If you’re ready to create a business that supports your life instead of running it, this is the episode you need.
Carly and Joe dive into Step Zero of the Solopreneur Success Cycle: Defining Your Goals, and spoiler alert: it’s way deeper than “make money” or “gain freedom.”
You’ll learn how to uncover your true why, build goals that actually guide your decisions, and avoid creating a business you secretly resent. From toddler-style questioning to "change charts" and accountability hacks, this episode is your blueprint for building a business you actually like.
Whether you're dreaming, pivoting, or feeling stuck, press play before you plan another move.
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Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business.
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EpisodeTranscript
Carly Ries: Before you build the business of your dreams, ask yourself, why are you even doing this? In this episode, we continue our special series diving into the solopreneur success cycle, starting with the often skipped but absolutely necessary step zero, defining your goals. Not the vague, more freedom kind, but the crystal clear, why do you really want this goals that guide every decision you'll make. You'll hear stories, practical tips, and a whole lot of real talk about building a business that aligns with your life, not the other way around. If you've ever wondered how to say no with confidence or avoid building a business you secretly resent, this episode is your starting podcast for those just taking the bold step or even just thinking about taking that step into the world of solo entrepreneurship.
My name is Carly Ries and my cohost Joe Rando and I are your guides to navigating this crazy but awesome journey as a company of one. We take pride in being part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all aspects of solopreneurship that has empowered and educated countless solopreneurs looking to build a business that resonates with their life's ambitions. We help people work to live, not live to work. And if you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the show for you. So if you're eager to gain valuable insights from industry experts on running a business the right way the first time around or want to learn from the missteps of solopreneurs who've paved the way before you, then stick around.
We've got your back because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. Alright, listeners. You just heard me talk about our crazy offer that we are giving in correlation with our book launch in October, early October twenty twenty five. And as part of the launch, we are doing a series kinda discussing the solopreneur success cycle, which is what the book is based on. We are not giving away everything in the book.
These episodes are quick overviews. They'll still provide value, so even if you don't buy it, which you should, you'll still get something. But we definitely dive further into these topics. In our last episode, we discussed the solopreneur success cycle. We kinda gave it an overview.
You can find it in our show notes. But today we wanna dive into what we call step zero. And that is the whole section on defining your goals. I know what you're thinking. You're like, well yeah, I have goals.
Well we all have goals on New Year's Eve. And then we don't stick to any of those goals. Obviously those goals are important, but the biggest thing when it comes to goals is your why. Because when you are flying a solo business, you're gonna take directions you don't necessarily wanna take. You're gonna make decisions you don't agree with, and then you backtrack on.
It's just kinda you're all over the place as a solopreneur. You can be unless you have that north star to drive all of your decisions towards. And that is your why, and that should be the basis of all of your goals. So if you're like, should I take this offer? Well, does it align with my goal? Does it not align with my goal? No. And as you're creating these goals, you'll start to understand the power of no. And Joe, we talk about the power of no frequently in our episodes, on our webinar, on our live events, and everything.
But the more focused you can get in your goals, the more focused you can be in all the decisions and efforts you make with your business, and you'll stop spinning your wheels because that is something that we see solopreneurs run into time and time again. So when I say your why, I don't mean, oh, because I want time back in my day. I want you to get really, really specific. I call it the toddler role, where you're like, why? Why?
Why? And so you say, well why do I want more time back in my day? Because I want to hit my fitness goals. Well why do you wanna hit your fitness goals? Because I wanna have enough energy to play with my grandkids when I reach that point.
Joe, you look like you're gonna say something.
Joe Rando: Well, just you and grandkids. Nah. No.
Carly Ries: I mean, I'm trying to throw you into the conversation too, Joe.
but why do you wanna play with your grandkids? Because that fills your cup. That brings you joy, and that at the end of the day is what everything is all about.
Bingo. So when you are making these decisions, if the ultimate decision you're making doesn't align with you ultimately playing with your grandkids, because you're in great shape, and you're aligned with that goal that you set, I just lost my train of thought. But everything needs to line up to that decision. Joe, chime in here.
Joe Rando: Yeah. I totally agree with everything that you're saying. The thing to keep in mind is that one of the risks of not doing this is building a business you don't like running. So as you're defining the business later on in this process, you're gonna be looking at these goals and making sure.
