Most business owners are running a race without a finish line. They take on every client, chase every lead, and manage

every fire, only to realise they are further away from their personal dreams than when they started. This episode uncovers

how to stop the cycle of reactive business management and start engineering a business that actually funds your bucket list.

David Patterson breaks down the psychological and practical barriers that keep entrepreneurs stuck in the grind. From the

paralysing effects of FOMO to the difficulty of having honest conversations with team members, we explore how to align

your professional vehicle with your personal destination. It is about moving beyond the balance sheet to create a life of

purpose and fulfilment.

What You Will Learn:

• Why saying no to lucrative opportunities is often the best move for your long term growth

• How to use quarterly planning to reverse engineer your personal bucket list into business milestones

• What steps to take when a team member's values no longer align with your business vision

• Why the fear of missing out is the biggest threat to your lifestyle business

• How to facilitate daunting but necessary conversations with your staff about your dreams

Notable Quotes:

• There is nothing wrong with passing up on opportunities that do not fit in with what you are trying to achieve.

• The more you can involve your team in what your business goals are, the better chance you have got of achieving them.

• Your business should be the vehicle for your ultimate lifestyle.

• Tough decisions are easier to make if you have a clear understanding of why you are making them.

Key Takeaways:

• Business and personal goals are inextricably linked and must be planned together

• Quarterly reviews aligned with your BAS are the perfect time to check your progress toward bucket list items

• A cohesive team requires total transparency regarding the owner's vision and values

• Engineering a business is not a straight line, but a clear goal makes the downs easier to navigate

Download the episode workbook at bucketlistaccountant.com.au or via the link in these show notes to start your engineering

process.

BucketListAccountant

#BusinessEngineering #LifestyleBusiness #Entrepreneurship #StrategicPlanning #WorkLifeBalance #FinancialFreedom

Contact details:

David Patterson on LinkedIn

The Bucketlist Accountant: Because financial freedom shouldn't mean sacrificing your wildest dreams.

Subscribe now and get ready to take control of your money and your life!

Co-host: Anthony Perl

Produced by: 'Podcasts Done for You'

Engineering your business for your bucket list.

2

Join the bucket list accountant

himself, David Paterson, as we

3

explore how to align your professional

goals with your personal dreams.

4

Learn why saying no to the wrong

opportunities is vital for growth.

5

Discover the power of reverse

engineering your business milestones

6

through quarterly planning, and gain

insights into facilitating honest

7

conversations about your vision

to avoid the fear of missing out.

8

This episode provides a practical

framework for ensuring your

9

business serves as the vehicle

for your ultimate lifestyle.

10

I'm your co-host Anthony Pearl.

11

Let's get into making

your bucket list happen.

12

David, your bucket list for your

business, how do you fund it?

13

How do you frame it so you can fund it?

14

How do you work out what the

bucket list is for the business?

15

Because it can be tied to your

personal goals, but the business

16

itself is its own entity.

17

David Patterson: Oh, a- absolutely.

18

And as important as it is to have your

personal goals, I mean, it's just as

19

important to have your business goals as

well, because they're very closely linked

20

and tied together, those two things.

21

So you need to have an understanding

of your business goals and how you're

22

gonna achieve them so that you can

work towards them, so that you can

23

tick them off, so that then you can

start ticking off your personal goals.

24

So it's, uh, each one are

as important as the other.

25

Anthony Perl: And I think to your

point, it's really about the business.

26

Ultimately, you're in it so that

it's gonna fund your personal goals.

27

So whilst the business needs to have

its own goals and you need to be aware

28

of that and moving that, ultimately,

it does need to be tied back because

29

at the end of the day, why do we work?

30

Well, we work because we love it and

we enjoy giving back, and that should

31

always be a central focus of a business.

32

But ultimately, we work because

it then affords us to be able to

33

do the things that we want to do,

hence your personal bucket list.

34

David Patterson: 100%.

35

100%.

36

So it's just as important to

have those business goals.

37

And again, having the breakdown of those

so that they can be achieved, you know?

38

There's little pockets.

39

And quarterly's really great

'cause it t- ties in with a BAS.

40

So you can sit down and meet every

quarter, your bookwork's up to date.

41

You can kind of see where you're

at, kind of s- see how you're going

42

towards achieving the goals that

you're setting s- out for yourself,

43

so you're not caught down the track

and, and miss out on something because

44

you haven't been planning towards it.

45

Anthony Perl: So how do you make sure

that your business is still firing

46

to help with those personal goals?

