After fifteen years of building businesses, eventually burning out, and finding my way back to clarity, I kept coming back to the same realization: most advice gets lost in an ocean of noise. The frameworks that actually mattered to me were the quiet, unglamorous principles that held up when everything else fell apart. Those principles I bundled in my first book; The Foundation: 30 Lessons That Actually Matter.
You can get your copy on Amazon
The Foundation is my attempt to capture those principles—the ones you need to grab back to when your day or even your life seems to turn into chaos. It's not a manifesto. It's a field guide. I wrote it as much for myself as for others. It is a book you can grab every time you feel like you have lost traction or direction.
The book is structured around three core areas that build on each other:
Part I: Lead Yourself covers the fundamentals—why your word is your bond, why fear lies to you, and how the compound effect transforms small daily actions into massive results. You'll learn why discipline itself is the goal, not just a means to an end. Why systems beat goals. Why momentum matters more than motivation. This section is about becoming someone you can count on before you try to lead anyone else.
Part II: Live Intentionally is about moving through the world with purpose. It challenges you to think in decades instead of days, to treat the janitor with the same respect as the CEO, and to build a clean body and clear mind as the foundation for everything else. These aren't philosophical concepts—they're daily choices about how you treat people, manage your health, and spend your time.
Part III: Win the Game brings it all together in business and competition. How to master communication and influence. Why partnerships beat solo runs. Why business runs on relationships and reputation. How to think like an owner even when you're not. This section is where your internal development meets external results.
Each of the 30 lessons is designed to be read in minutes but applied for years. No filler. No academic theory. Just signal.
If you're building something meaningful—whether it's a company, a career, or simply a life that feels authentic—this book will help. If you've been stuck overthinking instead of executing, or trading long-term clarity for short-term relief, these lessons will feel familiar. They're written for people who are done chasing quick wins and ready to focus on what actually compounds over time.
The book is available now on Amazon. I'm also sharing deeper thoughts and extended essays on Substack, and publishing selected insights on Medium. Everything connects back to the work here at laurentterrijn.com.
If two or three lessons from this book stick with you—if they change how you think or act in some meaningful way—then it's done its job. That's all I'm asking.
If you want to connect about building systems that last, reach out. I'm always open to conversations with people doing the work.
— Laurent
