Let me paint you a picture. 100+ customers. 14 staff. Six-figure turnover. My domestic cleaning business provided the highest quality and we weren’t cheap.
From the outside, I’d made it, hadn’t I?
So why was I standing in my kitchen in the early hours, seriously wondering what the point of it all was?
Every milestone I hit felt good for about a week, then I’d be back to that familiar emptiness. My mind never switched off because of constantly spinning with business problems, staff issues, customer complaints. I’d wake up with this weight in my chest, knowing I had to put on the “successful business owner” face again in the morning.
But the really frustrating part? Despite being premium priced with loyal customers, we still weren’t making enough money. The cleaning business model had fundamental issues that no amount of working harder could fix.
I kept thinking that once I sorted the money side, I’d finally be sorted.
I was wrong about that too.
To understand how I had ended up questioning it all, I need to take you back to 1994.
I had a mate, he was like the older brother I never had. I can still picture him standing in my doorway the last time I saw him. This was a guy who never showed weakness, but something in his eyes looked… lost.
“I’m struggling,” he said quietly. “I don’t know what to do.”
That wasn’t like Kev at all. He never opened up like that.
I was young and stupid. I didn’t know what to say. I can’t even remember what I actually said, but I know it wasn’t helpful. Nothing changed for him in that moment.
The following week Kev was murdered on a drug deal gone wrong.
For years after, I tortured myself. He’d had the courage to reach out for help, and I had nothing meaningful to offer. That guilt didn’t just hurt it completely rewired how I saw myself and my place in the world. Which wasn’t good.
I knew never wanted to be in that position again, feeling useless when someone needed real help.
So I started searching for answers. Not business answers but life answers.
Losing Kev triggered some big questions. Who am I? What’s the point of all this? What’s life really all about?
I started studying everything – neuroscience, philosophy, consciousness research, spirituality, physics and religion. I’ve been to India 11 times, learning meditation practices from yogis who’d spent decades mastering their minds.
Twenty-five years of obsessive study. Thousands of hours of practice. More books than I care to count.
And I’m still working on it, by the way. This isn’t about reaching some perfect state where everything’s sorted. I’m still learning, still catching myself falling into old patterns.
But what I have learned completely changed how I understand happiness, success, and why we suffer.
Everything we’re taught about happiness is backwards.
We think it comes from achievements, possessions, experiences. But think about this logically – if happiness really came from external things, how would Apple build happiness into an iPhone? Where would they source it from?
It’s impossible, isn’t it?
What actually happens is this: you create positive thoughts about the iPhone, which generate internal experiences of excitement or satisfaction. The happiness isn’t in the phone – it’s created by your own consciousness.
This means happiness, peace, and fulfillment never depend on external circumstances. They’re internal experiences you generate yourself.
Once you really understand this, everything changes. You stop being at the mercy of your circumstances. You stop needing the next achievement to feel good.
I call this the Inside Out Solution.
Most people still think their next promotion will make them happy. Their next house. Their next relationship. They’re still chasing external fixes.
But if you’re a successful business owner, you’ve probably already achieved what they’re chasing. You’ve got the business, the lifestyle, the respect. And if you’re still reading this, you know something’s missing.
You also understand what it means to take risks. Not just financial risks, but personal ones. You’re willing to examine your own thinking, question your patterns, do inner work that most people would never attempt.
That’s why some of my clients have been working with me for years. They understand that real change takes time and commitment.
They also understand that success without fulfilment is just a very expensive form of emptiness.
The patterns that got you successful can also trap you. But they don’t have to.
If any of this resonates with you…
If you’re tired of feeling empty despite your achievements, if you want to actually enjoy the success you’ve built rather than just chase more of it, then let’s have a conversation.
This isn’t about changing your business or your goals. It’s about changing your relationship with success itself.
No pitch. Just a conversation about whether I can help.
