The Business You're Avoiding Building

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Okay everybody we are at episode 40 thank
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you so much for coming here on this journey with me i'm
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steve and we're gonna rock this out and today we're gonna
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talk about the business you're avoiding building because look you know we've
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covered a lot of ground over the last 10 episodes for anybody that doesn't know
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i record in 10 episode blocks and this is the last one of the blocks so in the
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last 10 we covered things like direction ai messaging visibility follow through
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and and today to tighten it all up.
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I want to pull back the lens a little bit and have a real conversation.
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You know, look, most business owners I talk to, they're not building the business they actually want.
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They're building the business they think they can have or the one that they
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think they're allowed to have.
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Or maybe it's the safe version that wouldn't look too crazy if it failed.
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And they're all doing it quietly, running the business that makes sense on paper.
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The one that other people understand, the one that's close enough to what they
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know to feel manageable.
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Meanwhile, the business they actually want, the one that would genuinely light
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them up, that's still in their head, sitting around, rattling around in their
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head, waiting, getting talked out of every time they get close.
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So they start doing stuff towards it. They get close to that new point.
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They talk themselves out of it.
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And I want you to ask yourself something very candidly and directly.
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What's the version of your business you haven't let yourself fully admit you want yet?
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I know that for me. So my goal for myself personally was to be out loud and
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be out present more in 2026 than I ever have before.
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I post very sporadically, very rarely. I build lots of things that nobody ever sees.
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I'm literally like the king of shadow builders because I build for other people on a regular basis.
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I've built entire universes that my name is never attached to over and over
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again, time and time again, and I never tell anybody.
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I decided this year changes. This year, I pull back the curtain.
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It's kind of like Bar Rescue. We're like, we're going to pull back the curtain
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and show you what's really going on behind the scenes here. And then Jon Taffer
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screams at you like a lunatic, who I love.
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Freaking love that maniac. He's one of my favorite crazy people on the planet.
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Because he's not really crazy, but people think he is. But he's so dedicated
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to the one thing he has such a superpower on that people are too stupid to realize
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that if you just listen to this man, he can fix everything.
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And I get that the show is a TV show and it has the TV show reality vibes of
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what happens behind the scenes and all that but you know these bars all fell
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because these people were failures to begin with right,
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a lot of times these people didn't embrace what would genuinely light them up,
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that idea sitting in their head they didn't know how to execute it so they failed we don't have to,
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ask yourself what's the version of your business you haven't let yourself fully admit you want yet.
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Maybe it's a niche down version where you only work with one specific type of
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client and charge accordingly be laser focused.
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Maybe it's a thought leadership path, the podcast, the book, the speaking gigs.
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Maybe that could feel too big to be real.
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Maybe it's getting out of the day-to-day and building a team so you can actually think.
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Like instead of having everything fall on your back, maybe you need to start
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building a squad around you.
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Maybe it's cutting the revenue in half to get your life back.
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Think about all the people that will work for the almighty dollar and then their
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kids don't know who the hell they are.
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I can proudly tell you, and I mean this with all my heart, I have refused deals
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that would have made me a whole lot more money in my lifetime.
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But it would have taken me completely away from watching my kid grow.
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And yeah, now she's 14. Now she's a teenager. Now she's, you know,
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can be in high school and rock her own path. She doesn't need me as much as
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she did when she was little.
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But there was no money that would have taken me away from being around those
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days when she was little, making those core memories. I mean,
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hell, that's why we do what we do.
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But if you're not doing things for your family in the grand scheme of things,
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you're doing it just for your business, you're an idiot.
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I'll say that right now. your business should be able to work around
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your family and work with your family hell involve
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your family have to take them out for a day and have them
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hold the camera while you do a three minute clip i mean geez this isn't that
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hard you know they'll have fun with it they'll make fun of you it'll be silly
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you'll have a good time i mean trust me i love going on content i went on a
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content creation mission with my daughter a few weeks ago during a day off of
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school for her it was freezing cold.
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And I really wish we didn't pick the day that we did. It was like 20 out with
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massive wind right after a huge snowstorm.
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And it was literally the first day I kipped my car out of the block of ice that it was.
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And we drove around. We went to a coffee shop and had lunch.
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We went down to the beach.
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We were on tops of buildings and tops of parking garages, filming all kinds
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of rock and roll videos for her stuff and for her Instagram.
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And it was a blast. I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm glad that I have the
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flexibility in my life that I've created to be able to do that with her when she's off.
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Because I've got a lot of friends who don't know a damn thing about their kids
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and they're just hoping it works out.
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And I feel terrible for them. Some of them, I know their kids probably better
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than they do because they hang out around mine. So I see them from that,
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from osmosis, and I probably know more about them, which is insane.
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But hey, it is what it is, right? So think about it. Get that niche down version
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where you're working something specific.
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Maybe it's you get it out of that day to day, build that team,
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cut to revenue, get your life back, whatever it is, whatever it is, just name it.
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Because you can't rise your way to a destination you haven't actually chosen.
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The whole framework of what I do in Rise is that you have to have clarity. We need a path.
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So here's what this 10-episode arc has really been about. It's been getting
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you ready to move your ass.
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Not just feel better about yourself. Look, I don't really care.
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I don't know you. You don't know me. I'm just another voice in the clouds. right? Literally.
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I want you to feel better. I want you to have a destination.
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I want you to be ready to move.
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You know, not just think differently, but move in the direction of the thing
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that you actually want to build.
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That's where I want to support every single person that wants to build something.
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If you want to build something amazing, I am 100% here. Hit me up anywhere you
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can find me. I'm always down to have a conversation.
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AI is going to help you get there faster. For some of it, clear messaging will help people find you.
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Visibility will fill that pipeline, but you got to do the things to get visible, right?
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Following through will make it real. It will help with the conversion side of things in your life.
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But all of it requires you.
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You first got to be honest about what you're building towards and what the goal
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is and where the clarity is at.
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So let me ask you this. What's the business you've been avoiding building?
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Because right now I give you permission for that to be real and for that to
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be your next thing, that to be your now thing. And let's all go build it together.
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And our riff of this episode is going to be, you can't rise your way to a destination.
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You haven't had the guts to choose yet. So let's get a little more guts in our
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life. Let's get a little more gusto, people.
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Let's kick a little more ass and let's do it together.
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I'm totally here to back your play.
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But you got to put it out there and be visible and let me know.
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Otherwise, how can I help somebody I don't know? I got to know you. You got to know me.
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You can join the community. keep listening to the podcast.
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We've got a lot more coming out over this year, so it's just going to be a hold
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the space. Go to stevelichtman.com, get everything you need.
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I am Steve Lichtman. This was unfiltered and unshakable.
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And no, even at the end of episode 40, I don't have a jingle yet. We are jingless.
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Yeah, maybe I should make one in AI and make a ridiculous AI jingle.
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And what is it? Sono? Suno?
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Sora? Suno? Whatever one it is, the audio one. I tried it for a couple of months.
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It was horrible. I mean, for people that actually can make music, it's crap.
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But to make a stupid jingle at the end of the episode, maybe I could just yell
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and scream into my mic a little bit and turn it into something funny at the
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end that we could paste in at the end.
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And then I'll ask people to tell me how much they like it or hate it. And we can go from there.
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All right, guys, you've been fantastic. You've been magical.
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I appreciate you for every minute you've listened to me in these 40 episodes.
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And I hope you stick around for the next 40 or 400 more. Take it easy, guys.