This license plate confused me

One of my first mentors had a license plate that said "ENIMD."

I stared at it for way too long trying to figure out what the hell it meant.

En-im-d? E-nim-d?

Nope.

End. In. Mind.

He was obsessed with this idea from Stephen Covey's book about highly effective people. (You know, the one everyone references but nobody actually reads.)

The concept is simple. Start with where you wanna end up. Then work backwards.

It's like using Google Maps. You don't just start driving and hope you end up in the right city.

You put in the destination FIRST. Then follow the directions.

Most people build their business by just "driving around" and hoping it works out.

That's … a choice.

Here's what I recommend instead...

Envision your business 1–2 years from now. Not the pie in the sky ultimate dream. Just the "I'm on my way" version.

Once you have that in mind, answer these questions:

1. What are the non-negotiables? If you’ve family or a partner is it dinner time? Date nights? Picking up the kids?

2. What about YOU time? Workouts, trashy novels, naps, video games, whatever.

3. What days do you want off? How many weeks for vacation time?

4. What do you want your workday to look like? How many hours per day? When do you wanna start/end?

5. How much money per year do you want to make?

Write that stuff down.

Now here's where it gets fun...

Take your income goal and divide it by the cost of your main offer.

That'll give you a rough estimate of how many customers you need per year.

Is that number manageable? Or does it feel like way too many people to deal with?

If it's too many customers for the amount of time you have, you need to raise your prices.

Simple math.

I did this exercise a few years ago and realized I was undercharging. A lot.

So I doubled my prices. Then I doubled them again.

Now I make more money with fewer clients. And I have way more free time.

That's the power of beginning with the end in mind.

So do the exercise. It only takes like 10 minutes.

You might realize you're closer than you think. Or you might realize you need to change some stuff.

Either way, you'll have clarity. And clarity is worth more than gold.

Talk soon,

— Jason

PS - Pro tip. Schedule your non-negotiables first. Family, dates, vacations. Then schedule your business around that. I started doing this as soon as my daughter could talk. She had Disneyland on our schedule before she was out of diapers.

Best decision ever.