In partnership with

Wealth Potion is all about helping you build your wealth.

For most people, that journey starts with landing a decent job - which is a great first step. But as you grow in your career, you quickly realize that it’s not about how much money you make, it’s about how much money you keep.

But here’s the thing: once you’ve built some wealth, you have another realization:

Wealth is more than just money. After all, the newsletter isn’t called “Money Potion”, right?

Wealth is so much broader. Wealth is about personal freedom, life satisfaction, meaningful relationships, a loving family, and one more thing we don’t talk about enough: your health.

Today, I’m finally ready to talk about the personal health issues I mentioned in December… and how that experience challenged how I define wealth. So here it is.

I had cancer.

In this issue, I’ll share:

• My entire cancer story — from diagnosis to treatment to recovery.

• How this journey has shifted my perspective on Wealth Potion, on “wealth”, and on life.

• And finally, I’ll challenge you to redefine your version of “wealth”.

This isn’t an easy story to tell, and it’s definitely not your typical Wealth Potion newsletter. But I believe it’s important.

Let’s dive in.

In partnership with Huel:

Your Breakfast Is Holding You Back

Coffee alone isn’t breakfast.

For lasting energy, peak performance, and real health benefits, your body needs more than just empty calories. That’s where Huel Black Edition steps in. Packed with 40g of protein and 27 essential vitamins, it’s the ultimate high-protein meal, ready in just 30 seconds.

Start fueling your day the right way. Use code BEHUEL15 for 15% off your first order, plus a FREE t-shirt and shaker.

Upgrade Your Breakfast Today

Diagnosis, Treatment and Recovery

As longtime readers of Wealth Potion know, I moved from Canada to South Korea in early 2024.

I quit my job, launched the Wealth Potion YouTube channel and newsletter, and told myself that I’d focus on my health.

Like many, I had fallen off track during COVID — skipping the gym, eating poorly, and and overworking. 2024 was supposed to be my year to re-prioritize my health.

One of the great things about South Korea is the healthcare system. It’s fast, affordable, and it’s culturally encouraged to do full health check ups every year.

In November, I finally got a full health check up. And much to my surprise, the chest x-ray found a 7.6cm mass in my chest cavity.

“X-rays detect false positives all the time. It’s probably just a shadow.” I told myself.

A mass of that size, with no symptoms? What were the odds?

A couple of weeks later, a CT scan confirmed the truth: the mass wasn’t a shadow. It was real. And even bigger than what the x-ray had found.

Next steps? Likely a biopsy to rule out cancer.

Honestly, reading these results was when the panic started setting in.

That day, we went to see two surgeons for a consultation. Within seconds of seeing my CT scans, they said without hesitation:

“This needs to be removed via surgery. Are you free next week?”

The mass was too large and too close to my heart that they didn’t want to risk delaying surgery for a biopsy. Instead, they’d remove the mass entirely and biopsy it after the fact.

On December 20th, I went in for a video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. The surgeons made 4 incisions in my ribcage, and using various tools guided by a camera, they carefully cut away at the mass to remove it from my body.

A few hours later, I woke up with a support vest wrapped tightly around my chest to help manage the pain and keep the wounds from reopening. With the support of my amazing fiancee and lots of painkillers, I recovered over the following 4 days.

On January 2nd, I met with the tumor board - a group of surgeons, professors, and cancer experts to hear the final diagnosis and recommended treatment.

Here’s what they told me:

• The mass was cancer. A Stage 1, Type B1 thymoma to be precise. Extremely rare (especially in a relatively healthy 31 year old male) but luckily non-aggressive.

• The surgery was a complete resection. The tumor was fully encapsulated, and it was fully removed with no complications or remaining cancer cells.

• Because of this, I wouldn’t need any radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

Basically, I could go back to living normal life.

And that’s what really freaked me out…

A Change in Perspective

I’m writing this 1 month after surgery, and I’m virtually back to normal.

It’s important to re-iterate — I had zero symptoms prior to my diagnosis. I don’t smoke. I rarely drink. I have low body fat, I go to the gym, and I do cardio fairly regularly.

The whole experience honestly feels like a bad dream.

Why is that so scary?

Because I can already feel the gravity of my old habits creeping back in.

I’ve always placed huge importance on my work. I took pride in my work, and I prioritized it over my health for a long time.

And even though I went through a harrowing experience where I was genuinely concerned for my life, my natural tendencies are already trying to prevent me from making real change.

The point I’m making can be summarized by the following quote:

When I was sick, all I wanted was to be healthy again. It was everything to me.

And so to make sure I don’t slip back into my old ways, I’m intentionally setting health as my highest priority.

This is more than just writing “health” as a goal in a notebook somewhere.

This means making decisions every single day to prioritize my health:

• Going to the gym even if I don’t feel like it

• Doing more cardio to improve my cardiovascular health

• Choosing healthier food options

• Avoiding alcohol at all costs

• Investing in purchases that can significantly improve my health - a good water filter, an air filter, supplements, etc.

Just like investments, healthy decisions compound over time and can have dramatic effects on your life.

To put it simply:

I’m integrating health into my definition of wealth.

And that brings me to the question I’d like to leave you with.

Questions To Ask Yourself

Are you truly prioritizing your health?

Ask yourself the following questions, and be honest with yourself:

• Is health something that makes its way onto your New Year’s Resolution, but slides down the priority list by the time summer rolls around?

• When was the last time you got a full health check up (blood test, x-rays, ultrasounds, etc.)? What’s holding you back?

• Do you have any habits that are an active detriment to your health (smoking, drinking, eating)?

That’s my cancer story. I hope for some of you, it shakes you out of your apathy when it comes to taking care of yourself.

A mentor of mine once told me:

Keep juggling, but make sure you have your eye on the glass.

To your health and prosperity,

Brandon @ Wealth Potion

Build in Public Update

With the New Year, comes new goals.

Here’s how I’m thinking about growing Wealth Potion:

• Creating and launching a paid product will be my #1 priority. For a long time, I told myself that I needed to grow a bigger audience before launching a product. This is not only an excuse, but it is holding me back from providing real value to the hundreds of people that already follow and support Wealth Potion.

• YouTube and this newsletter will remain my next biggest priorities. Long-form videos and newsletter articles allow me to educate and share ideas in a way that short-form content (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube shorts) does not.

• X, TikTok, and Instagram are my “top of funnel”. These platforms will remain the easiest way for new followers to discover Wealth Potion, so I cannot neglect them completely.

I have some more tactical ideas that I will share in future Build in Public updates. For example, as you can see with this week’s video, I am experimenting with a more raw and authentic video style. There seems to be a demand for “old-school YouTube” videos.

And as always, I’d love to hear from you if you have any ideas or feedback. I read every reply.