30 Days Inside the Machine: What AI Taught Me About Time, Leadership, and Connection
Waking up at 4 a.m. for a month changed more than how I use technology — it changed how I see time itself.
Nov 11, 2025
By Dino Katsiametis, CEO of Ethos Lending
The 4 A.M. Decision
The house was dark. The coffee was hot. And for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t waking up early to get ahead on deals or meetings — I was waking up to learn.
Thirty days.
No shortcuts. No scrolling.
Just me, my notebook, and the machine.
I wasn’t doing this to chase the next shiny object.
I was doing it because I could feel a shift happening — not just in the mortgage industry, but in the world.
If I’m going to lead people into the future, I can’t just talk about it.
I have to live it.
Revelation #1: Time Compounds with Technology
At first, I thought this sprint would be about learning tools.
But after a few mornings, I realized something deeper: AI isn’t just about saving time — it’s about compounding it.
It lets you do more, better, and faster… while buying back hours to do what actually matters.
For years, I’ve chased efficiency by working harder.
Now, I’m learning that working smarter doesn’t just mean automating tasks — it means freeing your mind to focus on the moments that move the needle.
The return on this isn’t just productivity.
It’s presence.
Revelation #2: Systems That Clone Your Best Self
I’ve spent almost three decades in this business.
If there’s one thing I know, it’s that systems determine your ceiling.
Over these 30 days, I started building systems that let me scale myself:
- A world-class onboarding system for new advisors.
- A master knowledge base — one place where every process, every answer, every “how do we do that again?” lives.
- Smarter Notion dashboards and AI-assisted workflows that think like I do.
- And yes, I’m even learning a little code logic — “vibe coding,” as I call it — so I can teach machines to work in rhythm with our culture.
In the past, this would’ve taken teams of developers and thousands of dollars.
Now, it’s just focused time and curiosity.
Every morning at 4 a.m., I was essentially cloning my best self — not to do less, but to do more with less strain.
Revelation #3: The Human ROI
Here’s the part that surprised me most.
The deeper I went into AI, the more human the work started to feel.
Every time I automated something that used to steal an hour, I gained an hour to connect — with my wife, my kids, my advisors, my team.
The real power of AI isn’t in replacing people; it’s in reclaiming presence.
It’s about designing a life where you can lead more powerfully, serve more deeply, and still make it home for dinner.
That’s what I mean when I say the future belongs to the people who use machines to scale connection — not replace it.
The Next Phase
My 30-day sprint ended, but the lessons didn’t.
In fact, I’m extending it another 30 days — because this is no longer an experiment. It’s a discipline.
The mission now is simple:
Learn it deeply. Implement it fully.
Then teach it to every advisor, every leader, every person I have the privilege to influence.
Because this isn’t about technology anymore.
It’s about stewardship.
If we can multiply our time, we can multiply our impact.
And that’s how we build something that lasts — in business, in family, and in legacy.
Looking Back
Mindset Over Machines was about the philosophy.
30 Days Inside the Machine is about the practice.
And together, they form the foundation of a simple truth:
The future doesn’t belong to the machine. It belongs to the people who know how to use it — to serve others, to lead better, and to stay always present.