏦 Main St Hold Co: https://contrarianthinking.biz/3YfGa8u Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Could AI help you do more of what you love?
0:03.1	Workday is the next-gen ERP powered by AI that actually knows your business.
0:08.4	We help you handle the have-to-dos so you can focus on the can't-wait-to-dos.
0:13.2	It's a new workday.
0:15.0	If it feels like it's hard to you right now, like everything's more expensive, everybody's buying houses, but you can't. It's not working
0:22.2	like you thought it was going to work. You feel behind compared to your peers or you just don't
0:27.5	understand what the future is going to hold because what you've built to date hasn't been enough.
0:31.6	This episode is for you. I'm going to talk about why you're not crazy. It is really just hard
0:37.2	out there. And I'm going to tell you all the stats, so at least you can stand on solid ground, knowing that you're going to have an uphill climb. And then I'm going to talk about what it's going to take for you to get to the next level of the game, because it's not going to be anything like what people tell you today. This is me raw in this podcast. I'm going through a bunch of things
0:56.9	right now, but I want to have a conversation with you because I think it's really important today.
1:00.2	This is the big deal podcast and I'm Cody Sanchez. It is not just in your mind. You are not
1:08.6	crazy. It is more expensive for you than it is for any other
1:12.3	generation. Right now, credit card debt has hit a record $1.28 trillion. Forty-nine percent of people
1:21.8	cannot afford their rent or to buy a house today. Most of us are sitting here trying to figure it out. When they told us
1:31.2	learn to code, that hasn't turned out well. Meanwhile, electricians are making like a hundred
1:36.2	bucks an hour and we went and got these grad degrees that have on average $76,000 in student debt.
1:43.1	And oh, by the way, they're non-forgivable, meaning
1:45.7	that debt will follow you around for the rest of your life. Not to mention, look at this video.
1:50.7	And if you can't see it right now, this is what it is. It's how all the boomers told us that we
1:55.3	were lazy little shits that bought too much avocado toast and had lattes, and it turns out they were full of shit.
2:02.5	Because look at how much more expensive it is to buy a house for us than them.
2:07.7	Back when boomers were buying houses, it was four years of salary on average.
	...

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