Beyond the Grind: How to Escape the "Meh" of Business Ownership and Reclaim Your Joy

Mastering Business Flow Podcast | Episode 04

Why did you start your business? Most of us started with a dream of a better life—more freedom, more time, and more joy. But for many, that dream has been replaced by a new kind of "entrepreneurial grind." You didn't find the freedom you were looking for; you just found a different treadmill to run on.

If your business is doing "pretty well" but you still feel a sense of languishing, you might be in what Viktor Frankl call the Existential Vacuum. It’s that "meh" state where something is missing, and you feel a void despite your hard work.

In this episode, we explore how to move from survival mode into a state of purpose by building a Vision Filter for your life and business.

Listen to the full deep-dive here: [Apple Podcasts] | [Spotify] | [YouTube]

The Science of Fulfillment

It’s not just a feeling; it’s psychology. Three of the most influential psychologists of our time—Viktor Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning), Martin Seligman (Flourish), and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Flow)—all spent decades studying what makes humans flourish.

Their common conclusion? We need a vision of a better future and a sense that we are making meaningful progress toward it. Fulfillment doesn't happen when you finally "reach the end." It happens today, when you know that what you are doing is building toward something that matters.

The "Failure of Imagination" Trap

One of the biggest problems we face is a Failure of Imagination. We stay stuck in the grind because we simply can't imagine a better version of today. We limit our vision by what we see everyone else doing.

I faced this personally when doctors told me the only solution for my hip pain was a replacement. By refusing to accept that limited imagination and finding a different path through physical therapy, I went from using a cane and taking pain killers every morning and night to running a 15K and not taking pain killers within a year…without a hip replacement!

The same applies to your business. Whether it’s the authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul imagining selling a million copies when publishers only saw 20,000, (and they have now sold over 500 million!!) or you seeing a business that supports your life instead of consuming it—imagination is the key to breaking the treadmill.

Dream Big

The greatest ceiling on your business growth isn't the economy; it’s a Failure of Imagination.

We often limit our goals to what feels "realistic" based on our current stress levels. But when we stop imagining what is possible, we stop being the creators of our businesses and start being reactors to them.

To break this cycle, you have to stop asking what is realistic and start asking what is meaningful. In modern business terms, Jim Collins calls this a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). When you develop a (BHAG), you experience three massive shifts:

1. Joy Today: You stop sacrificing today’s joy for "tomorrow’s" empty promises. You feel fulfillment now because your work is meaningful.

2. Grit: Vision is the fuel for grit. Like training for a marathon, a clear goal is what keeps you running when it’s raining, snowing, or you just don't feel like it.

3. Success through Focus: A vision acts as a filter. It tells you exactly what to say "No" to so you can focus your limited energy on the steps that actually lead to your destination.

Designing Your North Star: Tools to Build Your Vision

Creating a vision is not a "one and done" task; it is the most important strategic work you will do as a CEO.

Programming Your CEO Mindset

A vision only works if it moves from your head to your habits. To use a vision to grow your business, it must be specific and repetitive. When you write down exactly what you want and review it constantly, you create "cognitive dissonance"—your brain notices the gap between where you are and where you want to be, and it begins to subconsciously hunt for solutions to close that gap.

There are two primary ways to anchor this mindset:

• The Chief Definite Aim: Inspired by Napoleon Hill, this is a concise, written statement of what you intend to achieve, the date you will achieve it by, and the service you will provide in return. Keeping this on a card in your wallet or as your phone background ensures you see it daily.

• The Eulogy Exercise: This is a "legacy-backwards" approach. Write down what you want your loved ones and colleagues to say about your character and impact at the end of your life. This clarifies your values immediately, ensuring your business growth doesn't come at the expense of your soul.

The Golden Rule: You must read your vision every single day. As you repeat these words, your belief system shifts, your appetite for calculated risk increases, and you begin to see opportunities that were previously invisible to you.

Unlocking Your Imagination

If you feel "stuck" or find it hard to imagine a version of life that isn't the current grind, here are some of the tools I use with clients to unlock their dreams and articulate them. These exercises act as a mirror, showing you what you already value but haven't yet articulated.

