Hey there, Creator!

Ever feel like you're constantly chasing success, only to watch it slip through your fingers like sand in an hourglass?

You've read all the "how to succeed" guides, watched countless YouTube videos on "crushing it," and maybe even bought a course or two on "10x-ing your business."

But what if I told you that the key to unlocking your solopreneur superpower isn't about obsessing over success...

It's about getting intimately acquainted with failure.

Enter the world of inversion thinking – where we flip the script and approach problems ass-backwards (in the best possible way).

Your palms are sweaty, your heart's racing, and your mind's spinning with doubts:

"Am I charging too little? Will people take me seriously if my prices are too low?"

“I have spent hundreds of hours trying to over-deliver for my subscribers and leads.”

"Am I leaving money on the table? Could I be charging more and attracting/serving higher-quality customers?"

Pricing paralysis is real, my friend.

It can also keep you stuck in a cycle of underearning and overworking faster than you can say "profit margin."

But what if I told you there's a way to confidently charge premium prices that reflect the true value you provide?

"All I want to know is where I'm going to die, so I'll never go there."

Charlie Munger

Why Chasing Success Might Be Your Biggest Failure

Let's cut to the chase: constantly fixating on "how to succeed" is like trying to build a house by focusing solely on the roof.

Sure, a fancy roof is great. But if your foundation is made of Jell-O, you're in for a wobbly (potentially sticky) disaster.

The harsh truth is this: in the solopreneur world, avoiding catastrophic failure is often more crucial than chasing elusive success.

Think about it:

• How many potentially great businesses have been torpedoed by cash flow issues?

• How many brilliant ideas never saw the light of day because of paralysis by analysis?

• How many solopreneurs burned out before reaching their potential, all because they didn't set proper boundaries?

Navigating the entrepreneurial minefield by focusing only on success is like crossing a busy highway blindfolded.

You might make it... But the odds aren't in your favor.

Instead of obsessing over "how to win," what if we flipped the script and asked, "how can I avoid losing?"

That's where inversion thinking comes in.

Let's look at some examples of how inversion thinking flips the script:

• Instead of asking "How can I go viral?", ask "How can I avoid creating content that nobody engages with?"

• Rather than asking, "How do I make a million dollars?" consider, "How do I avoid going broke?"

• Skip "How do I become the top expert in my field?" and ponder "How do I avoid being seen as a clueless amateur?"

• Don't fixate on "How do I get 100,000 followers?" Instead, think, "How do I avoid losing the audience I already have?"

• Instead of asking, "How do I create the perfect product?" ask, "How do I avoid creating something nobody wants?"

See the difference?

Inversion thinking doesn't just help you dodge bullets—it gives you X-ray vision, allowing you to see guns before they're even loaded.

Think of it like this:

• A success-obsessed solopreneur spends all their time dreaming about viral content and 7-figure launches.

• An inversion thinker first imagines how their content could flop or their launch could implode – then systematically eliminates those possibilities.

I know what you're thinking: "Isn't this just being negative? Won't I manifest failure by focusing on it?"

Not at all, my friend.

This isn't about dwelling on failure – it's about acknowledging potential pitfalls so you can sidestep them with the grace of a ninja ballerina.

By leveraging inversion thinking, we can:

1. Identify hidden risks that might derail our business

2. Create robust systems that are failure-resistant

3. Make better decisions by eliminating bad options first

4. Build a business that's not just successful, but sustainably successful

Ready to flip your thinking upside down (and watch your business soar)? Let's dive in...

The "Inversion Illuminator" Prompt

This prompt helps you identify potential pitfalls in your business and generate strategies to avoid them:

Analyze my solopreneur business model:

[INSERT BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR BUSINESS]

Please identify potential ways this business could fail catastrophically. 

Consider factors like:

Financial risks
Market shifts
Operational vulnerabilities
Personal burnout
Competitive threats

For each potential failure point, suggest strategies to prevent or mitigate the risk. Focus on ways to:

Build robust systems
Create contingency plans
Diversify revenue or audience
Protect against personal burnout
Stay adaptable in changing markets

For each strategy, provide:

A clear explanation of how it prevents failure
Specific actions or practices to implement it
Potential challenges and how to overcome them
Examples of how similar businesses have avoided this pitfall

HOW TO USE THE INVERSION ILLUMINATOR PROMPT:

1. Replace [INSERT BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR BUSINESS] with a concise overview of your solopreneur venture, including your main offerings, target market, and current business model.

   • Example: “AI-focused solopreneur offering two digital products: "AI Escape" and "AI Course Creator". Target audience: online entrepreneurs and content creators seeking AI integration. Business model: organic social media content (X/LinkedIn/Threads/Bluesky) → email newsletter → product sales. Primary revenue is from product sales and some affiliate income. Heavily dependent on personal brand and content creation.”

2. Run the prompt through your favorite AI tool (I recommend Claude for this one, but ChatGPT works too).

3. Review the output, embrace your inner doomsday prepper, and start failure-proofing your business!

WHAT YOU LEARNED TODAY

• Why obsessing over success might be your biggest roadblock (plot twist: failure avoidance for the win!)

• How to use the "Inversion Illuminator" prompt to identify and skip the business-killing landmines in your path

• Real-world strategies for leveraging inversion thinking to build a failure-resistant online entrepreneur or content creator empire