Hello, 

The new year is approaching, and I hope you have locked in an ambitious growth target for 2023. I recently went through the process myself, and I want to share three ideas that can help you achieve your best year in 2023.

Idea 1: All Growth Requires Expansion Of The Mind

If there was only one piece of advice I could give you, I would remind you that despite whatever you do, you will never outgrow your level of thinking and your beliefs. I mean, how you think about yourself, what you believe is possible, and how badly you want to grow are more important than anything else.

All growth starts with a burning desire, backed with belief. What do you want 2023 to look like? How badly do you want it? No, really? We don’t get what we want. We don’t get what we deserve. We get the standards we set for ourselves. Commit to a new set of standards, and discipline yourself to do whatever it takes to hold yourself accountable to those standards. Connect to the future you are creating. See it. Feel it. Do it daily.

Idea 2: Be A Real Entrepreneur, Not Your Own Employee
Chances are that you are an entrepreneur. But are you? I mean, if you drew an org chart with boxes for all the core functions in your business, how many of the boxes would have your name on them? Try it, and you’ll see what I mean.

For every employee role that you take on in your business, you keep your business from growing. You become the bottleneck (I am guessing you already are).

It’s ok to work IN your business, not just ON it. But only if it’s by choice. If you’re in constant survival mode, doing too many things because you cannot hire people to help you, or you don’t trust other people, you’ve got a problem.

Step into the identity of a real entrepreneur, not that of an employee. Are you an entrepreneur, or a creative director? Are you an entrepreneur, or a social media manager? Make a decision, and then get your house in order. You’ll thank yourself later.

Idea 3: Turn Your Business Into A Profit Machine
Here’s a sobering provocation. If you’re not getting wealthier every month (you’re not in it just for the money, I know, but numbers are how businesses keep score, and your impact is also measured by the numbers…), well,  something is broken.

A business is a system. I like to think of it as a machine.

A business should be designed, just like a product. Just because most things in a business are intangible does not mean they don’t need design.

Design is about making things work. 
Does your business work, or is it a "hack" that requires constant life support? I know my business back in the day relied 99% on me. Which was all my fault. 

Design your business to work like a machine. If you don’t like the metaphor, call it a creative machine…or an algorithm if you want. Whatever you call it, a business is a system of interconnected activities, and they must work seamlessly together. If they don't, you're going to feel stressed out and be maxed out once you try to grow it. Yep. I know all about that too.

If you’re constantly changing things, you’ll never achieve the level of expertise you must have to win in the marketplace. If you always do things differently and do different things, you might be innovating, but a company must balance exploration with exploitation.

Your business must work. Period. 

When you have built something that works, you can change some parts of the machinery. But without processes, systems, and culture, you’ll never outgrow yourself as the owner. Never. 

Bonus Idea: Simplify.
Almost all business owners do too many things. Myself included. Simplicity is like magic. It allows you to focus only on what matters so that you can do those few things better. You’ll achieve leverage. You’ll make more profits, and best of all, you might actually get your life back.

Simplify before you grow. Growing a business that is not designed for simplicity, or that does not work properly is worse than running a small, broken business. Much worse.

Decide now to make 2023 the year when you break through and make at least parts of your ultimate dream come true.

This year, I had a proper scare. For a few days, while I was abroad, I was misdiagnosed and thought I had a severe form of cancer. Turns out I don’t have it, but the feelings were real. It was a real wake-up call.

People go through all kinds of stuff, and I am sure you do too. 
All I know is...

Life is now. Not someday in the future. 

Are you living the life you want?

I hope so. If not, well, you can!

Set the intention. Go for it.

You already have everything you need. 
You don't need more education. 
You don't need to consume more content. 
You need to take more action. 
Action will teach you what works. 

And if you want help, my team and I are here for you.

Let’s make 2023 great.
Let’s make it insanely, gorgeous, and remarkable.

Remember, you have superpowers that very few people have.

How do I know?

Because you’re an entrepreneur, you badass.

(And if you’re not, decide to be one right now.)

I am rooting for you.

Tobias