The people around us develop expectations about who we are and what we're capable of. But building something meaningful often requires us to move beyond those expectations—including our own.

Most business owners spend their days solving problems. The best business owners spend their time figuring out which problem is actually worth solving.

Business owners often believe another influx of cash would solve everything. Sometimes that's true. Often, it simply exposes the next constraint.

Many business owners dream about reaching a point where the problems finally disappear. In my experience, that's not how growth works. The problems don't go away—they get better.

When business owners tell me they want different results, I almost always ask the same question: "What system produced the ones you're getting today?"

"I'll tackle that once things calm down." Every business owner has said some version of this. The problem? Business rarely works that way.

Many business owners secretly take pride in being the one everyone depends on. The problem? That same strength can quietly become the biggest limitation on the business they've worked so hard to build.

One of the hardest transitions in business isn't hiring your first employee. It's realizing the job that got you here is no longer the job your business needs you to do.

A business owner recently told me she felt like she was standing on a rotten branch and considering climbing farther out onto it. Most people would call that reckless. I’m not so sure.

A business owner recently asked me how much she should spend to find her next employee. The answer made her jaw hit the floor—and revealed a lesson that applies to almost every business.