Summary of Podcast on S7EP34 - A Year From Now: What Will Exist Because You Started Today?

Summary of Podcast on S7EP34 - A Year From Now: What Will Exist Because You Started Today? - The Grid Wiki

August 28, 2026 One Year Later and the Real QuestionJason Miller: 0:12Welcome back, everyone, to the Journey to an ESOP and Beyond podcast, where we aim to make everything related to employee stock ownership plans accessible and understandable. I'm your host today, Jason Miller.And this is an interesting episode for me. A year ago, my first solo episode started with a question: Where do I begin? And somewhere in that episode, I mentioned something that was written on my whiteboard, which was, “Six months from now, when you look back, you either have six months of progress or six months of excuses.”Well, it's been a year, so I suppose I'm somewhat obligated to look back.And strangely, the question isn't, “Did everything work?” It isn't, “Did I accomplish everything I intended?” And it isn't even, “Am I where I thought I would be?”The question that I find much more interesting is, “Where are we now?”Because a year later, you have something you didn't have when you started. You have evidence.A year ago, I talked somewhat vaguely about things I wanted to change physically and health-wise. Today, there are things that I can do that I couldn't do then. Some habits exist now that didn't then.There are days I still really don't want to do them. There are things I haven't improved nearly as much as I hoped I would. And there are probably a few things that got harder.Why Progress Looks Like AccumulationJason Miller: 1:45But that's what progress looks like from the inside.We have this strange tendency to imagine progress as a replacement: We had an old life, and now we have a new life.But usually, it's accumulation.A run, a conversation, a decision, a boundary, a difficult phone call, a workout, an hour spent understanding the business better, a question you finally asked that's always been on your mind, a document you finally opened, a decision you stopped postponing.None of them feels transformative while you're doing it.Then, a year later, however, they become evidence.And this is where I'd like to revise the advice that I gave a year ago.I still like, “Six months from now, you either have six months of progress or six months of excuses.” But I think there's something missing from it.Because sometimes you can do everything right, and six months later, the problem still exists.The deal isn't done. The weight isn't gone. The successor isn't ready. The company hasn't grown. The relationship isn't fixed. The answer hasn't arrived.So maybe the better question isn't, “Did I solve it?”Maybe it's, “What exists now because I started?”That is a much harder question to cheat.Starting a Transition Without SellingJason Miller: 3:15And that's especially relevant to business owners contemplating a transition.People ask, like I did last year, “Where do I begin?”And naturally, they imagine that beginning means starting a transaction.But what I want to tell you is, it doesn't mean starting a transaction.Starting could mean learning what the business is actually worth, understanding what you personally need financially, figuring out who can run the company without you, cleaning up reporting, having a conversation with your family, or learning what an ESOP actually is instead of what somebody told you it is.Thank you for being here for that.Maybe it's interviewing advisors or identifying the questions that you haven't been willing to answer.None of those commits you to selling your company.They do something more valuable first: They make tomorrow's decision better informed than today's.And that is progress.So, if you're listening to this, wondering where to begin, I'm going to give you a different assignment than I would have given you a year ago.Don't make a five-year plan. Don't even make a one-year plan.Instead, choose something you care about and ask: “What evidence would I like to possess 30 days from now?”Build 30 Days of EvidenceJason Miller: 4:45Not an outcome. Evidence.If you're considering a transition, that might look like:·       “I want to have spoken with three qualified advisors.”·       “I want to know a reasonable valuation range.”·       “I want to understand what I would do the Monday after I sold.”·       “I want my management team to make one decision that currently requires me.”And if it's something personal, maybe:·       “I want 12 workouts on the calendar.”·       “I want four difficult conversations behind me.”·       “I want 30 pages written.”That one strikes deep for me, listeners.·       “I want the appointment scheduled.”·       “I want to know the answer to the question that I've been avoiding.”The distinction matters.Goals ask you to predict the future, but evidence asks you to act in the present.Then ask yourself something slightly more uncomfortable:·       “What have I been carrying forward from month to month without actually touching it?”It's usually one. Not 20, but one.Let me give you some ideas on how that might sound:·       “I just need to think about it.”·       “I need to do more research on it.”·       “The timing isn't right.”·       “I'll get through this busy season and then I'll do it after year-end.”·       “I need the kids to get through school.”·       “I need the company to have one more good year.”Preparing Versus WaitingJason Miller: 6:20Some of those things may even be true.But here's the test: Has anything you've done recently made you more capable of making that decision?If yes, you may actually be preparing.If no, you may just be waiting.And that's worth knowing.Which brings me back to the anniversary.A year ago, I asked, “Where do I begin?”And a year later, I think the companion question is, “Where am I now?”Not compared with someone else and not even compared to the version of me that sat in this chair a year ago, the version I imagined would be sitting in this chair 12 months ago.Compared to the person who hasn't started yet.What do you know now?What can you do now?What have you survived?What decisions have you made?What exists today that did not exist because you hadn't acted yet?Those are your receipts.So, here's what I want you to do today.Pick one thing and create one piece of evidence.Send an email. Make a call. Open the spreadsheet. Schedule the meeting. Go for a walk. Write the page. Ask the question.One Action That Leaves a ReceiptJason Miller: 7:55You don't need to know where it ends.Your job today is simply to leave something behind for the future version of yourself to find.Because six months from now, or a year from now, you'll be looking back again. So, will I.And when you ask, “Where are we now?” I hope there's an answer.Not because everything worked. Not because life cooperated.But because somewhere along the way, you stopped waiting for progress to feel like progress and started leaving evidence that you were moving.Thank you for listening.We appreciate all of you and your attention, and the time that you spend with us, especially talking about something that is so important and so monumental, and that has the ability to change lives—not just yours, but the lives of those you care about and those who work with you and have worked for you.Closing ThoughtsJason Miller: 8:45So, what I'd invite you to do is all the normal things: like, subscribe, and share this with a friend.But share this with a friend who needs a little bit of prodding on how to get started, and how little it needs to generate that one piece of evidence toward those very important decisions and milestones.So, listeners, we'll see you next time here on the Journey to an ESOP and Beyond podcast.Thank you.

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S7EP34 - A Year From Now: What Will Exist Because You Started Today?

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