47

Because if it is the business that's

just you in it or maybe one or two

48

others, that's not so difficult.

49

But as the business tends to grow and

opportunities might come in front of you-

50

You have to measure that against your

personal goals, and I guess some of that

51

is, is things that we've talked about in

previous episodes, where your bus- y- your

52

goal for your business may not be to be

a multinational business that's turning

53

over hundreds of millions of dollars.

54

It might be on a smaller scale, and

so there are opportunities you might

55

say no to because you don't want it

to go down that path, because your

56

personal goals draw you back in.

57

So, how do you make sure that

things are aligned, and that you

58

are achieving those personal goals?

59

David Patterson: I think the most

important aspect of this, and it's

60

a good point you make, i- i- is, is

having that clear understanding of

61

what your business goals are and what

your personal goals are, and when one

62

of these opportunities come up, do

they fit in to achieving these goals?

63

And there's a lot of cases where people

have this FOMO, so fear of missing out.

64

So, if this opportunity comes

along that looks fantastic,

65

unless it fits in with your philosophy

and your goals and what you're trying

66

to achieve, if you're trying to force

that into your business because you

67

think it's an opportunity that you can't

miss out on, it can cause more damage

68

than benefit if it's not aligned with

what it is you're trying to achieve.

69

And there's nothing wrong with passing

up on opportunities that don't fit in

70

with what you're trying to achieve.

71

Anthony Perl: Yeah, I know.

72

I think that's an

important aspect, isn't it?

73

That if the personal bucket list is

aligned with the professional bucket

74

list, then that shouldn't be an issue.

75

It should give you a clear

course of what the actions are.

76

Whether it's investing more, or

deciding not to do something, or

77

deciding you should do something, they

need to be aligned with one another.

78

And people that are working in the

business with you need to be aware of

79

that as well, because that can develop

a degree of frustration if someone

80

thinks, "Oh, there's a really great

opportunity and you could do this,

81

this, and this," but you realize that's

not aligned with what you want to do.

82

That's going to have some clashes.

83

So, how important is it that not only your

own bucket list, but, and your personal

84

bucket list, but the bucket list of those

people that are working in the business,

85

and the general values are all aligned?

86

David Patterson: Oh,

it's extremely important.

87

I think it's to share with the whole

team what your goals are, and, and even

88

from the business owner having an idea

of what the goals of their team are.

89

It's all important, and it all works

towards creating a cohesive unit that

90

all knows what they're working for,

what they're trying to achieve, and,

91

and they can all then understand that-

You know, th- this potential opportunity

92

that's out on the side, whilst it might

look good, doesn't align with what

93

we're all trying to achieve, doesn't

align with the values of what we're

94

looking at, and it's just one of those

opportunities that pop up from time to

95

time that you just have to let pass.

96

But you're right, if, if you haven't

shared the, your values of, or your goals

97

of what you want the business to achieve,

people within your team may be looking

98

at this opportunity and saying, "We need

to get this in, we need to get this in,"

99

and then don't understand why you say no.

100

You, you need that kind of alignment

with everyone so that you can

101

work as best as you possibly can.

102

Anthony Perl: So in terms of doing

that, how difficult, easy is it to

103

facilitate that kind of a conversation?

104

And indeed, is that something that

you're facilitating as well in some

105

way, whether directly sitting down with

them or, or indirectly encouraging them

106

and, and teaching them how to do that?

107

David Patterson: Yeah.

108

Well, it depends on how inclusive

they've been in the past as to how

109

difficult that conversation is.

110

If they've never had the conversation with

their team, it can be a little daunting

111

at times, because you're kind of opening

yourself up to say, "Here are the dreams

112

and goals that I've got for my business."

113

Can open you up for being judged

and comments and everything else.

114

But I think the hardest part is to start

the conversation, and that's where I can

115

join in and sort of be that person in

the middle just to facilitate the thing

116

to say, "Well, this is where we're at.

117

Here are the goals of the business

owner," and start to have the conversation

118

with the team as well to get a feel

for what their goals are as well.

119

Now, sometimes these conversations

will end up in people that are

120

currently working for you not working

for you anymore, because they realize

121

and understand that their goals and

values aren't aligned, which is fine.

122

There'll be someone else out there whose

goals and values are aligned with what

123

you're trying to achieve, and ultimately

you'll end up in a better place.

124

So there, there can be difficult

conversations, but at the end of

125

the day, that difficult conversation

can quite often turn out to be the

126

best conversation for both parties.

