AKA: "I built a business I thought I wanted, but my calendar says otherwise.”

And how to build a business you don’t want to fire yourself from. (Or secretly sabotage)

Before we go into the shoe-lacing fundamentals, a story

The entrepreneurial narrative is dominated by hypergrowth unicorns and venture-backed startups…

But most people can't and shouldn't compete in that game. You're maybe better off building a cash-flowing one-person business.

The trick is to know thyself (get really clear about what you want, which we'll get to in a minute)

Cuz success means something different to everyone. And why copying what others do is nonsensical.

This is one of the main reasons why I switched so many industries, companies, and managers back in my corporate days.

Cuz I've watched my managers have impressive careers with absolutely unimpressive lives.

Professional babysitters managing team conflicts. Juggling office politics. Navigating constant leadership changes.

Their impressive careers owned them.

And the turning point for me came when I realized none of those CEO's and VP's had their sh*t together.

I didn't want their life.

So I started measuring success on my own terms: