Good Morning. 7,800 strikes in and Trump is considering boots on Iranian soil. We break down the options on the table.

We also cover a U.S. citizen running Mexico's top cartel, Lilly's new weight loss drug, and why your identity is making you quit (forwarded this email? Join 523K readers).

The Trump administration is actively considering deploying thousands of additional troops to the Middle East. The U.S. military campaign against Iran is now in its fourth week, with options including securing the Strait of Hormuz and deploying forces to Kharg Island, which handles 90% of Iran's oil exports.

The U.S. has conducted over 7,800 strikes since launching operations February 28, destroying more than 120 Iranian vessels. Thirteen American troops have been killed and roughly 200 wounded. The Pentagon has requested $200 billion in additional funding from Congress.

No ground deployment decision has been made. A 2,000-Marine expeditionary unit arrives next week, though the USS Gerald R. Ford's removal for maintenance reduces current U.S. naval capacity in the region. What Marines could do.

▲ List of States With Gas Prices Above $4.

Jeff Bezos is in early talks to raise $100 billion for a fund targeting manufacturing companies, using AI to accelerate automation. The Amazon founder has already traveled to the Middle East and Singapore to meet with sovereign wealth funds and major asset managers about the project.

The fund would acquire companies in chipmaking, defense, and aerospace, rivaling SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund in size. Bezos recently became co-CEO of Project Prometheus, an AI startup building systems that simulate physical-world behavior, which would supply the technology behind the fund's automation strategy.

Project Prometheus is separately raising up to $6 billion. JPMorgan Chase is also in preliminary talks to back the initiative through its $10 billion Security and Resiliency Initiative.

Tesla plans to ship mass-produced Semi trucks from its Nevada Gigafactory this summer, projecting 5,000 to 15,000 deliveries in 2026 before scaling to 50,000 annually. Early pilot drivers report the centered cab, 500-mile range, and faster charging make it significantly easier to operate than diesel alternatives.

California trucking companies have already secured $195 million in state grants covering 1,002 Semis, roughly double the zero-emission big rigs currently operating in Southern California. The truck costs under $300,000, about double a diesel rig, but requires far less routine maintenance (video).

Challenges remain. Public charging infrastructure for long-haul Semi routes is limited, though Tesla has published plans for fast-charging sites across major freight corridors opening this summer (plus, self driving troubles in poor weather).

Have you ever started a new workout routine and gotten hurt? Picked up a new habit and watched it unravel inside a week? Most people call that bad luck. Scientists call it something else entirely.

1. The Psychology

▶ Psychologists call it self-concept consistency. We act in ways that confirm what we already believe about ourselves.

If your identity says "I'm someone who quits," every setback becomes permission. The injury. The missed meal. The bad week.

Identity-level transformation isn't about motivation or willpower. It's about replacing the story. Behave like the new person before it feels natural.

Remove the permission slips. The brain follows the behavior until the behavior becomes the belief.

James Clear: why identity change is the only change that sticks →

2. The Mythology

Joseph Campbell spent a lifetime studying every hero story ever told. Across every culture, every era, the pattern was identical (“Kill the boy, Jon Snow”).

The hero must enter the belly of the whale. He appears to die. Then he's reborn.

Campbell wasn't writing about fiction. He was describing the only mechanism that actually works. The old self doesn't get a renovation. It gets a funeral.

Read Campbell's original Belly of the Whale passage →

3. The Faith

Richard Rohr put it plainly: the pattern of transformation is always death transformed, not death avoided.

Resurrection has many names. Christians call it salvation. Buddhists call it bodhicitta. Twelve-step programs call it an awakening.

Every tradition, across thousands of years, arrived at the same conclusion. Transformation requires a death. The only question is whether you're willing to let the old self go.

Read Rohr on why God uses pain to transform you →

The Takeaway: Setbacks aren't signs to stop. They're the toll. The injury, the bad week, the moment you almost quit: that's the belly of the whale. Most people surface too early.

You don't find the new self. You outlast the old one.

What would you work on if no one was looking? If money were no object?

Reply with your answer to be featured next week.

▲ Alien dot gov domains registered by U.S. government this week, weeks after Trump promised UFO file releases

▲ U.S. Citizen inherits Mexico's most powerful cartel, complicating American targeting efforts after El Mencho's death

▲ Kevin Spacey settles with three sexual assault accusers before October London civil trial, avoiding court

▲ Lilly’s Retatrutide beats trial endpoints with 15.3% weight loss over 40 weeks, surpassing Zepbound results

▲ Bachelorette canceled by ABC after release of Taylor Frankie Paul's disturbing abuse video

The ultimate power bank is half off [Gear*]

Is Timothée Chalamet’s star fading? [NYT]

How the Bible fits into modern health [Post]

Zach Galifianakis’ new gardening show [Video]

How to answer weird interview questions [Video]

“Happiest country” 9th year in a row [Blog]

How to workout just once a month [Post]