What comes after the ultimate success?
You look around the room.
It’s filled with other super successful founders and C-Suite execs raising their glasses to celebrate the sale of your business.
But you feel empty.
Why?
Isn’t this what success is supposed to look like? Isn’t this what success does look like?
Turns out, the answer’s more complicated than you thought.
Because the success you and everyone else in the room have been chasing is an illusion.
We call it The Matrix.
It’s the success we’ve all been told is the ultimate goal.
And you’ve achieved it — only to discover there’s nothing on the other side. At least nothing you recognize.
You don’t have answers to the big questions you’ve been too hyperfocused to ask:
● Is this it?
● Was it all worth it?
● Now what?
How you’re feeling is more common than you think
You’re used to achieving the highest level of success.
You’re not used to feeling vulnerable, uncertain, or confused about your purpose.
And you’re certainly not used to talking about self-doubt. At least not out loud.
After all, those are weaknesses.
And you’ve never had time to indulge in weakness. Or to stray from your goals.
You know what, though?
These are common feelings among NEOs (Newly Exited Operators).
Many would label what you are going through as an existential crisis but it’s not that and for what it’s worth it’s not a mental health diagnosis either. The feelings are similar and you begin questioning the meaning and purpose of your life but it’s different because it is triggered by a major accomplishment.
This is what we call the Founders Exit Paradox and you know you are having one when you suddenly don’t know what to do, where to turn, or even who you are.
It’s an experience even people like Jonathan Cronstedt — yeah, that Jonathan Cronstedt, JCron, the founder of Kajabi — have.
When he mentioned he was having these same feelings at a conference we were both speaking at, I followed up by asking, “What are you doing about it?”
All he could say at the time was, “I’ll let you know once I’m out of it.”
Even more astonishing is that, other than a few articles in publications like Forbes and Harvard Business Review, there’s little to help you navigate the new “post-success” reality you’re experiencing.
Identifying the 6 centers of doubt
Based on our years of coaching super successful clients and hearing so many NEOs express similar concerns, we’ve identified the 6 centers of doubt you’ll experience as you begin to unplug from The Matrix:
● Self-image
○ Who am I now that I’ve “won the game”?
○ What do I do without the hyperfocused routine I’ve had for years?
○ Do I even deserve this?
● Relationship
○ What are the people in my life really after?
○ Why don’t my family and friends understand I need time to figure this all out?
○ Does my marriage make sense anymore?
● Work
○ What does work mean now that I don’t own my business?
○ Were all the sacrifices I made to get here worth it?
○ What’s next?
● Health
○ Did I give away too many years to my business?
○ Am I going to use all the wealth I built to earn back the health I lost?
○ Can I make adjustments to live with fewer health risks?
● Prosperity
○ I can afford it. Why should I even give it a second thought?
○ Why shouldn’t I enjoy all the money I earned?
○ Who are you to give me advice about money?
● Significance
○ If I died today, who would carry my casket?
○ Who do I trust to honor my memory after I’m gone?
○ What’s the best way for me to use my wealth to help others and do good?
Centering post-success prosperity by taking the Red Pill®
Just like Morpheus was there for Neo, I’m there for you.
Because I know what it’s like to achieve the ultimate success — only to realize it’s not the end goal.
And to feel the quake of that realization. To experience the fear, anxiety, and doubt you yourself have been living with.
The difference is that I’ve taken the Red Pill.
I know what’s on the other side of the “existential crisis” everyone’s trying not to talk about.
Sure, unplugging from The Matrix looks and feels different for everyone. After all, there’s a reason why your value is unique.
But the new reality you’re going to experience is rooted in this one fact — it’s not freedom that liberates us.
It’s fulfillment.
It’s not success we’re after. It’s everything success blinds us to.
The sale of your business shattered the illusion.
And just like JCron, you don’t know how to find your way to your new reality.
That’s what taking the Red Pill is designed to do.
Provide you with a clear pathway to your post-success reality.
As someone who chased after the same illusion you did, I know how hard — and how humbling — it is to reach out for guidance.
But I don’t want you to feel as empty and lost as I did while I made the journey from success to fulfillment.
When you’re ready to take the Red Pill, you should know you have a trusted guide. Someone who can relate to what you’re going through and talk in a language you understand.
“Everyone thinks they are the only person going through these feelings. Truth is, even though we all have different circumstances, we all experience the same types of pain.”— Jerome Myers
