“What if you could double your business in 2026 and cut your hours in half?”

Nate didn’t hesitate, “That’s impossible,” he blurted with some slight laughter in his tone. He thought I was kidding, but I was serious.

“Is it?” I challenged. “How do you know it’s impossible?”

He paused for a moment, realizing he hadn’t even considered the possibility of my question.

The idea seemed totally preposterous based upon how 2025 had gone. Nate’s business had grown quite significantly last year, but so had the stress he carried. The only way he knew to grow the business was by pouring more of his time into the business.

Truth is, he was tired; tired of being the rainmaker, tired of being the one whose shoulders the weight of the business’ results on his shoulders.

The only reason my challenge felt impossible was because he didn’t know HOW to do it or where to begin.

Finally, he came back up for air. “Okay, let’s pretend that was possible. How in the world would I make that happen? I’m all ears!”

Here is where most highly successful entrepreneurs go wrong.

They start by asking the question HOW. What they should be asking is “WHO”.

(no, I’m not referring to the somewhat famous book “Who Not How” by Dan Sullivan, which is a great book BTW)

“You’re asking the wrong question Nate.”

“The goal I challenged you to pursue is MEANT to be impossible. With your current leadership style, you could NEVER make it happen. IF you wanted even a small chance of achieving that goal, you’d have to become a different type of leader entirely.”

A goal is a starting point to launch your personal/professional transformation.

Nate needed to be asking ‘WHO do I need to BECOME’ – not – ‘HOW would I make that happen?’

The only reason to set an impossible goal is so you elevate and become the kind of leader who could make that goal possible.

And even if you don’t quite hit that goal, it doesn’t really matter, because you became the kind of person who could make a goal like that possible.

“If you want to grow your business by 10-15% next year and maybe take an extra vacation, you could use ChatGPT to help you figure out a linear plan for that,” I said.

“You don’t need me. If that’s what you want, let’s hop off the call and let you spend some quality time with your LLM of choice.”

Nate knew I was challenging him from a loving place and so he took no offense to my sarcasm.

But he got the point.

When you start with a goal that feels impossible,
it requires you to have to think differently,
prioritize differently, operate differently,
lead differently & expect different things from your team.

And ironically, by transforming your leadership,

 the business actually grows MORE

than if you had worked all those extra hours.

My own impossible goal in 2026 requires me to become a man who:

• Allows his heart to lead as much as his head.
• Owns who God has already shaped him to be.
• Values connection as much as achievement.
• Allows others to see all of him, not just the polished parts.
• Lives as a joy-filled, mission-driven steward who delights, rests, and roots himself in Christ.

What about you?

What’s YOUR impossible goal this year?

And WHO would you need to BECOME in order to make it happen?

By pursuing becoming THAT man/woman, your “impossible goal” becomes more possible. You don’t need a 28-step strategy to make your goal happen; you simply need to get clear on WHO you need to BECOME and then strategize for how you will become THAT man/woman.