Why 'What's Next?' is the wrong question to ask after we sell a business.
"Finding happiness in oneself is hard, but it's impossible to find it elsewhere."
Arthur Schopenhauer.
Right after my first exit, I jumped into a flurry of activities – angel investing, starting a new business, enrolling in investment courses, and engaging in philanthropy.
Years later, I realized that I wasn't ready at the time to decide what to do next. Not if I wanted real happiness and fulfillment.
Many post-exit founders make this mistake. We rush into deciding 'what' to do next. It's a mix of confusion, FOMO, and a habit of being busy and in control.
But focusing on 'what' doesn't guarantee happiness. It might make us busier and richer, but not necessarily happier. The smarter approach I've discovered, and have seen others follow, is different.
Those ex-founders who end up building fulfilling and meaningful lives first look inward. They reflect, read, travel, go on silent meditation retreats, or take psychedelic trips. This helps them heal, learn, and grow.
They discover their strengths, redefine success, and understand their values. They choose the overall direction for their continuing personal growth, whether it's expanding horizons, self-realization, making a positive impact, or something else. This process seem to take 1-3 years for most.
These wise exiteers also think about 'who' to be with. We naturally learn and evolve by being around others. Choosing to be with those ahead of us in this journey can be particularly beneficial.
So, how do we engage in introspection if we aren't quite used to it? For me, the best trigger for self-discovery has been reading philosophical or spiritual texts; they open the doorway to my inner world.
Another effective trigger is meanigful travel, especially to completely new or emotionally challenging destinations. We learn so much about ourselves by trying to understand different cultures.
Once we've made significant progress in our self-discovery, 'what' to do next comes naturally. I like to think of the whole process as attracting our best possible 'what' by becoming our best possible 'who.' When we are ready, our very own 'what' will manifest as our true purpose.
By prioritizing 'who' over 'what' in our post-exit journey, we avoid wasting precious time, energy, and money on things that don't bring clarity or fulfillment. We focus on goals formed from deep self-knowledge.
Post-exit, we finally have the time and resources to indulge in introspection - arguably the most consequential of all human activities. It's the ultimate luxury and a shortcut to a more fulfilling, meaningful life.
