One of the biggest mistakes I've made so far is listening to too many different voices. 10+ different entrepreneurs with 10+ different lifestyles and business models was a recipe for mental chaos.

The problem: Too many chefs dishing out orders in my mental kitchen.

One guy yelling to drop the fries, another guy saying to prep the pork, and another one telling you to clean the walk-in cooler.

So what the f**k do you do?

Too many chefs, too many conflicting directions = chaotic and inefficient kitchen.

It’s the same for your business and life when you let too many voices influence your decisions.

This was my problem and maybe you can relate?

Do you feel like you’re trying to take action on everything but going around in circles, never seeing any real progress?

Or maybe you’ve become paralyzed—not knowing what action to take?

If so, it’s because you’ve got too many chefs—too many voices—screaming orders in your mental kitchen.

Too Many Voices Leads To Mental Chaos

"If you don't want their life, don't take their advice."

You've heard this quote before, yeah? But most people probably think about applying it to their family and friends who don't support their business ambitions. They never think to apply it to successful entrepreneurs.

They think because someone is more "successful" (aka has more money) than them—they must have it figured out so they should probably listen. They end up listening to every entrepreneur under the sun.

But every entrepreneur runs a different business model.

Let's have a look:

1: Service-Based (Done For You)

• Done-for-you services like web design, copywriting, or agency work. They often involve long hours, direct client interaction, and trading time for money.

2: Coaching/Consulting (Done With You)

• Done-with-you services where you guide clients to achieve their own results. This involves teaching, coaching calls, and more flexibility, but it can still be time-consuming.

3: Scalable/Leveraged Products (Done On Your Own)

• Products like online courses or templates that don’t require your active presence. This model allows you to serve many people simultaneously and create more free time, but building an audience takes time and effort.

Every model has it's own pros and cons.

There are some entrepreneurs who work 12-hour days (Alex Hormozi) and some who work 4 (Dan Koe).

If you're heavily listening to both Dan Koe and Alex Hormozi it's easy to get confused fast. The thing to keep in mind—they run entirely different business models and have entirely different lifestyles.

This is the biggest mistake I've made.

You see, I learned web design because I wanted to design a dope website to host my newsletters. Because I enjoyed the creative process, I thought I could offer it as a service.

I started listening to these freelance web designers about how to do things:

• "You need to send cold emails."
• "You need to pick a niche—like roofing companies."
• "You need to target local companies in your niche."

I tried it out for awhile—and I hated it.

I realized it's a lot of work and not as easy as they make it seem. You're basically building yourself a second 9-5 (sometimes worse). I've seen some of these freelancers say they'd work 12 hours a day between working on multiple projects, and keeping up with the marketing and outreach.

My energy was depleted—my writing suffered.

Is this the life I want? NOPE.

I don't know about you—but I ain't built for that shit.

12 hour workdays? Nah homie you can keep that. Honestly, I'd rather make less and have more free time for family and friends.

That's when it hit me—I don't want their life so why was I taking their advice?

The Root Cause of Mental Chaos (And Transforming It Into Clarity)

There's only one reason why you end up in this situation.

It's because you don't even know what YOU want to build so you listen to what everyone else recommends you do.

Let's move from mental chaos to mental clarity.

Here are some questions that have helped me. Answer these questions to help you clarify your vision.

Key Question #1: Clarity of Vision — What is Your Ideal Life?

Define your ideal life before building and listening to every entrepreneur.

Building a business and hoping to achieve a certain lifestyle later is backward thinking.

You need to understand what your ideal life is and build your business around it.

Here is my ideal lifestyle:

• Wake up / Meditate
• Write (do creative work)
• Biz or admin stuff
• Exercise (walk or run)
• Enjoy the rest of the day, explore my curiosity by reading, hang out with friends and family.

My ideal day is similar to professional writers like Stephen King & Haruki Murakami. They both spend their mornings writing for hours and their evenings reading.

How does your ideal day look?

Key Question #2: Who Do You Actually Want To Serve?

This is a big one for me—because for the longest time I had no real clue, which is why I feel like I was easily susceptible to being pulled in any direction.

"I mean, I guess I could target roofing companies."

But my heart wasn't in it—which is why I couldn't stick with it.

Surprise, surprise—I realized the people I want to serve are just some past (and future) version of me. You are the niche, right? It's who I'm best qualified to help—because it's who I best understand.

I could help those a few steps behind me learn what I've already learned. I could help other creator brand businesses learn to build a dope website that is reflective of their brand's personality. I could help them break through creative blocks, build systems, etc.

(BTW—if that sounds interesting and you want to work with me—book a free clarity call here.)

Who do you want to serve?

Key Question #3: ANTI-GOALS — What Are You Unwilling To Sacrifice?

Most of the hustle and grind entrepreneurs will tell you that building a business requires sacrifice. Giving up drinking, late nights, etc. These are all valid. But what are you unwilling to sacrifice?

For me—I don't want to sacrifice relationships with family and friends. I want to enjoy my evenings with them.

I don't want to sacrifice my writing—I thoroughly enjoy writing and I can see myself doing it for a long time. I actually saw offering web design services as a way to support and monetize my writing, but when I was listening to these freelance web designers I feel like my writing suffered. I didn't have time for it anymore.

I don't want to sacrifice running. If any of you been following me for awhile you may know I'm a runner and have completed a few races. I did a half-marathon about 2 years ago. It was one of the most mentally and physically challenging things I've ever done (but also one of the most rewarding). I don't want to build a business that would take away from me dedicating the time and energy required to train for a big race.

List your own anti-goals and what you are unwilling to sacrifice.

Fire The Extra Chefs (Your Business Tribe of Mentors)

Limit the number of voices you listen to. Pick a few mentors (entrepreneurs) whom you admire and have the lifestyle you want with the business model to support it.

Dan Koe seems to have the whole live the writer lifestyle without waiting on a publisher thing figured out. I'll admit that I strayed a lot from his work since I started and let other voices come in and distract me. But every time I dive back into his work—I understand it from a new level with an expanded awareness. He's definitely one of the few people I plan on listening to from here on out.

I'd also like to note that listening to different people and perspectives for creative inspiration is different than listening to them for business advice. ;)

You'll have more clarity on who your own business tribe of mentors is as you fill out the clarifying questions.

FULL DISCLOSURE: you will never have it 100% figured out. I don't have it 100% figured out. I have gained more clarity by taking messy action and seeing what I like and what I don't. By f**king shit up and getting lost. That's the only way you'll gain more clarity—so press play to start.

So who's dishing orders in your mental kitchen? Choose wisely.

Until next time, my friend.

—Priscilla [Player 2]