In episode 40 of the Unfiltered and Unshakeable podcast, host Steve Lichtman urges entrepreneurs to stop building the "safe" version of their business and instead pursue the venture that truly excites them. He frames the episode as the culmination of a 10‑episode arc that covered direction, AI, messaging, visibility, and follow‑through, and uses the arc to pull back the lens for a candid conversation. Lichtman challenges listeners to identify the version of their business they have been avoiding, offering concrete examples such as niching down, pursuing thought‑leadership (podcast, book, speaking), building a team, or cutting revenue to regain life balance. He shares personal anecdotes about being a "shadow builder" who creates projects without credit, and about a recent content‑creation day with his teenage daughter, illustrating the freedom he has built for family time. He emphasizes that a business should serve family, not the other way around, and that clarity of destination is essential – you cannot rise toward a goal you haven’t chosen. Throughout, he stresses the role of AI, clear messaging, visibility, and consistent follow‑through in turning the desired business into reality. The episode ends with a call to action: listeners are invited to join his community at stevelichtman.com, share their avoided business ideas, and engage with him for support.
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Okay, everybody, we are at episode 40. Thank you so much for coming here on this journey with me. I'm Steve Lichtman, and we're gonna rock this out. And today we're gonna talk about the business you're avoiding building because look, you know, we've covered a lot of ground over the last 10 episodes. For anybody that doesn't know, I record in 10-episode blocks and this is the last one of the blocks. So in the last 10, we covered things like direction, AI, messaging, visibility, follow through. And, and today to, to tighten it all up, I wanna pull back the lens a little bit and have a real conversation. You know, look, most business owners I talk to, they're not building the business they actually want. They're building the business they think they can have, or the one that they think they're allowed to have. Or maybe it's the safe version that wouldn't look too crazy if it failed. And they're all doing it quietly, running the business that makes sense on paper, the one that other people understand, the one that's close enough to what they know to feel manageable. Meanwhile, the business they actually want, the one that would genuinely light them up, that's still in their head, sitting around, rattling around in their head, waiting, getting talked out. Of every time they get close. So they start doing stuff towards it, they get close to that new point, they talk themselves out of it. And I want you to ask yourself something very candidly and directly. What's the version of your business you haven't let yourself fully admit you want yet? I know that for me, so my goal for myself personally was to be out loud and be out present more in 2026 than I ever have before. I post very sporadically, very rarely. I build lots of things that nobody overseas. I'm literally like the king of shadow builders because I build for other people on a regular basis. I've built entire universes that my name is never attached to over and over again, time and time again, and I never tell anybody. I decided this year changes. This year I pull back the curtain. It's kind of like Bar Rescue. We're like, we're gonna pull back the curtain and show you what's really going on behind the scenes here. And then Jon Taffer screams at you like a lunatic, who I love. Freaking love that maniac. He's one of my favorite crazy people on the planet because he's not really crazy, but people think he is. But he's so dedicated to the one thing he has such a superpower on that people are too stupid to realize that if you just listen to this man, he could fix everything. And I get that the show is a TV show and it has the TV show reality vibes of what happens behind the scenes and all that. But, you know, these, these bars all fell because these people were failures to begin with, right? A lot of times these people didn't embrace what would genuinely light them up. That idea sitting in their head, they didn't know how to execute it, so they failed. We don't have to. Ask yourself, what's the version of your business you haven't let yourself fully admit you want yet? Maybe it's a niche down version where you only work with one specific type of client and charge accordingly, be laser focused. Maybe it's a thought leadership path, the podcast, the book, the speaking gigs. Maybe that could feel too big to be real. Maybe it's getting out of the day-to-day and building a team so you can actually think. Like, instead of having everything fall on your back, maybe you need to start just building a squad around you. Maybe it's cutting the revenue in half to get your life back. Think about all the people that will work for the almighty dollar, and then their kids don't know who the hell they are. I could proudly tell you that I mean this with all my heart. I have refused deals that would've made me a whole lot more money in my lifetime, but it would've taken me completely away from watching my kid