The Money First Trap

Last month, I turned down a $1,000/month client...

They read a post that I wrote on threads, sent me a long heartfelt message on instagram about desiring the life that I have built and took the time to fill out my private client application (perfected by chatgpt).

And i'll be honest, the money, at first, was intruging.

Especially considering that the particular offer he was enquiring about was for just 2 x 30 minute calls with me per month.

But something felt off and it took me a couple of days to explain to my wife that saying yes to this particular person didn’t sit right.

Essentially, what looked simple on paper, would’ve actually eaten up time I didn’t want to give, added work I didn’t want to deliver and pulled me away from the life-first model I’ve worked so hard to create.

So I politely explained to the dude that it wasn't a fit for me.

Now to be fully transparent, I haven’t always been good at this...

A few years ago I would have jumped at this opportunity, regardless of how much work it added to my plate.

But I learned (the hard way) that my goal isn't to build the biggest business possible.

It's to create the best life possible and build a business to support that life.

And i've found that the key to maintaining that, was knowing my enough number and then setting boundaries around what mattered most.

Here is how...

Start with how many hours you want to work.

If you want your business to support your life, your time has to be the first boundary you build around.

With that said how many hours do you actually want to work each week? Not what you could squeeze in if you pushed harder, drank more coffee or neglected your health, your family and your hobbies.

The actual amount, because everything else has to fit inside that number.

For the sake of easy maths, let’s say you want to work 20 hours a week.

It is important to remember that’s not all delivery. Those hours includes content, admin, emails, planning...

ya know, the things no one sees but all of us do.

Which means in reality, you probably have 10–12 hours available for actual paid work. Maybe even less.

If your offers can’t fit inside that, you’re either going to have to raise your prices, change how you deliver or adjust the structure.

Ask yourself: What would an aligned work week actually look like and am I building toward it?

Build something you’ll actually stick with.

Once you know how much time you’ve actually got, the next step is figuring out how you want to spend it.

This is where most people go wrong, they pick the offer that looks most profitable or is currently the most popular online instead of the one that suits how they actually work.

But the way you deliver your work will shape your entire week and if that delivery doesn’t fit your preferences and personality... You’ll quietly want to fake your own death.

So think about what you genuinely enjoy. Do you thrive in deep 1:1 conversations? Prefer running small group sessions? Want to sell something self-paced?

Each model uses your time differently, requires different energy to sustain and a unique set of skills.

And I can't stress this enough here, There’s no “best” model. Just the one that works best for you.

Ask yourself: Could I keep delivering this if I was tired, behind or having a shit month?

Check that makes the math, maths.

Once you know how many hours you’re willing to work and what kind of offer you want to deliver, it’s time to check if the numbers work.

Let’s hypothetically say your Enough Number is $5,000/month.

If you’re offering a $2,500 service, you need two clients. If it’s a $1,000 group program, you need five people. If it’s a $250 workshop, you need twenty. A $50 product? That’s 100 sales.

The math is simple. But the part most people skip is asking whether that path is realistic based on the audience they have, the systems they’ve built and the time they’re willing to give.

This is where most founders spiral despite doing "everything right"...

Not because the idea is necessarily bad, because the numbers may not make sense with their current set of circumstances and they haven't adjusted their expectations on when they'll become an "overnight success" to reflect that.

Ask yourself: Is this model capable of hitting my Enough Number consistently with the time, energy and audience I actually have?

In a nutshell...

You can hit your Enough Number in a lot of ways...

but doing it in a way that doesn’t cost you the very life that you're building it all for? That is where the real challenge begins.

So get honest with yourself about what you'll still want to run in 6 / 12 / 18 months from now.

Start with your time.

Choose offers you actually enjoy.

And map the math like your freedom depends on it, because it does.

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