01 — KNOW YOURSELF

Before you build a business, understand the person who is going to build it.

Most people who want to start an online business begin in the wrong place.

They start looking for an opportunity.

They search for the latest programme.

They watch videos about how to make money online.

They ask:

“What should I join?”

But there’s a more important question to answer first:

“What am I actually trying to achieve?”

Because you are not looking for an opportunity in isolation.

You’re looking for something that fits you.

Your ambitions.

Your circumstances.

Your personality.

Your strengths.

Your weaknesses.

Your experience.

Your available time.

Your willingness to learn.

Your willingness to work.

And ultimately, the life you’re trying to create.

A business can be perfectly legitimate and still be completely wrong for you.

So before we talk about business models, programmes or opportunities, let’s start with the person who matters most:

You.

1. WHAT IS YOUR VISION?

Forget the money for a moment.

Imagine that things go well over the next few years.

What would you actually like your life to look like?

Where would you be living?

How would you spend your time?

What would you be doing?

Who would you be spending more time with?

What would you no longer have to worry about?

What would having greater financial freedom allow you to do?

Your vision doesn’t need to be perfectly defined.

It doesn’t even have to be realistic yet.

The purpose of this exercise is simply to get beyond:

“I want to make more money.”

Try completing these sentences:

In three years, I would like my life to look like…

I would have more time for…

I would no longer have to worry so much about…

I would be able to…

The thing I would most like to change about my current situation is…

Don’t overthink it.

Write down what comes to mind.

2. WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?

Your vision is the destination.

Your goals are the milestones that help you get there.

Be specific.

Instead of:

“I want to make more money.”

ask:

“How much more?”

Perhaps it’s an extra £500 a month.

Perhaps £1,000.

Perhaps £3,000.

Perhaps your goal isn’t primarily financial at all.

Perhaps you want:

• More control over your time
• A business you can eventually work on full-time
• A second income
• More financial security
• The ability to work from home
• Something you can build alongside your existing career
• Something you can eventually pass on to your family

There is no universally correct goal.

There is only your goal.

Your exercise

Write down your three most important goals.

Then ask yourself:

Why do I want each one?

Keep asking “why?” until you get beyond the obvious answer.

For example:

I want an extra £1,000 a month.

Why?

To have more disposable income.

Why is that important?

Because I want less financial pressure.

Why?

Because I want to feel more secure about the future.

Now you’ve found something much more meaningful than simply:

“I want £1,000.”

3. WHAT ARE YOUR AMBITIONS?

Goals tell you what you want to achieve.

Ambition tells you how far you might want to take it.

Ask yourself:

What would I attempt if I knew I couldn’t fail?

Would you like to build a small side income?

A substantial online business?

A team?

A personal brand?

Multiple income streams?

Something that eventually replaces your employment?

Or are you not sure yet?

That’s fine.

Don’t artificially limit your ambitions because you don’t currently know how to achieve them.

At the same time, don’t confuse ambition with fantasy.

A big ambition is perfectly reasonable.

But it still needs a plan, skills, work and time behind it.

Your exercise

Finish this sentence:

“If I really committed myself to building something over the next 3–5 years, I would love to…”

Write without censoring yourself.

Then ask:

What would I actually be prepared to do to make that happen?

That’s where ambition starts becoming useful.

4. WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS?

You already have assets.

You may simply not recognise them as business assets.

Perhaps you’re good with people.

Perhaps you communicate well.

Perhaps you’re persuasive.

Perhaps you’re organised.

Perhaps you’re technically minded.

Perhaps you’re creative.

Perhaps you’re a good teacher.

Perhaps you’re a great listener.

Perhaps you’re persistent.

Perhaps you’ve spent 20 years developing expertise in a particular field.

Perhaps people naturally come to you for advice.

All of these things can matter.

Your exercise

Write down at least 10 things you’re good at.

Don’t dismiss something because it doesn’t sound like a business skill.

Then ask:

Which of these could be useful in building an online business?

Also ask someone who knows you well:

“What do you think I’m naturally good at?”

You may get answers you wouldn’t have thought of yourself.

5. WHAT ARE YOUR WEAKNESSES?

This can be uncomfortable.

But a mentor shouldn’t only tell you what you’re good at.

They should help you identify what might get in your way.

Perhaps you:

• Procrastinate
• Lose focus
• Start things but don’t finish them
• Get distracted by new opportunities
• Don’t like selling
• Lack confidence
• Avoid difficult conversations
• Give up when results don’t come quickly
• Struggle with technology
• Don’t manage your time well
• Take on too much
• Find it difficult to stay consistent

None of these automatically means you can’t build a business.

But pretending they don’t exist won’t help.

Your exercise

Write down your five biggest weaknesses.

Then beside each one write:

“What could I do to improve this?”

You don’t have to fix everything at once.

In fact, trying to fix everything at once is probably another way of getting nowhere.

Choose one weakness that would make the biggest difference if you improved it.

Work on that first.

6. WHAT ARE YOUR VALUES?

This is often overlooked.

But what you build should ideally be compatible with what you believe in.

Ask yourself:

What matters to me?

Perhaps it’s:

• Honesty
• Freedom
• Family
• Security
• Independence
• Helping people
• Personal growth
• Creativity
• Achievement
• Integrity
• Flexibility
• Contribution

Your values can influence the type of business you are comfortable building.

