3 Steps to Unlocking Entrepreneurial Freedom

Wake up. 

18-hour work days. 

Hustle. 

7-day work week. 

Sleep.

0 time spent on yourself. 

Repeat. 

As entrepreneurs, we all have the same goal — success. 

But are you sacrificing your personal freedom to get there? 

You’re constantly on the move…

And yet, you’re still unfulfilled. 

“I don’t understand,” you say. 

“I thought running my own business meant more freedom, but I’m closer to burnout than to my goals.” 

“What am I doing wrong?” 

You, my friend, are not operating with freedom in mind. 

The duo of financial AND time freedom gives you the power to do everything you’ve ever wanted to…

It’s how you gain control of your present, to maximise the potential of your future. 

It’s about waking up every day knowing you can design — and achieve — the life you want.

And, as someone who was stuck in a freedomless reality… 

I know how hard it is.

It’s hard to learn how to refocus your energy. 

It’s hard to grasp that working 24/7 ≠ success.

It’s hard to know how to achieve the personal freedom you’ve been craving.  

I get it…

And considering the number of you who, in our recent survey, asked for advice on achieving freedom…

(Which, if you haven’t, you can fill out here.)

You get it, too. 

So today, I wanted to share how I achieved both financial and time freedom… 

(Without the 7-day work week and 18-hour days you’re used to.)

Step 1 —  Financial: Assess and Adjust

I’d be lying if I said freedom was all about money.

But I’d also be lying if I said money wasn’t a big part of the equation.

When I shared the secrets behind making my first million, I highlighted the importance of knowing your numbers, especially in business.

Taking the time to review things like… 

• Revenue, overheads, and profit margins

• Funnel conversion rates 

• Client experience metrics 

Looking at the cold, hard data is the only way you’ll know how far away your goals are. 

So let’s just say one day, you’re digging into your reports…

You’re looking through all your metrics…

Then you notice something unusual…

Your stomach drops. 

It doesn’t look good. 

What now? 

You need a paradigm shift. 

You need to define what success means to you as an entrepreneur. 

You need to embrace that definition through a new mindset about how you spend your time and money.

Your old mindset might have suggested it’s time to throw in the towel.

But with a new mindset…

A newly embraced paradigm…

You. Can. Solve. This. Problem.

The first step to your financial freedom mindset is, assess. 

Consider what your financial goals are… 

What weekly/ monthly/ quarterly targets do you need to hit in order to reach them?

What happened in the past week/month/quarter that caused you to miss those goals? 

Did you overspend? 

Did you sign up enough clients? 

Did you lose sight of your goals? 

Take note of the specific things that set you back from your financial targets…

And figure out how you can do better tomorrow, one step at a time. 

At Dashdot, we are measurement-mad. 

Every week, our teams track and report their progress… 

And every quarter our whole team reflects on the last 3 months. 

Doing this keeps our strategy sharp, our focus high, and our attention on the things that matter.

So how do you assess your financial performance?

Value-aligned reflection is a great way to start. 

At the end of every day, take a good, hard look at each of your expenses…

Think about whether or not those purchases are aligned with your personal or financial goals. 

Is a McDonald’s breakfast really helping your health and fitness goals? 

(Probably not — ditch it.)

Is your mindfulness app subscription really helping you improve your well-being? 

(I’d guess yes — keep it.)

Are your weekend benders helping you achieve financial freedom? 

(Doubt it — ditch ‘em.)

Once you figure out how to better manage your finances, you can keep more of the money you make.

That’s why the second step is to adjust.

Once you assess your financial goals…

Once you know your numbers…

Once you have tangible information to work with… 

Then you can make data-informed adjustments that will bring you closer towards financial freedom. 

And one of the best ways to do this is through diversification. 

Diversification is how you future-proof your income.

Because the alternative to diversification?

Risk.  

Relying on one single product or service to perform consistently is risky. 

Meeting financial goals through a single income stream is risky. 

Diversification can help you upskill, grow, and expand your business.

Maybe you try freelance graphic design on the side. 

Maybe you use your marketing expertise as a business consultant. 

Maybe you help fellow entrepreneurs grow with 1:1 coaching services. 

No matter what you try…

You need to diversify your income with data-informed adjustments that help you reach your goals. 

After all, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” is a saying for a reason. 

Step 2 — Time: Optimise Operations 

One of the least sexy — but most important parts of business?

Operations. 

The only way to reach the level of time freedom you want? 

Operations. 

Optimising the systems you use and the way you run your business… 

Is how you liberate your personal time and reduce your business dependency. 

Do you need to hire staff?

Are you delegating tasks?

Are inefficient systems and processes taking up too much time? 

Take how we run this newsletter for example. 

The Wild Goose Chase team ideates in a tailored Notion board… 

We draft, write, and edit in a shared Google Drive… 

We send out the newsletters and analyse metrics with Beehiiv… 

And we communicate between us in Slack.

Now you might be thinking, “That’s a ton of moving parts.” 

