People often feel lost after a big deadline because their driver is suddenly gone.

To solve this, you need to dive deeper into your Purpose.

Define your purpose by asking:

• How do you want to be remembered?
• How do you want to make an impact on other people’s lives?
• What does the greatest version of yourself look like?

Rather than competing in games where you’re an underdog, find unexplored new markets in which you can win.

Examine both your unique skill set and the competitive landscape to find your “Blue Ocean”.

Process the competitive landscape by asking:

• Is this a place where you believe you can do well, given who your competition is?
• Do you possess the necessary resources to compete?
• Do you need to acquire specific resources before you can compete?
• Have you educated yourself about the competition?
• Is there some additional benefit your competitor has that you can’t beat, no matter what you do?

Before you act on a problem, you must first “process” what’s happening. The key to success at all levels of business is to know how to process issues:

Optimal processing is:

• The ability to make effective decisions based on access to information at hand with the highest odds in your favor
• Subjecting every difficult choice, problem, or opportunity you face to a rigorous mental analysis
• Playing out strategies, seeing the hidden consequences, and sequencing a series of moves to permanently solve problems

But to be great at processing problems, you need to take responsibility whenever you can. 

• Ask lots of questions. Having more data leads to making better assumptions
• Don’t care about being right or wrong. Be only interested only in the truth.
• Don’t make excuses. Wasting time and effort on why things went wrong is not productive
• Embrace challenges
• Be curious. You can’t solve problems without knowledge
• Prevent more problems than you solve. Spot yellow flags before they turn red
• Learn to negotiate
• Focus on permanently solving a problem. Don’t put band-aids on problems

Instead of reacting emotionally to problems, use the Investment Time Return (ITR) formula to reach an objective conclusion.

Investment Time Return formula:

• Investment. How much will it cost or save
• Time. How much time will it take or save
• Return. Return on the money and time involved in the decision

• Find at least 3 alternative solutions to a given problem. The more choices you have, the better are your decisions
• Determine the money investment of each solution
• Determine the time investment of each solution. Is it a 3-month project or a 6-month project?
• Calculate the return for each solution. What are the impacts on your revenue and cost?
• Figure out the breakeven point of each project

Make a list of the blind spots or things that could go wrong with each decision. If you only think about what could go right, you will overlook the downside.

Problems might be different, but the way you process them should not.

You need to give structure to your decision-making.

The ability to solve problems well is the ability to take a complex issue you’re facing and break it down into a step-by-step formula that helps you identify the root of the problem.

Three parts to Solve for X:

• Investigate. Find out the real causes of the issue, the impact of the problem, and how urgent it is
• Solve. List out possible solutions and their consequences
• Implement. Who will be responsible for the project and how it will change future situations

Working effectively with others will mean the difference between enjoying the process and desperately seeking a day job while hiding under your desk.

Instead of being selfish and looking to see what you could take from others, focus on what you could give them.

You need to define:

• What benefits are you currently offering to others? 
• In what way do people improve by associating with you?
• How many lives have you changed positively in the past year?

Think about who you need to help you to achieve your long-term objectives. Take care of them, and they’ll back you up.

As your company grows, you will constantly replace yourself with others.

Alongside the growth, you also need to create a contingency plan to replace any important position.

If you have a plan in place for how to replace every key member of your team, you can handle an unexpected exit without missing a beat. Plus you’ll sleep better at night, knowing your next several moves are already planned out.

List your tasks and skills. Make a list of all your tasks and skills and determine which ones you are good and bad at.

Identify who’s seasonal and who’s not. Identify who is there to fill a six-year role and who a six-month role

Know the different languages spoken by your sales, support, technical, and executive teams.

Identify who can maintain the company culture.  

Know your company’s practices and procedures. Write down each department’s practices and procedures to help transfer skills

Develop leaders to help spread the right mindset

Ways you give and receive love into 5 categories:

• Quality Time. One-on-one time of undivided attention
• Words of Affirmation. Appreciate the effort verbally
• Gifts. Offer something to symbolize your appreciation
• Acts of Service. Be at their disposal when they need you
• Physical Touch. Non-verbal use of body language and touch to show appreciation

Show people that you take the time and care needed to understand what they want.

• Don’t be afraid to call them out when they don’t keep their word. 
• Ask why they broke their promise. Get a specific answer.
• Make specific quantitative statements, not blanket qualitative ones. Give them specific challenges to meet that can be measured and have deadlines.
• Provide clear metrics and incentives. Let them know what they will get for hitting (or missing) their metrics.
• Coach people through their workflow. Help them improve how they work.
• Know the role each person plays on the team.  
• Finish with heart and empathy.

Seven-step system to compress time frames and increase speed:

• Choose a process. One of the best ways to identify a potential business is to find a flawed process that you can improve upon
• List the steps of the process
• Remove a step. How would the process function without that step? If the process is not affected, take it out
• Minimize the steps. Take the remaining steps and condense their time frame
• Beta test the new process. Find a subset of customers to test and see how the new process functions
• Adapt the process. Based on the results of your beta test, adjust your process
• Repeat.

• Know your weaknesses. Knowing your weaknesses will enable you to pivot when taking on your Goliath
• Know Goliath’s weaknesses.
• Master three things you do better.
• Don’t try to be Goliath.  Don’t copy
• Specialize. Goliaths tend to generalize in order to spread their influence and power.
• When you’re small, make yourself appear bigger. 
• Keep a low profile initially.
• Move quickly. 
• Partner with competitors that share an enemy.
• Study history. Prepare by learning from historical events
• Let other competitors wear your opponents down. Save your resources whenever you can
• Don’t disclose your strategy. 

A simple rule of business is that in order to get, you have to give. Most amateurs are experts at making demands. What they fail to do is offer value first. When you put yourself into the other party’s shoes and lead with how they will win and make money, it will be natural for them to give you what you want.