127

So the more you can involve your

team in what your business goals

128

are, the better chance you've

got of achieving them, I think.

129

Anthony Perl: I think, you know,

that is a conversation that needs

130

to be had on a regular basis.

131

Obviously, you want to ideally

have that conversation before they

132

start in that particular case.

133

Yep.

134

But it is important that everyone's on

the same page as to where the business

135

is going and what it's trying to

achieve, because there is a world of

136

difference between a lifestyle business,

between something that wants to become

137

a franchise, something that wants to

become a global enterprise, something

138

that wants to buy a bunch of other

businesses and go off and do other things.

139

Like, there's so many possibilities

and opportunities that you can find

140

yourself in business And indeed,

it's very easy to find yourself with

141

another business within the business

that you didn't realize you had until

142

you start working on these things.

143

And then all of that has to

come back to this is, is it

144

achieving what you want it to do?

145

And I think then it leads to how

you actually engineer it so it does

146

achieve what you want it to do.

147

David Patterson: Ab- absolutely.

148

And it also helps with explanations

as to why things are done or

149

maybe things aren't done, too.

150

When everyone understands the clear

goals and purpose of the business,

151

it allows them to get a greater

understanding of decisions that are

152

made and why those decisions are made.

153

Um, rather than just saying, "Well,

you know, this is the decision I've

154

made and that's it," i- it's, "We've

made this decision because it helps

155

us do these things that are the

goals that we're trying to achieve."

156

And, and you're right with all the

someone coming into your business as

157

a team member may have these grand

visions of working their way through

158

and having ownership or moving on or b-

building this bigger empire themselves.

159

So if they're knowing the goals and

the values and the objectives of

160

the business right from the start,

it, it makes it a lot easier to

161

either employ or not employ or...

162

And for the person coming in to say,

"This business is not quite for me."

163

So having those goals clearly

outlined just makes for a smoother

164

operation in the business.

165

Anthony Perl: Hey, everyone.

166

Just a reminder, check out the show notes.

167

There is lots of information in there,

including a link you can click on to

168

download a workbook from this episode,

dedicated to just this episode, and

169

it will have information about all

of the tips and tricks that David has

170

given in the episode, things for you

to fill in and think about so you are

171

on your journey for your bucket list,

action steps, as well as some key

172

takeaways and quotes from the episode.

173

So you don't wanna miss that one.

174

Please go and check it

out in the show notes.

175

A reminder again at the end of the

episode, but it's one not to miss.

176

David Patterson:

Engineering is an easy term

177

Anthony Perl: to kind of throw

away, but engineering itself

178

is a difficult piece of work.

179

It's why it's such a specialized

area when you talk about actual,

180

you know, electrical engineers,

mechanical engineers, et cetera.

181

A- and I think that's an

important aspect as well.

182

Actually engineering your business to

achieve what you want it to achieve

183

is not a straightforward task, and

you can get pushed and pulled in lots

184

of directions by people who might

be mentors and advisors and things.

185

But at the end of the day, having that

frank conversation on a financial level

186

and understanding where that's going to

go tied emotionally is the heart of what

187

you need to be doing, and that's where

the real conversations need to happen

188

David Patterson: 100%.

189

I mean, we- we've probably

all seen the graphs here.

190

A business is not a smooth

line from here to there.

191

There's ups and downs and ups and

downs and ups all the way through.

192

It's, it's certainly not a, a

simple process all the way through.

193

But when you're having the downs, if you

have a understanding of what you're trying

194

to achieve and the reason you're trying

to achieve those, it makes it a little

195

easier to work through the tougher times.

196

Because you know that if we can get

through these tougher times, the outcome

197

and the goal that you get is worth it.

198

You know, you've got this personal element

that you're trying to work towards.

199

Whereas if you don't have that and

you're not aligned, when you have the

200

tough times, that's when it tends to

fracture and fall apart a little bit.

201

If you've got the clear understanding

of what you're h- trying to achieve,

202

you can dig in a little bit more in the

tough times because you know that once

203

we get through this bit, it's worth it.

204

You know, the outcome makes it worth

it, because you know what that outcome's

205

gonna be if you can get through it.

206

Anthony Perl: Yeah.

207

And I think that kind of idea of seeing

the future and thinking about and having

208

those frank conversations with the

business owner, with yourself, and looking

209

at where you are and, and understanding

what are the tough decisions that you

210

might need to make along the way to make

sure that you actually are going to get

211

there, 'cause it's rarely in business a

smooth straight line point A to point B.

