What if the biggest thing missing from your business plan isn't a
strategy, a funnel, or a hire, but a clear answer to where you're
actually trying to go? In this episode, Paul Avins sits down with
Will Polston, best-selling author of North Star Thinking,
entrepreneur, NLP practitioner and one of the UK's top business
strategy and performance coaches. Will shares his journey from
believing money equalled happiness, chasing it hard through a
career as a city broker, to the moment at a Tony Robbins event that
revealed his real driver had nothing to do with cash. Will and Paul
unpack what a North Star actually is: not a purpose, but a life
mission you'll never fully achieve but keep working towards, the
business equivalent of trying to empty the sea with a spoon. They
explore why entrepreneurs hit a scale-up ceiling between £500k and
£1.5m, why beliefs like "I don't have the time or money" get baked
in during underfunded start-up years, and how to break a limiting
belief by introducing doubt through other people's references. The
conversation goes deep on identity: why exited business owners
often spiral into feelings of depression from losing the "business
owner" identity without a life-after-exit plan, why peak
performance is potential minus interference, and why "it needs to
be done, but I don't need to do it" was the belief that kept Will
stuck longest even after success. They also cover recovery, why
sleep quality now trumps everything else in his routine, his
self-love list for staying recharged, and 22, the mushroom
supplement business he built to run on one to two hours a week.
What you'll learn: Why a North Star differs from a purpose, and why
most businesses have a vision and values while most people never
define their own. Why the money-equals-happiness belief gets
embedded early. Why entrepreneurs hit a scale-up ceiling around
£500k to £1.5m, and why hustle gets you there but framework gets
you further. How to break any limiting belief by introducing doubt
through other people's references. Why exiting without a
life-after-exit plan often triggers depression through identity
loss. Why peak performance is a subtraction game, not addition. The
difference between guilt and shame, and why "work guilt" keeps
founders chained to their desks. Why multiple identities protect
you through major transitions. Why sleep quality became Will's
single biggest performance lever. What a self-love list is and how
it drives active accountability. Why Will built 22 to prove a
company can grow on one to two hours a week. Why reviewing your net
worth, including your business valuation, quarterly changes how you
treat the business. Apply this: Get clarity on your North Star
before your next goal. Ask what you're actually doing this for,
long term. Interrogate your beliefs about time and money. Find
people who've proven them wrong. Build a life-after-exit plan
before you exit, not after the deal closes. Treat recovery as part
of performance. Track sleep quality and build in genuine off-season
time. Get your business valued every quarter. Treating it as an
asset, not just income, changes your decisions. Create a self-love
list of things that recharge you, and use it to check in on
yourself weekly. Ask "how can I do this and have fun?" instead of
forcing yourself through what you resent. About Will Polston Will
Polston is a best-selling author, entrepreneur and one of the UK's
top business strategy and performance coaches. A former city broker
turned NLP practitioner and psychologist, he's the author of North
Star Thinking: Master Your Mindset and Live a Life You Love. He's
also built 22, a functional mushroom supplement company, and is
working to build a 6,000-seater ice arena and develop the junior
academy of the ice hockey club he played for over 23 years. Find
out more: https://willpolston.com Scale with Paul Avins Connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulavins/ Book a call:
https://www.paulavins.com/book-a-call Newsletter:
https://www.paulavins.com/newsletter-opt-in Level Up. Team Up.
Scale Up. Fire Up.
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