Serious question:

Are you in peacetime or wartime with your business right now?

Here’s how to know.

Peacetime is when you’re happy, satisfied, and flowing effortlessly from week to week. You’re in a rhythm where everything feels aligned, and momentum is on your side.

Here’s what Peacetime looks like:

• You’re consistently making profit.

• Projects are being ticked off with ease.

• Opportunities like keynote talks, podcast invitations, media features, and collaborations are coming your way.

• You find yourself saying “no” more often than “yes,” because you’re focused on the right things.

• Your team is happy, thriving, and morale is high.

Peacetime isn’t just one great month—it’s a season where things have been going well for 2-3 months or more.

In Peacetime

• Don’t get complacent. The wolf is always at the door. Your competitors are hungry. Your clients are being continually advertised to by competitors and every now and then fall for the new shiny object in the marketplace. It’s your job to be aware of this and stay ahead of it—even when times are good.

• Stay relevant. If you want to stay rich, you must always be the most relevant option in your marketplace. Outsell, out-serve, and out-market everyone—especially when things are going great.

• Plan outside your comfort zone. Use this period to push into bold, ambitious projects that keep you sharp. Peace is a gift, but it’s also a trap if you let it make you lazy.

On the other hand…

Wartime is when you’re operating outside your comfort zone—whether by choice or circumstance. It can be a thrilling period of pushing for extreme growth and success, or it can be a chaotic season filled with personal drama and business challenges that test you.

Here’s what wartime often feels like:

• You’re pushing hard for growth, pouring everything you’ve got into your business.

• Or, you’re in the red, coming off a low month, or dealing with lack of leads, sales, higher churn, refunds, cancellations, and pauses than you’d like.

• Your personal life may be experiencing drama or challenges, and it’s pulling your focus away from your business.

• Your attention to detail and the way you show up are slipping. You find it harder to sell, market, or lead effectively.

• You catch yourself asking, “Why the fuck am I doing this?”* and feel on the verge of giving up.

Wartime is a real test of character. It can be exhilarating, or it can drain the life out of you. I’ve been through both

Here’s what I’ve learned:

The challenges you face during wartime aren’t just tests—they’re training grounds. They’re meant to shape you into a wiser, stronger, and more successful entrepreneur.

Wartime, when embraced, becomes your greatest mentor, expanding your capacity to tackle bigger challenges and paving the way for greater growth.

In Wartime

• Train yourself to stay powerfully calm. Your team and your market are looking to you for stability. Calm leadership contrasts with panic—and that alone can set you apart.

• Detach your self-worth from your business. Most entrepreneurs implode in wartime because their entire identity is tied to their business. If I took your business away tomorrow, who are you? If your income dropped to zero, would you still value yourself?

Here’s the truth: You need a personal operating system that values who you are outside of your business.

One of the most important lessons I could teach any high-performing, ambitious entrepreneur or founder is to create a clear set of personal values outside their business. Why? Because when business takes a dip or goes through a wartime season, you need to keep your mind in abundance and not fall into a defeated mindset just because business is going bad.

Here are a few examples I use for myself:

• How I show up for my wife and kids.

• How I show up for my mother, father, and brother.

• How I look after myself: the way I train, the way I dress, the way I smell.

• My attitude toward others and, most importantly, my relationship with myself.

I’m with myself 24 hours a day. If I value myself, the world will value me.

Building a business is an amazing journey, but if that’s all you value yourself on, you’re going to die a painful death. The same applies if you tie your worth solely to your physique, your bank account, your career, or even your partner. You need to build value in multiple areas of your life outside of the one thing you think about, talk about, and do all the time.

Here’s What I’m Building

This year, I’m creating an operating system specifically for entrepreneurs earning £500k to £5M per year who want:

• More profit.

• More freedom.

• More notoriety in their fields.

I’m still processing the best way to deliver this—whether it’s through a course, a series of annual events, or something else. But if you’re on this email list, it means you’re a highly driven entrepreneur who’s taken value from the lessons and skills I’ve used to build my own business.

Everything I do is fully transferable to your business.

I’d love to hear from you. Reply to this email and let me know:

If there was one thing you’d love to learn from me about business growth, mindset, or living life on your terms, what would it be?

I’ll be reading every response.

Here’s to making 2025 your best year yet.

— Phil