For Your Personal Life: The Ikigai Framework

Ikigai is a Japanese concept meaning "a reason for being." It is a personal lens used to find balance and longevity in your life. To find your Ikigai, you look for the intersection of four questions:

1. What do you love? (Your Passion)

2. What are you good at? (Your Profession)

3. What does the world need? (Your Mission)

4. What can you be paid for? (Your Vocation)

Image of Ikigai diagram showing the intersection of passion, mission, vocation, and profession

Getty Images

When these four circles overlap, you find a life that feels complete. If you are missing one, you might feel "wealthy but empty" or "satisfied but broke."

For Your Business Strategy: The Hedgehog Concept

While Ikigai is about your soul, the Hedgehog Concept (popularized by Jim Collins in Good to Great) is about your competitive advantage. It’s a filter used to determine where your business should focus its limited resources to achieve greatness. It asks:

1. What are you deeply passionate about? (What ignites your team?)

2. What can you be the best in the world at? (And just as importantly, what can you not be the best at?)

3. What drives your economic engine? (Which single metric—profit per X—actually scales the business?)

By separating these two, you ensure that your business isn't just a "good idea," but a strategic vehicle that is specifically designed to support your personal Ikigai.

Strengths Assessments: Seeing Your Own Genius

Sometimes we are too close to our own brilliance to see it. Using a survey can provide scientifically validated language for your unique power:

• Gallup StrengthsFinder: Focuses on your natural talents and how you can turn them into consistent "near-perfect" performance.

• VIA Character Strengths: Developed by the team of Martin Seligman (author of Flourish), this survey focuses more on your core values and virtues.

When you build a business around your natural strengths and values, the "effort" required to succeed doesn't feel like a grind—it feels like Flow.

The Love/Hate List: The Practical Audit

Simply divide a page. On one side, list the tasks that energize you; on the other, list the ones that drain you. Your vision should be a roadmap that moves you toward the "Love" column and systematically delegates or eliminates the "Hate" column.

Want/Don’t Want List:

Similar to the love/hate list, except here you imagine what you want or don’t want in your life in 10 years.

You do not need to do all of these exercises, but pick the one that feels like it will be the easiest for you to unlock your desires. You could plan on doing a different exercise every year and updating your vision with your new insights.

A Living, Breathing Document

Here is the most important thing to remember: You cannot mess this up. Your vision is a dynamic, living document. It is not etched in stone; it is a compass. If you write something today and it doesn't resonate next month, tweak it. If your life circumstances change—a new baby, a move, a shift in the industry—change the vision. The goal isn't to be "right" the first time; the goal is to be intentional every time.

If you find yourself struggling to see past the daily fires or can't quite piece these tools together into a cohesive plan, I am here to help. During a Flow Finder Intensive, we spend two hours together using these exact tools to build your Dream Life Compass and a 90-day roadmap that actually fits who you are.

👉 BOOK YOUR FLOW FINDER INTENSIVE HERE

Take Action: Create Your 90-Day Roadmap

Fulfillment doesn't happen at the finish line; it happens in the meaningful progress you make every day. If you feel like you are drifting in reactive mode, the first step is to articulate what you actually want—not what your industry tells you to want.

I work with business owners to bridge this gap through the Flow Finder Intensive. We take these exact concepts—the Chief Definite Aim, Ikigai, and the Vision Filter—and turn them into a concrete plan.

In this 2-hour session, we build:

• Your Dream Life Compass: Aligning your business to serve your personal freedom.

• The Quarterly Focus Filter: Using science-backed systems to stop the "mental juggling."

• A SMARTER Action Plan: To ensure you make progress toward the goals that actually matter.

✨ JANUARY SPECIAL: Reclaim your focus this month. Book your Flow Finder Intensive in January and get one month of Live Weekly Reviews for free to ensure your new vision sticks.

👉 BOOK YOUR FLOW FINDER INTENSIVE HERE

Source References & Further Reading:

• Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl

• Flourish – Martin Seligman

• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

• Grit – Angela Duckworth

• Good to Great – Jim Collins

• Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill