Most entrepreneurs and those who aspire to become one lack one thing – clarity.
In the last 4 years, I’ve been part of many online business programs and masterminds.
Sam Ovens, Dan Koe, Ali Abdaal, to name a few.
Those programs were designed to help entrepreneurs make more money or grow their audiences.
Niche selection, offer creation, client acquisition systems, audience growth, ads, you name it.
But I observed something strange. Although these were business programs, most conversations in these weekly calls had nothing to do with business.
“Most people don’t have business problems, they have personal problems that reflect in their business.” – Sam Ovens
They were personal problems that leaked into their businesses.
Problems like:
- Lacking clarity in life.
- Lacking direction in their business.
- Lacking confidence in themselves.
I noticed this pattern in every business group I was in.
From starting entrepreneurs to multiple-seven-figure entrepreneurs.
They all struggled with the same core problem – a lack of clarity in life and business.
So, how do we solve this hard problem?
Know Thyself
At the heart of a temple in ancient Greece, a powerful maxim was inscribed: “Know Thyself.” A famous quote that we ascribe to the philosopher Socrates who was considered to be the wisest man of his time.
If you want to know what you truly want in life, you have to know yourself.
The ancients knew the metaphysical and practical implications of the phrase “Know Thyself”.
Your struggle for clarity in business and life stems from internal misalignment. Knowing your true self, as cliché as it sounds, is the key to a purposeful and fulfilling life.
It’s about peeling back the layers of your superficial self to uncover your true desires, strengths, and weaknesses.
If you are put off by the idea of “knowing yourself” or you think this is some new-age pseudo-intellectual talk, then I invite you to question your assumptions.
The more people have developed themselves internally, the more depth they tend to appreciate.
But what does knowing yourself mean?
In essence, knowing yourself is about having self-awareness.
Being aware of your real motivations and desires, knowing what you’re good and weak at, and understanding what your true values are.
If all of that sounds too much, I understand.
Luckily, we don’t have to become philosophers to understand ourselves.
There is a faster way to gain the necessary self-awareness to know exactly what you want in business and life.
A powerful tool that helped me and many others is a personality test.
I know you might have taken tests like these in the past, but I encourage you to block 15 minutes of your time and use this one.
I never forget how helpful this free personality test was for my personal growth.
It’s called MBTI which stands for Myers–Briggs Type Indicator.
This test was developed on the theories of the famous psychologist Carl Jung who coined the terms extroversion and introversion.
Take the test for free here: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
I found this test to be shockingly accurate.
Now, reflect on your report and try to connect the dots.
If you have never done a questionnaire like this, I recommend you to look at the “Strengths and Weaknesses” section first.
If you want, you can dive even deeper and journal the parts of the analysis you agree and disagree with.
This will help you gain more insights which will be crucial for getting more clarity and direction in the next step.
Important note – don’t take this test as absolute truth. Your results are just a current snapshot of your personality. You can change your personality at any time.
True Desires
After you’ve gained some clarity on yourself, it’s time to dream.
Time to explore your true desires, vision, and lifestyle.
To do this great task, I recommend you block a day off and go to an inspiring location.
It could be in your backyard, in a nice cabin in nature, or at the beach.
Take a pen and journal with you.
Sit down in a quiet place.
Let go of all the societal expectations on how you “should” live.
Let go of all your assumptions about what you should do.
Let go of all your problems for a moment.
Look around you.
Take a deep breath and smile.
Feel the inspiration and gratitude at your beautiful place of choice.
Now, answer these prompts in your journal or digital document:
- What would I do if there were no limitations in my life?
Imagine you could have everything you ever wanted.
- What would make your life an endless vacation?
No limits. No one could judge you for it. Just think about what you truly want – for once.
Write your answers quickly in your journal.
They don’t have to be perfect.
You want to connect with your emotional side for this exercise.
Don’t over-engineer your answers, don’t overthink it.
Only your intuition. Otherwise, you activate your logical side which will come up with reasons why it won’t work.
Next journalling prompt:
- What would an ideal day look like in your life?
Think about the moment you wake up until you go to bed.
The key is to use your imagination and describe it in as much detail as possible.
Take the time and write at least a paragraph of your ideal day.
True Goals
Based on how you described your ideal life, set 3-5 long-term goals to get closer to them.
A good way to do this is to segment your life into the areas of business, health, self-development, and relationships.
Don’t make the mistake of being one-dimensional by only focusing on business goals.
There is nothing more painful than achieving your business goals and arriving at what’s next?
I think we have heard too many stories of billionaires and celebrities who seemed to have it all from the outside but were miserable.
Few things are more heartbreaking than spending years climbing the wrong mountain and chasing other people’s definitions of success.
Next prompt: What goals would you set if you could only choose 5?
When you intentionally limit your goals to only 5, you’ll stay more focused on what is truly important.
Look back at what you wrote in your journal.
Take the time and think hard about what goals you want to achieve in the next 12 months.
Here are some examples of how to set clear goals:
Business:
- First 100k/month with 80% profit margins in my online coaching business by 31.12.2024
- 30,000 newsletter subscribers by 31.12.2024
Health:
- Lift weights 150x by 31.12.2024 (3x per week)
- +80 average sleep and readiness score on my Oura Ring by 31.12.2024
Relationships/Social:
- Build 5 new real relationships with entrepreneur friends by 31.12.2024
The best way to increase the probability of achieving your goals:
- Set goals with big reasons
- Make them quantifiable
- Set specific deadlines
- Track your progress
Here you have it. This is how you set the foundation of your dream life.
First, you have to know thyself, as the wise ancients figured out this secret thousands of years ago. Understanding yourself is an ongoing process but you can speed it up by leveraging modern tools like psychological tests.
Once you’ve gained some clarity on your true self, it’s easier to imagine your ideal future with detail and inspiration. The more self-awareness you have, the more authentic and aligned your goals are. The more meaningful and precise your goals, the higher the probability of you achieving them in a reasonable timeframe.
You can have the life you want with time, effort, and belief.
See you next week.
———
PS:
If you’re an entrepreneur who is making at least 10k/month and you want to scale to 30k -100k/month and you know that your mindset is the main thing preventing you from scaling, then apply for a free strategy session with me to see how I can help you scale (valued at $500)