212

David Patterson: Correct.

213

And I guess the tough decisions

when you don't have a clear

214

direction, they're harder to make.

215

The dec- the tough decisions, they're

not easy to make, but they're easier

216

to make if you have a, a, a clear

understanding of why you're doing it.

217

"I'm making this decision now because this

is gonna help me do these other things,

218

which will help me do this," you know?

219

Whereas without that clear outcome,

the tough decision is a tough

220

decision, but you don't fully

understand why you're making it or

221

the purpose of why you're making it.

222

Anthony Perl: So give me some stories

here, David, because I know you've

223

worked with lots of businesses,

but in a practical sense, how does

224

this play out with some businesses?

225

'Cause there's, there's the good

and the bad side of how this might

226

be working through, because as we

alluded to, there's the engineering

227

stuff where there is the hard stuff

and there's the engineering where you

228

see the end result, and it, it's worth

the hard yards that you've had to do.

229

So give us some of your favorite stories

of things of how that's happened.

230

David Patterson: I think the one in

particular, and I've referenced this

231

one before, a business owner who

was really stuck, lot of debt, a lot

232

of problems with team members, just

not knowing where or what decision

233

to make to help free them up.

234

And that was causing- so much stress that

they couldn't make a rational decision.

235

So the, well, what we've done is,

or, I mean, this is a while back now,

236

but we were able to sit down, and

'cause they didn't have a clear goal

237

of what they were trying to achieve.

238

So we actually sat down, and the first

thing we did was say, "Okay, let's

239

forget about the business for a minute.

240

Let's have a talk about what it is that

you want to achieve, what the goals are

241

that you wanna do," and we got those down.

242

Then with those personal goals in mind,

we went back into the business and said,

243

"Okay, what are the things that are in

here that are gonna stop and block and

244

hinder you from achieving those goals?"

245

At that point in time, there was

one team member in particular

246

who was blocking at every move.

247

You know, "That won't work 'cause of this.

248

That won't work 'cause of this."

249

So the client sat down with the entire

team and said, "Right, here's what

250

we're trying to achieve in the business.

251

Here's what I wanna do.

252

Here's my vision, and I wanna get the

business from this point to this point.

253

And if we can do that, kind

of everyone's a winner."

254

And this person, the team

member, was still kind of

255

going, "This is not gonna work.

256

That's not gonna work."

257

We were able to then have this

conversation, and the business owner

258

came to the realization that we

need to move this team member on.

259

And they were able to do that in a more,

a less stressful, it was still stressful,

260

but a less stressful way because they

knew that removing this team member was

261

gonna free the rest of the business up to

able to get to where they wanted to go.

262

Before, when they didn't know the

direction they were going in and

263

just sort of doing their work,

doing their work, doing their work,

264

the decision was just too hard to

make because they didn't have a reason

265

why they had to make it, you know?

266

So i- it's, it was just a good example

from my perspective of the importance

267

of knowing why you're in business w- and

what you're wanting to achieve out of

268

it in the long run, and the short run.

269

Anthony Perl: I suppose we should kind of

wrap this conversation up by saying, are

270

there some particular steps in an overall

sense that we can give people as tips

271

to start taking to start thinking about

this and putting some actions in place

272

to start this process of engineering it?

273

David Patterson: Yeah, there is.

274

The first step is stopping, thinking,

taking some time out, or spend a Saturday

275

or a Sunday or, and having a think about

where you want the business to get to, and

276

why you want the business to get there.

277

They're the two most important

elements that you need to do first.

278

Once you get those two bits in place,

then you can reverse engineer and go,

279

"Okay, well, what are the things that

I need to start to do so that I can

280

get there at a certain point in time?"

281

Reverse engineering it, and then breaking

that part down even further so that it

282

becomes- smaller manageable chunks so

that you know that, okay, I take this

283

step, then I take this step, then I take

this step, and then I take this step.

284

And you know that you're heading

down the path that you wanna head

285

because you've worked out what

the end goal needs to look like.

286

I think if you haven't got that,

you don't know whether you're making

287

the steps in the right direction.

288

So that's step number one, is to have

the ultimate goal written down and having

289

a clear understanding of what that is.

290

Anthony Perl: The Bucket List

Accountant podcast is brought to

291

you by David Patterson and his

team at Bucket List Accountant.

292

Go and visit their website

for more information.

293

Details, of course, in the show notes.

294

I'm Anthony Pearl, your host

from Podcast Done For You.

295

We look forward to having your

company in the next episode.