grow. And yeah, now she's 14, now she's a teenager. Now she's, you know, could be in high school and rock her own path. She doesn't need me as much as she did when she was little, but there was no money that would've taken me away from being around those days when she was little, making those core memories. I mean, hell, that's why we do what we do. And if you're not doing things for your family in the grand scheme of things, you're doing it just for your business. You're an idiot. I'll say that right now. Your business should be able to work around your family and work with your family. Hell, involve your family. You have to take them out for a day and have them hold the camera while you do a 3-minute clip. I mean, geez, this isn't that hard. They'll have fun with it. They'll make fun of you. It'll be silly. You'll have a good time. I mean, trust me, I love going on content. I went on a content creation mission with my daughter a few weeks ago during a day off of school for her. It was freezing cold. Cold. And I really wish we didn't pick the day that we did. It was like 20 out with massive wind right after a huge snowstorm. And it was literally the first day I kept my car out of the block of ice that it was. And we drove around, we went to a coffee shop and had lunch, we went down to the beach, we went— we were on tops of buildings, on tops of parking garages, filming all kinds of rock and roll videos for her stuff and for her Instagram. And it was a blast. I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm glad that I have the flexibility in my life that I've created to be able to do that with her when she's off. Because I've got a lot of friends who don't know a damn thing about their kids and they're just hoping it works out. And I feel terrible for them. Some of them, I know their kids probably better than they do because they hang out around mine. So I see them, you know, from that, from osmosis, and I probably know more about them, which is insane. But hey, It is what it is, right? So think about it. Get that niche down version where you're working something specific. Maybe it's, you know, getting outta that day-to-day, build that team, cut the revenue, get your life back, whatever it is, whatever it is, just name it. Because you can't rise your way to a destination you haven't actually chosen. The whole framework of what I do in Rise is that you, you have to have clarity. We need a path. So here's what this 10-episode arc has really been about. It's been getting you ready to move your ass, not just feel better about yourself. Look, I don't really care. I don't know you. You don't know me. I'm just another voice in the clouds, right? Literally. I want you to feel better. I want you to have a destination. I want you to be ready to move. You know, not just think differently, but move in the direction of the thing that you actually wanna build. That's where I wanna support every single person that wants to build something. If you wanna build something amazing, I am 100% here. Hit me up anywhere you could find me. I'm always down to have a conversation. AI's gonna help you get there faster for some of it. Clear messaging will help people find you. Visibility will fill that pipeline, but you gotta do the things to get visible, right? Following through will make it real. It will help with the conversion side of things in your life, but all of it requires you. You first gotta be honest about what you're building towards and what the goal is and where the clarity's at. So let me ask you this. What's the business you've been avoiding building? Because right now I give you permission for that to be real and for that to be your next thing, that to be your now thing. And let's all go build it together. And our riff of this episode is going to be, you can't rise your way to a destination you haven't had the guts to choose yet. So let's get a little more guts in our life. Let's get a little more gusto, people. Let's kick a little more ass and let's do it together. I'm totally here to back your play., but you gotta put it out there and be visible and let me know. Otherwise, how could I help somebody I don't know? I gotta know you. You gotta know me. You can join the community. You keep watch, listening to the podcast. We've got a lot more coming out over this year. So, you know, it's just gonna be a hold the space. Go to stevelichtman.com, get everything you need. I am Steve Lichtman. This was Unfiltered and Unshakeable. And no, even at the end of episode 40, I don't have a jingle yet. We are jingleless. Yeah, maybe I should make one in AI and make a ridiculous AI jingle. And what is it? Sono? Suno? Sora? Suno? Whatever one it is, the audio one. I tried it for a couple of months. It was horrible. I mean, for people that actually can make music, it's crap. But to make a stupid jingle at the end of the episode, maybe I could just yell and scream into my mic a little bit and turn into something funny at the end that we could paste in at the end. And then I'll ask people to tell me how much they like it or hate it, and we can go from there. All right guys, you've been fantastic. You've been magical. I appreciate you for every minute you've listened to me in these 40 episodes, and I hope you stick around for the next 40 or 400 more. Take it easy, guys.
