In this episode of the No Days Off podcast, host Brian Gubernick presents a concise, 13‑question framework designed to help listeners clarify the profile of any ideal relationship—whether it’s a new hire, a client, a business partner, a friend, or a romantic partner. He frames the questions as "psychographics" that uncover what the target person cares about, who they care about, their passions, where they spend time, personal and professional desires, current searches, limiting beliefs, needs, night‑time worries, biggest goals, motivations, obstacles, and lingering questions. Gubernick stresses the importance of pausing before taking action, using these questions to develop strategic clarity, and then aligning outreach efforts (environment, networking, interview tactics) with the identified profile. He urges sales teams, coaches, mentors, and individuals to have their teams or peers write down answers to the 13 questions for their specific target, thereby creating a solid foundation before pursuing solutions. The episode concludes with a motivational reminder that every day offers a chance to improve.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Today we're going to get better at a handful of things: business, personal relationships, even individually, like developing ourselves from a personal development standpoint. I've got 13 questions. It's a lot of questions, so we're gonna have to move kind of quickly. I have 13 questions that you've got to answer when seeking that next big relationship in your world. Maybe that relationship's a new hire, maybe it's a client, maybe it's a friend, maybe it's someone personal, significant other. Here's 13 questions that I think you could universally apply. And if you get it, get through all these questions and you answer them, you'll have a framework and understanding for the individual you're seeking and maybe even a framework for how you engage and connect with them. So let's run through this, okay? These are psychographics, we'll call them, for your ideal client, ideal partner, ideal hire. Number 1, what does this person care about? I want you to write down, write right now what this person cares about. Give it some thought. The ideal partner, the ideal client, the ideal hire, the ideal relationship. What does this person care about? Number 2, who does this person care about? Who does this person care about? What individuals? What groups of people? Who do they care about? Question number 3: What are this person's passions and interests? What are this person's passions and interests? Remember, we are trying to, to identify the ideal client, the ideal relationship, the ideal hire. What does this particular person, this ideal person, care about in terms of what are they passionate about, what are their interests? So again, number 1, 2, and 3. Number 1: What does this person care about? Number 2, who does this person care about? Number 3, what are this person's passions and interests? Number 4, where does this person currently spend most of their time? Where are they spending most of their time? Number 5, what does this person want personally and professionally? What does this person want personally and/or professionally, I should say? So if it's a client, maybe it's what do they want personally. You know, if it's a significant other that I'm seeking, maybe it's what does this person want personally and professionally. Number 6, what is this person searching for? What is this person searching for? Number 7: What are this person's limiting beliefs? What are their limiting beliefs? Number 8: What are this person's needs personally and professionally? What are their needs personally and professionally? Number 9: What keeps this person up at night? This ideal client, ideal partner, potential significant other— what keeps this person up at night? Number 10: What is their biggest goal or dream? What is their biggest goal or dream? Number 11: What motivates them? Number 12, what is holding them back from going after or reaching this goal? The goal that they mentioned. What is holding them back from going after or reaching the goal they mentioned? And lastly, number 13, what questions do they have? Kind of a broad statement. What questions do they have? What are they thinking about? What questions do they have? So again, this is an exercise. 13 questions that I think you can ask. You know, you do the analysis, you think about it to yourself. What does this person care about? And so on, 1 through 13. You do this analysis, you understand this ideal client, this ideal partnership, this ideal hire, and now you have a foundation. Now you have an understanding for what you're seeking. See, I think too often in business and life, we lack clarity around what we're truly going after. You know, we know we have a need and we want to go fill that void, fill that need, and so we just start running after it. We just start taking action. And what I've personally found is of great benefit is instead of taking action immediately, slow down. And ask yourself a series of questions like the 13 I just gave you to identify what it is you're truly seeking, and then be strategic in how you're going to go about finding that person. What environment do you have to put yourself in? Where is that person hanging out? Who are they associating with? So that when you do come across this person and you mentally think, okay, those 13 questions, let me, you know, you know, meet, talk with this person, understand this person, maybe sit down and interview this person. And when I find that they're aligned with most all that I had outlined for myself in terms of my analysis, well, maybe, just maybe, I've got a good partnership potential, potentially in front of me. So what does this person care about? Think about it. Who does this person care about? What are this per— what are this person's passions and interests? Where does this person currently spend most of their time? Number 5, what does this person want? Number 6, what is this person searching for? Number 7, what are the— what are this person's limiting beliefs? 8, what are this person's needs? 9, what keeps this person up at night? Number 10, what is this— what is their biggest goal/dream? 11, what motivates them? 12, what is holding them back from going after reaching that goal? And then lastly, number 13, what questions do they have? What are they thinking about? Your action item today, if you're running a sales team, I want you to put these questions in front of your people and have them jot down the answers around their ideal client. If you're hanging around friends that are looking to form better relationships, maybe, maybe have them go through this exercise. If you know someone that you're coaching or mentoring or working alongside that needs to make a hire, have them go through these 13. If you personally are looking to bring talent in your world, go through the 13. Point being here, understand what it is you're even seeking before you go run 100 miles an hour at solving. We're so solutions-based, which is great, that sometimes we move too quickly and don't understand what we're truly seeking. That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.
