The last couple of weeks have been hard.

Our office had a few disappointing interactions with people we deeply trusted; people we did business with and believed were aligned.

Then came the cherry on top: on Saturday, I learned that Dr. Peter Attia was named in the Epstein files, an association that, for me, conflicted with the values embedded in the health and longevity platform he’s built.

These seemingly separate, unrelated events gave me the same sick feeling. First betrayal, then disappointment. The same feeling that comes when values don’t align the way you thought they did. When stated values don’t match explicit actions.

To be clear: I don’t know Dr. Peter Attia, and I’m well aware I shouldn’t judge him. Who am I to judge another human being? But I’ve been a huge fan of his work for years. I’ve learned a lot from his content. I love his frameworks and how he explains complex ideas. And for some reason, seeing him in those files bothered me. A lot.

Over the weekend, I sat with why. Allison, Tina, and I spent time talking about this and after a pleasant conversation clarifying our thoughts together. Here are the key themes from our reflection:

• Quiet compromise

• Flawed humans, useful ideas

• Judgment vs discernment

Quiet compromise

This reaction isn’t really about Dr. Peter Attia. Again, I don’t know the details and don’t want to judge him… It’s about what happens when people enter spheres where status, power, and access become the primary currency.

I believe that very few people set out to lose their alignment. It happens quietly. Through small tradeoffs that feel rational in the moment. You want to stay in the room. You don’t want to rock the boat. Everyone else seems fine with it. Lines blur. Questions stop getting asked.

By the time something feels clearly wrong, you’re often already compromised.

Flawed humans, useful ideas

Almost all valuable ideas come from flawed people. If moral perfection were the bar, we’d consume almost nothing. We are all imperfect primates.

The real questions are:

• Does their behavior directly contradict the values they promote?

• Does continuing to elevate them cause harm?

• Do they take accountability, or hide behind status?

You can extract value from ideas while letting go of reverence for the person. Lowering someone off a pedestal doesn’t mean erasing what they’ve contributed. It means seeing more clearly.

Judgment vs discernment

This isn’t about judging others. It’s about discernment. It’s about clarifying where we draw the line.

Condemnation is loud and self-righteous. Discernment is quieter:

I don’t fully trust this anymore.
I’ll still learn where it makes sense.
But I won’t outsource my judgment.

That distinction matters, in life, and especially in investing.

Why this ties to our investment philosophy: 4D Wealth

This moment reinforced why Crescent Ridge is built around 4D Wealth. At the end of the day, it’s all about balance. With our investment approach, we don’t want to just maximize financial wealth at all costs. We want a balanced growth across four dimensions: Financial, Relational, Intellectual, and Social.

When one dimension dominates, the others decay. Financial success without relational grounding creates isolation. Intellectual achievement without humility creates arrogance (without care for humanity can be dangerous). Social power without accountability creates distortion.

4DWealth isn’t aspirational; it’s protective. Strong relationships act as mirrors. Intellectual curiosity keeps dogma in check. Social responsibility pulls you out of ego. Money becomes a tool, not an identity.

Status-chasing concentrates power and weakens accountability. 4DWealth is inherently collaborative. We prefer builders over empire-makers, long-term trust over short-term wins, shared success over individual glory.

Not because it sounds nice, but because it leads to healthier outcomes.

The takeaway: Trust the discomfort

As much as disappointment stings, we’ve come to believe it’s necessary to sharpen our values. It clarifies boundaries. It forces better questions about who we partner with, who we admire, who we amplify, and which games we’re willing to play.

You can learn from people without wanting their life. You can respect ideas without endorsing the ecosystem that produced them. And you can opt out of certain rooms, not out of moral superiority, but out of alignment.

At Crescent Ridge, we’re trying to choose the slower, quieter path. The one that compounds over time. The one that doesn’t require compromising our values to succeed.

We won’t always get it right. We’ll have our own blind spots. We’ll make mistakes and need to recalibrate.

But that's the point: to stay awake to it. To keep asking the questions. To be willing to feel the discomfort when something's off, even when we can't fully articulate why.

Looking back, I felt faint signals of discomfort with some of Dr. Peter Attia’s content. The same way, I noticed small things in those business interactions that didn’t quite sit right. But I dismissed them. I rationalized. I told myself I was overthinking it.

Next time, I’ll trust the discomfort sooner. And I’ll ask the people around me to help keep me accountable when I start to compromise.

That’s not just how we want to invest. It’s how we’re trying to live.