“My business is starting to feel too samey.”

“My work no longer lights me up.”

“Spending so much time on social media drains me.”

Without fail, one of these things pops up in every ​strategy session​ I have — especially now, at the end of the year, when everyone feels drained.

What’s the solution? Embrace the boredom in some areas and nix it in others.

I’ll tell you how to figure out which boring activities get you the most revenue in a second. First, let’s welcome today’s partner, my dear friend Matt Thomas, who spent an insane amount of time putting together the best no-BS AI guide I’ve ever seen and used.

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I make money by writing words on a computer screen. Or so it seems

Writing is my favorite part of my business. Theoretically, it’s also what drives business:

  • People read my social media posts and they like them.
  • They subscribe to this newsletter because they want more of that.
  • They buy one of ​my products​.

But things don’t work like this in real life:

  • Getting discovered on (social) media is harder than ever.
  • So is getting people to allow you access into their inboxes.
  • My audience (just like yours!) is inundated with sales pitches and grand promises. So we have to constantly remind them why our offer is great for them.

No matter how good your content is, if it’s not consumed, it will be the world’s best-kept secret.

The boring stuff IS the revenue driver. Can you perfect it?

After a while, all businesses get samey. When your offer works, it sells fairly easily, so you feel that itch to do something more or something entirely different.

  • Should you jump on the AI bandwagon?
  • Launch a podcast?
  • A community, perhaps?
  • Become a keynote speaker?

As humans, we thrive on new challenges and we feel the brain rot creeping in when things get too routine.

The problem?

Boring routine = successful business.

Cats have it all figured out.

​This​ is just one of the thousands of pictures of cats that chose the box their expensive tower or toys came in.

No, they’re not assholes. They don’t do it to laugh at you for spending a small fortune on their furry asses.

They just prefer the boring cardboard box. Why mess with success?

What’s the equivalent of a cardboard box in business?

Half of what we do in a business is boring, repetitive, or both. A few examples from my business:

  • Paperwork and accounting — I hate them with the burning passion of 1,000 suns but there’s no business without this drudgery.
  • SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) like writing down every little step of publishing this newsletter — yaaaawn! But also very useful because it’s how I can spot inefficiencies.
  • Tinkering with email sequences and automations every damn month. Not the worst of this lot but I’d still rather be writing.
  • Social media grind: I spend at least one hour on social media every day and…it’s not always fun. But it’s what drives growth so I do it.

This is how I can afford to spend time doing the things I love in this business.

In January, I’ll be launching a new way for you to work 1:1 with me. I L-O-V-E-D coming up with the structure of the offer and imagining all the opportunities it will open up for you.

Part of this offer, however, is a way for you to document everything we work on together — a spreadsheet or a Notion thingie, I haven’t decided yet. I H-A-T-E this part.

But you need it, so I need to do it.

A similar thing happened with all my products. I loved putting them together, bringing the concept to life, and writing about them.

Behind the scenes, however, a lot of drudgery happened:

  • Aligning bullet points in PPTs.
  • Uploading every lesson of ​Audience Accelerator​, then adding descriptions, worksheets, and more.
  • Setting up products in ​Kit​ or ​ThriveCart​.
  • Cursing Word — WHY CAN’T YOU REMEMBER THE DAMN FONTS?!
  • Putting out a ton of tiny fires (website won’t load, image on landing page looks crooked, where the F did the form disappear to?!)

Yes, I have help with some of these things (web and graphic design chief among them). But the drudgery is real. Just like the fact that it’s what keeps the lights on.

So, how do you deal with the boring side of your business and how do you find things that light you up — even after several years?

Boring processes + NOT boring content = successful business

I’m fully aware that what’s boring for someone is the best possible task for someone else. The person who helps me with part of my paperwork LOVES it with everything she’s got — that’s why I hired her.

However, there will always be something you hate doing but needs to be done.