So, you wanna get in better shape so that you can play with your grandkids. But if the business you build involves a lot of traveling, well, you know, maybe you could get into shape because there's, a gym in the hotel, but, you know, you're gonna be away from home and not being able to spend time with the grandkids. So there's just, making this set of goals front and center when you're defining what the business is gonna be like is really important. I have built businesses I don't like running, and it's not fun. You know? It's less fun when they're not successful.
But even when they're successful,
I've seen a lot of people trying to sell businesses, and they're like, I've got, 2,000 members in my online community, and it's making this much revenue, but I'm just done. Because that's not what they wanted. And so that's really important to kind of do that. And also, just another thing I wanna point out is that it's really important to create goals that are realistic. I might have a goal that my dog won't bark during the podcast recording.
You might have a goal that your kids are quiet during the podcast recording. Never gonna happen. So don't make it a goal. You know? You are gonna just be frustrated.
So, anyway, I don't know if you heard barking, but, anyway.
Carly Ries: Should be timely like this episode, And them barking and making a noise during this.
Joe Rando: So just keep it real. The whole why thing is awesome.
Carly Ries: Well, I think also the important thing for setting goals, because this is a step that so many people miss. Or they think about it, but they don't put honest effort into it. And our whole point is you, this is step zero before you do anything with your business. This includes planning. you need to plan your goals.
You need to document your goals. And yeah, could be your north star, but also you wanna track your progress. And your goals may change. I would say write your goals down, your specific goals down.
I mean, many of you have heard of SMART goals, and I feel like we keep talking about parts of the acronym. But write those goals down, put them somewhere front and center, and then track your progress with them. Like are your efforts reaching those goals? And we like to call it a change chart where you can see where you started, and see where you're going and see if your goals are still aligned. It's okay if your goals change over time, but you need to be able to see where you stand with them as you create your business.
So I would say frequent check ins. I think monthly to check-in on these goals. That depends on your business, sure. But just have honest conversations with yourself. And the other thing is, we've talked to so many solopreneurs and their goals are financial. I mean in one way or another. It's I wanna make x amount of dollars, or I wanna pay off my mortgage, or I wanna save for my kids' college, which looks great. Like, obviously
Joe Rando: You need financial goals. Yeah. Definitely.
Carly Ries: This is a business. You need to support your lifestyle. But you forget to say, I have a goal of waking up in the morning relaxed. Because so many people wake up with their business and they're like, fire alarms are going off and it's crazy. What are your goals of how you feel?
What are your goals of how you spend your day? What are your goals of who you surround yourself with? really think through your ideal lifestyle, and then think through how your business relates to that. So don't forget other areas. I mean we are so big on intertwining your life and your business, don't let it take over. you want to create a business that works for you, not that you work for it. And think of those personal goals as they relate to your business, and your business as they relate to your personal goals. And put a lot of time and effort into it. it's actually fun. I love that phase of the journey.
Joe Rando: I'm assuming that anybody that's starting a one person business, I mean, you've done it, great, but if you're gonna start one, your life isn't exactly what you want. I mean, if you had a perfect life right now, why would you change something? So there's something you want to have to be different. And so the change chart is just writing down where you are now in these various categories that are important to you, and then where you want them to be when you've successfully implemented this one person business and made these changes to your life.
And that's what you were talking about with the change chart, it's a really powerful exercise to do, and I highly recommend it. the other thing I just wanna point out because you kind of said it, but accountability is crucial to this because, you know, if you don't hold yourself accountable to keep, maintaining your goals, it's not gonna happen. And the other thing is that having other people around you, to help keep you accountable can be a really powerful tool toward sticking to this because you know, we're social beings. And when we tell somebody else we're doing something, then they go, how's that going? You feel a lot more pressure than if it's just you.
And this is one of the things about being solo. That it's harder to be accountable because you don't have a boss or coworkers relying on you. You're just relying on yourself.
Carly Ries: Accountability and reminders. So I'm not gonna show my phone screen because, well, I don't know if it'll come through, but two, I have personal stuff on it that I won't show. But my home screen includes my goals. I have pictures on there on my screen because we all look at our phones a gazillion times a day. So every time I grab my phone, my goals, there are eight pictures.
And it's different things that I'm working towards. And if the things that I'm presented with don't align with those, it's easier to say no. Which is my full tie back to the beginning of this episode.
Joe Rando: Very good. Well done.
Carly Ries: Thank you so so much for tuning in. Again, this is part of a series that we're going through over the solopreneur success cycle, so be sure to tune in to the other episodes. But in the meantime, please share this episode with a friend, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, leave that five star review, and we will see you next time on The Aspiring Solopreneur. You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go.
So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.