For example, if you value helping people, you may hate using aggressive sales tactics.

If you value freedom, a business requiring you to be permanently available may not suit you.

If you value security, taking enormous financial risks may conflict with what you actually want.

There is no right or wrong list.

Your exercise

Write down your five most important values.

Then ask:

“Would the type of business I’m considering allow me to live according to these values?”

That’s an important question.

7. WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?

This is one of the most important questions you can answer.

Why do you want to build an income?

Money is an obvious answer.

But money is usually the tool, rather than the final destination.

Maybe you want:

Security.

Freedom.

Recognition.

Independence.

A better lifestyle.

To prove something to yourself.

To provide for your family.

To escape a situation you don’t enjoy.

To build something you’re proud of.

To have control over your own future.

Understanding your motivation matters because building something takes time.

There will be days when nobody responds.

Days when your content gets ignored.

Days when you don’t make a sale.

Days when you question whether it’s worth continuing.

Your motivation is what you fall back on when the excitement disappears.

Your exercise

Complete this sentence:

“I want to build an additional income because…”

Then keep asking:

“Why?”

until you reach the real reason.

8. WHAT HAVE YOU ALREADY SUCCEEDED AT?

Don’t make the mistake of thinking your business journey starts from zero.

It doesn’t.

You’ve already achieved things.

You’ve passed exams.

Learned skills.

Built relationships.

Solved problems.

Overcome difficult situations.

Held down jobs.

Raised families.

Started projects.

Completed challenges.

Perhaps you’ve already built something successful.

Those experiences matter.

Your exercise

Write down 10 things you are proud of achieving.

They don’t have to be related to business.

Then look for patterns.

What characteristics helped you achieve them?

Was it:

• Discipline?
• Persistence?
• Intelligence?
• Patience?
• Creativity?
• Hard work?
• Planning?
• Communication?
• Courage?
• Consistency?

Those characteristics are part of your existing toolkit.

9. WHAT HAVE YOU FAILED AT?

Now we get to something equally valuable.

Failure.

Most people would rather forget their failures.

A mentor will often want to examine them.

Because failure contains information.

Think about something you’ve tried that didn’t work.

Maybe you started a business.

Maybe you tried network marketing.

Maybe you built a website.

Maybe you started creating content.

Maybe you tried trading.

Maybe you began learning a new skill and gave up.

Don’t ask only:

“Why did I fail?”

Ask better questions.

What happened?

Where did things start going wrong?

What did I do well?

What didn’t I do well?

Did I give up too early?

Did I lack the necessary knowledge?

Did I choose the wrong approach?

Did I lose motivation?

Did I expect results too quickly?

Was I actually prepared to do the work?

And most importantly:

“What would I do differently next time?”

Failure becomes much less painful when you turn it into information.

10. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR EXPERIENCES?

This is where everything starts coming together.

Your experiences have given you information about yourself.

Perhaps you’ve discovered that you’re good at talking to people but terrible at writing.

Perhaps you’re highly disciplined when you have a clear target but easily distracted without one.

Perhaps you enjoy creating content but hate cold calling.

Perhaps you can work incredibly hard when you believe in something.

Perhaps you tend to jump from one opportunity to another whenever something new appears.

Perhaps you’ve learned that you need structure and accountability.

These discoveries matter.

Because the objective isn’t to become someone completely different.

It’s to understand who you are now and build from there.

YOUR PERSONAL STARTING POINT

Now take everything you’ve written and put it together.

You should be able to answer:

My vision

What do I ultimately want?

My goals

What specifically am I trying to achieve?

My ambitions

How far would I like to take this?

My strengths

What do I already have going for me?

My weaknesses

What could hold me back?

My values

What matters to me?

My motivation

Why am I doing this?

My successes

What have I already proved I can do?

My failures

What hasn’t worked?

My lessons

What have those experiences taught me?

You now have something far more valuable than a list of opportunities.

You have a starting point.

THE MENTOR’S QUESTION

If we were sitting across a desk from each other, this is where I would ask you one final question:

“Having thought honestly about everything we’ve discussed, what do you think is the biggest thing standing between where you are now and where you want to be?”

Don’t rush the answer.

It might be:

Knowledge.

Confidence.

Money.

Time.

Skills.

Discipline.

Direction.

Fear.

Consistency.

Or perhaps you simply don’t know yet.

That’s fine.

Because identifying the problem is the beginning of solving it.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

Don’t just read this article and move on.

Take 30–60 minutes and actually complete the exercises.

Create a document called:

“My Starting Point”

Then write down:

1. My vision
2. My three biggest goals
3. My ambitions
4. My ten strengths
5. My five weaknesses
6. My five core values
7. My real motivation
8. Ten things I’ve succeeded at
9. Three significant failures
10. What I’ve learned from them
11. The biggest obstacle I currently face

Keep this document.

You’ll come back to it.

Because as you learn, grow and build, some of your answers will change.

And that’s exactly what should happen.

NEXT: KNOW YOUR RESOURCES

Now that you’ve started understanding who you are, the next question is:

“What do I actually have to work with?”

Your time.

Your money.

Your skills.

Your knowledge.

Your experience.

Your network.

Your technology.

Your available support.

Because your plan shouldn’t be built around some imaginary version of your life.

It needs to fit the life you actually have.

Continue to Part 02 — Know Your Resources →