Do you LOVE brushing your teeth and flossing? Probably not but you probably don’t hate it either — you’ve been doing it for so long that it simply feels like a non-negotiable part of your daily routine.

That’s my recipe for dealing with business drudgery: if I can brush my teeth at least twice a day, I can submit my paperwork on time and I can tweak those damn images in a slide deck until they look at least half-decent.

Let’s look at each of these things.

The case for embracing boring business processes

Mastering a musical instrument ​takes​ 1-3 hours of daily practice and study for 10-15 years. Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to achieve true expertise in…anything. This idea ​was debunked​ over and over again, though.

While it may not take you 15 years of daily practice or 10,000 hours to perfect a business process, odds are that you won’t nail it on the first try either.

Despite what online gurus say, business isn’t always easy — nor fun. ​90% of startups fail​. This insane number alone should tell you that business is NOT easy.

In all the communities and masterminds I’m part of, seasoned entrepreneurs (a lot of them insanely successful!) spend weeks obsessing over seemingly tiny things: a welcome sequence, a LinkedIn post format, the perfect price for an offer, and so on.

For some, it’s fun. Others, like me, would rather spend time writing or creating something.

But they do it nonetheless. Because they know boring processes build successful businesses.

You brush your teeth so they don’t fall out. Embrace the boring so you can keep doing work that lights you up.

Speaking of which —

How not to lose the joy of showing up in your business

I keep going back to ​this cartoon​ by Jonathan Stark because it sums up my beliefs perfectly.

I used it in a previous issue where I was talking about content pillars and finding your WHY or your BIG IDEA. ​You can read it here​.

The TL;DR is that you need a reason that goes beyond money, otherwise it’s hard to find those moments that light you up and keep you going.

At some point, you will meet all your financial goals — and then what? How much time can you spend counting your money?

Countless studies (​here’s one​) show that happiness levels increase linearly with income but plateau after a while. So it’s wise to have a why that goes beyond yachts and Lamborghinis.

The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect on your why, BTW!

Listen, I fully recognize that chasing your why is a privilege, one that not everyone has. You can run a business just to pay the bills, there’s nothing wrong with that. I was there for years.

That doesn’t mean you have to hate your business, though.

What kept me afloat was focusing on my strengths and leveraging those rather than chasing every shiny new object. I’ve always loved writing and I’m pretty good at it, so that’s what my agency sells — a trade I enjoy spending time on.

For instance:

  • If you’re not confident in your speaking abilities, don’t launch a podcast just because everyone is doing it — it’s going to feel like hell on earth.
  • If you hate editing videos, don’t open a TikTok account unless you can outsource this task.
  • Introvert? Don’t organize in-person meet-ups with your audience. Start with online ones until you feel more comfortable as a host.

There’s always a non-negotiable business nuisance you have to deal with. Don’t add any more of these pricks to your plate than you absolutely need to.

In business, as in life, the unpleasant chores are part of the game

You can outsource or automate some things — cleaning your home, for instance. But you can’t outsource brushing your teeth, right?

The more time you spend on oral hygiene, the less time and money you will spend on fixing your teeth later on.

The same thing is true in business: the more time you spend perfecting the processes everyone hates, the better your business will do. Just like you, everyone hates them so most people will just half-ass them.

If you have the discipline to perfect them, you’re in the home run

What’s one thing you hate doing but will do nonetheless in 2025? Hit reply and let me know.

Mine is documenting SOPs again. I stopped doing them for a while and suffered the consequences — so yeah, I’ll be back on that nasty horse.

Two quick announcements before I sign off

  • The price for my strategy session goes up on January 1st. If you need more clarity for your 2025 strategy, this is the time to lock in the current price. ​Grab it here​!
  • For the first time in 2+ years, Ideas to Power Your Future will skip an issue. No IPF on December 26th because it’s still Christmas. Enjoy your holiday and see you in 2025 — may it be your best year yet!