You’re right it is — but the benefit of optimising operations is…

You front-load the planning and preparation, so you can offload work later. 

Spend time setting up your administrative operations now… 

So you spend less time wondering how to do things later. 

Once you master the “front-load now, offload later” mindset…

You unlock a whole world of streamlined opportunities.

Take low-effort revenue generators for example. 

Things like lead magnets and information products that literally generate revenue while you sleep. 

Say you spend 5 hours on an ebook that you sell on your website. 

You write it, design it, upload it, and mark it for sale… 

Right now, you’re in the red, with 5 hours gone and $0 to show for it. 

But…

As time goes on…

As you make more revenue with less effort…

You’ve not only generating income on autopilot… 

But you’ve ALSO successfully freed up your time and can start prioritising work-life integration.

You can build relationships, travel, practice mindfulness, learn a new hobby…

All while your bank account slowly builds in the background. 

But the revenue isn’t even the best part.

Like entrepreneurial-freedom-overlord Tim Ferriss said in ‘The 4 Hour Workweek’:

“$1,000,000 in the bank isn't the fantasy. The fantasy is the lifestyle of complete freedom.”

Step 3 — Future-Proof Your Business with a Freedom-First Mindset

So you’ve put the work in to assess, adjust, and optimise… 

Now what? 

How do you keep it up?

How do you wake up every morning and continue to fulfil your goals towards financial and time freedom?

Start by keeping your purpose clear. 

Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. 

Why did you spend time on systems, processes, and automations? 

Why did you front-load “unpaid” work to create intellectual property for your brand? 

Your answer should be: 

For the freedom it will grant you. 

The financial freedom to do what you want with the money you have. 

The business freedom to grow and pivot in ways that align with work-life integration. 

The time freedom to do what you want with the people who are important to you. 

The personal freedom to set boundaries you need to maintain work-life integration you’ve worked so hard to achieve. 

People say, “love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life.” 

If you create a business that embodies everything you love…

The distinction between life and business is seamless.

Now that’s true freedom. 

How You Get Ahead: Pitfalls and Drawbacks 

When I was just getting started as an entrepreneur, I faced the same struggles you’re facing now. 

Constant battles — but no wins. 

Constant stress — but no payoff. 

Constant work — but no progress. 

Struggling seems like an unwritten requirement in the early days of business. 

But it actually highlights an important aspect about the entrepreneurial path.

The challenges you’re experiencing now, have been felt by others before. 

The most common things you’ll face? 

Impatience. 

“I should have made my first million already. It shouldn’t be taking this long!” 

Yet it took entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg years to make their first million.  

Humility. 

“Once I’m successful, I’ll buy a Lambo and a Rolex because that’s what people who’ve made it do.”

Yet Warren Buffet still lives in the home he bought in 1958, despite now being a billionaire. 

Failure.

“I fucked up, I should quit now to save myself the embarrassment.”

Yet Bill Gates’ first company, Traf-O-Data, tanked. 

The problem isn’t the “problems” themselves. 

It’s your mindset. 

If Jeff Bezos wasn’t patient, we’d never have Amazon. 

If Warren Buffet wasn’t humble, we’d never have the book The Making of an American Capitalist.  

If Bill Gates wasn’t persistent, we’d never have Microsoft. 

Pitfalls and drawbacks are an inevitable part of being an entrepreneur…

But the entrepreneurial spirit is robust.

Be resilient in the face of adversity.  

Take time to celebrate the joyful moments throughout the journey. 

Form the proper habits and rituals that will lead you to achieve financial and time freedom…

It takes consistency, but by putting the work in now, you can enjoy the payoff later. 

And, this perspective is what will keep you on track to achieve your goals.  

As entrepreneurs, we all have the same goal — success. 

But success isn’t success if it’s at the expense of freedom… 

I know how hard it is to move away from the idea that working 24/7 = success.

And as someone who is on the other side…

The side with freedom to live how you want… 

There’s nothing in life that feels as good as this. 

Stay powerful, stay awesome. 

P.S: This week, establish a personal boundary that leads you towards achieving financial and time freedom. I no longer work after 3pm, and I’ve never been happier…

P.P.S: Whenever you’re ready, here are a few things you might be interested in:

1. Advice On Starting Your Business: A powerful Youtube video where I answered a reader’s question on how to start a successful business.

2. 'How I Quit Alcohol' Podcast: One of my favourite interviews I’ve ever done. If you’re interested in learning how I came from rock bottom to create a life I’m proud of, you’ll want to listen.

3. Follow me on IG: Get bite-sized video content and behind-the-scenes of my nomad entrepreneur life

4. Join The Waitlist: We’re creating an exclusive online community of 6, 7 and 8-figure entrepreneurs seeking to become citizens of the world and achieve self-actualisation through business, lifestyle design, and personal evolution. I think you’ll love it: The Nomad Entrepreneur Network

And, of course, if you know other people who might enjoy content like this, please share this with them.

Your help in building this community will be forever appreciated.