I Lost My Direction In Business (Here's How I Got It Back)

Let’s rewind the clock back to the middle of 2024.

I had been building my online coaching business for about 3 years, my calendar was packed with 1:1 coaching clients and sales calls all day, every day.

I was supporting a family, my wife and I were trying for our 2nd child and I was burning out. 

Business was going well, I was earning more money than I had ever before but I was on the hamster wheel and it felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

I was starting to feel confused because I had achieved a lot of the goals I had set for myself years earlier and that actually left me with a lack of direction.

I was wondering, “what next?”

This is a common problem I hear from business owners who achieve their goals.

They wanted to build the business, earn the money and create success.

Then when they do, they have this existential crisis because despite having achieved the material success they set out to achieve, they feel empty and with a lack of direction to move forward with.

This is exactly what happened to me as well.

I wanted to keep moving forward, growing and developing myself and my business but I didn’t want all the stress that came with it.

I went through this period of really questioning myself to get some clarity on how I wanted to continue running my business (and my life).

I knew I couldn’t keep up with the packed out calendar of 1:1 coaching calls while also being a good Husband and Father.

It wasn’t sustainable.

I do love my work though.

So I asked, what could I do to make this sustainable for the next 10, 20 or even 30 years?

How could I keep growing with less stress without sacrificing success?

That’s what I want to share with you in this blog.

Here’s How I Got My Direction Back In Business & Life

There were a few fundamentals things I did.

1. Got clear on my purpose and my “Why?”
2. Started to structure my business around my “zone of genius”
3. Deleted things that weren’t aligned to make space for things that were

Get clear on my purpose and my "why?"

There’s a reason you’re in the line of work you’re in.

You went into your business career for a specific reason.

There’s something you’re naturally good at or there’s an outcome you wanted.

Unless you really hate your business, in which case you have some things to consider.

For most of us, it’s not that we “HATE” the business, it’s that the business has got control over us instead of us having control over the business.

You’re working IN the business instead of working ON the business.

That was the case for me anyway.

I was trading my time for money and the business was solely reliant on me being there for every single client every day. 

If I wanted more clients I needed to do more sales calls.

If I wanted to keep the clients I had, I needed to be there with my time when they needed me.

Now I want to make it clear, I’m not against hard work or providing an incredible service for my clients.

I’m just more interested in creating a system where I can focus on high-leverage activities that produce the best outcomes for my clients while not requiring extensive amounts of time from me.

I remembered my purpose is to help people with their mental wellbeing and mindset.

I remembered why I am doing this in the first place and then I thought of the best way I could live my purpose of helping more people in the most effective way.

It wasn’t doing 1:1 calls everyday.

I was talking to my clients and just listening to their problems so much and I really don’t believe that works for helping them anyway.

Talking about your problems doesn’t help.

Taking action, becoming self-responsible and disciplined does help.

So I figured if I just give them the pathway and teach them what to do, they can do it themselves.

When people adopt this mentality, they get the best results.

Honestly, the results people get in my membership are equal to the results people get with 1:1 coaching.

The outcomes are the same WHEN the individual puts into practice the work.

When they rely on me to hold their hand, it doesn’t work.

I still do 1:1 coaching because some of the entrepreneurs I work with just don’t have time to be going through the course materials but now it’s limited to 10x people at a time.

But now I redirect a lot of my focus to building out the community membership, courses and I put my knowledge into systems that people can access in their own time.

This leads me to the second point...

I started to structure my business around my “zone of genius”

My zone of genius is teaching.

I’m a great teacher and I have a skillset in explaining complex topics in a way that’s easy to understand.

I can help people understand the non-physical aspects of themselves (the mind, emotions, thoughts and spirit) in a way that empowers and inspires them to take control of their life.

So I directed 80% of my focus into creating systems, methods and tools to help people develop mastery of their mind, their emotions and their direction in life.

This is how I spend 80% of my time on the business now.

Creating transformational resources.

Blogs, videos, course materials, presentation, systems and coaching classes.

This is my zone of genius, not yours.

It’s important you don’t try to copy me because what works for me, might not work for you.

You have to get your own understanding of your purpose, your zone of genius and the best way you can structure your business and your life.

This brings me to my final point.

Delete things that aren’t aligned to make space for things that are

All of this change has happened over the last 6-12 months.

It didn’t happen overnight but I did start to let go of a lot of 1:1 clients as I started to build the membership and courses.

I needed to delete things that were consuming my time to make space for new things.

This is actually called “The Vacuum Effect”

Another example of this would be if you have a whole bunch of clothes in your wardrobe that you never wear, you don’t have any space for new clothes so you probably won’t get many new clothes.

If you have paintings on your wall that you don’t like, you’re unlikely to replace them.

If you threw the clothes out (or gave them away) or you got rid of the paintings on the wall, you’re gonna be a lot more likely to fill that space again.

The Vacuum Effect.

Sometimes you need to delete things that aren’t working to create space for the new.

Nature does this every year.

Autumn and Winter kills off a lot of the old growth to make space for new life in Spring and Summer.

You’ve gotta stop doing things that aren’t working so you can have the mental space to do things that will work.

That was true for me anyway.

Now I am in love with my business again.

I’m creating transformational resources multiple times per week.

I’m coaching my community multiple times per week.

My coaching clients are getting results without me micro-managing.

And I still work with a handful of business owners in my 1:1 coaching which keeps me sharp.

I’ve found a really nice rhythm and balance which I feel like I could easily sustain for the next 10 years.

If you’re struggling with your direction in business or life and it’s causing you to feel stressed, unfulfilled and lost, I’d love to help you out.

You don’t need to live with anxiety, dreading each new day or week in your business.

You can live with peace, presence and purpose.

Here’s a couple of ways I can help:

1. Join the Mind Launch Membership here and get access to a clear pathway to find alignment in your life.

2. Book a free 15-min clarity call here to discuss 1:1 coaching options.
*I have a few spots available to start in October 2025.

You got this!

With Optimism,

Josh