Unlock entrepreneurial freedom by embracing 10-year thinking, maximizing your impact, and leading with authenticity. True growth starts within.
Read time: 6.51 minutes.
Read this on: jeanmoncrieff.com
What's in store for today:
- The power of ten-year thinking
- Understanding your 100%
- Why your leadership armor is leaving you weaker
Hey There,
What if I told you the secret weapon of remarkable entrepreneurs isn't speed - it's their ability to slow down time?
While most business owners chase quarterly targets and annual goals, a select few play a different game entirely.
This week on The Freedom Experience, Rob Dube pulls back the curtain on this secret.
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On the journey to building imageOne into one of Forbes' Small Giants and Michigan's #1 workplace, he discovered something that transformed his entire approach to business- true entrepreneurial freedom comes from within.
In this episode, we talk about...
- Understanding your "100%" - the perfect number of hours you bring real value
- Being still enough to let your true self catch up with your busy life
- Making decisions from love rather than fear
- Knowing when to delegate work that drains your energy
- Thinking in 10-year timeframes instead of quarterly sprints
If you're wrestling with growth plateaus, feeling the weight of leadership, or wondering if there's a better way to build a business, this conversation will change how you think about success - and yourself.
Catch my full conversation with Rob on The Freedom Experience podcast.
1. The power of ten-year thinking
Most business owners live in a constant state of urgency. Next month's targets. This quarter's goals. Year-end results.
But what if you could shift to a different way of thinking—one that actually gives you more time?
Rob’s perspective sparked a revelation:
"When you shift to ten-year thinking, time slows down because you realize there's no rush."
This isn’t just feel-good advice. It’s rooted in the reality of business cycles. Over a decade, your business will likely experience:
- 2 exceptional years
- 6 solid, steady years
- 2 years so challenging they could put you out of business
Understanding this pattern changes everything.
Those panic-inducing down months? They're part of the cycle. That incredible quarter? Also part of the cycle.
When you zoom out to the ten-year view, these ups and downs transform from emergencies into expected waypoints on your journey.
Why this matters now
In today's "hustle culture," we're conditioned to chase rapid growth and quick wins. But this short-term thinking creates:
- Anxiety about natural business fluctuations
- Reactive decisions that undermine long-term success
- Burnout from treating every challenge as an emergency
- Missed opportunities because we’re too focused on immediate fires
When you embrace the ten-year cycle
- You make better strategic decisions because you're playing the long game
- You build more resilient systems and teams, knowing you'll need them for the tough years
- You manage cash differently, preparing for both peaks and valleys
- Most importantly, you find peace amid the natural rhythm of business
Ask yourself:
- What kind of company do I want to build by 2035?
- What foundations need to be laid now for that vision?
- How can I build systems that thrive through highs and lows?
The beauty of long-term thinking isn’t just better business outcomes—it’s the mental freedom it creates. When you know you have time, everything changes.
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2. Understanding Your "100%"
Most entrepreneurs pride themselves on working harder than everyone else. But Rob challenges this mindset.
What if, instead of maximizing hours, we maximized impact?
Your "100%" isn't about grinding out 80-hour weeks or being constantly available. It's about understanding the perfect number of hours where you bring real value to the world.
For some leaders, that's 20 hours a week. For others, it might be 80. The number itself doesn't matter - what matters is honesty about when you're truly at your best.
Here's my 100%
I work forty-four weeks per year and forty-five hours per week. That’s my 100%. This enables me to follow a routine that prioritizes focus and energy. I wake at 6 AM for 60 minutes of journaling, reading, and contemplative time. Next, I get in an hour’s work before a run and breakfast. Most days, I take lunch around 12:30 PM and return to my desk by 2 PM. My day ends by 6:30 PM after 20 minutes of preparing for tomorrow.
This structure keeps me in control of my time and focused on high-value activities.
Unfortunately, I see many business owners who don’t have this control. They use AI scheduling tools to fill their calendars, treating productivity as a matter of volume.
The problem?
These tools optimize for busyness, not impact. A packed schedule often means reacting to other people's priorities instead of focusing on what truly moves the needle.
This isn't about working less. It's about working right. When you understand your true capacity:
- You stop doing work that drains you
- You delegate tasks below your pay grade
- You focus energy where you create unique value
- You show up fully present for what matters most
Many leaders argue they can't afford to work less or delegate more. Rob flips this thinking:
"You always can figure out a way if you're thinking in ten-year timeframes. If you know that by paying somebody $40 an hour to do something you hate, you can direct your energy into something more valuable - why wouldn't you do that?"
An hour of your best work is worth more than ten hours of depleted effort.
Understanding your 100% isn’t a limitation—it’s a multiplier. But it requires intentionality.
Stop letting tools—or the expectations of others—dictate your time. Take control, define your capacity, and design your schedule to work for you, not against you.
3. Why your leadership armor is leaving you weaker
Imagine a knight preparing for battle, strapping on layers of heavy armor. It’s designed to protect them, but it also slows them down, limits their vision, and makes it nearly impossible to move freely.
Now imagine they’re not facing a sword fight but a sprint. That same armor, which seemed like a shield, becomes the very thing that ensures their defeat.
This is what happens when business leaders wear metaphorical armor. The “armor” may look like projecting strength, always having the answers, or never showing vulnerability. At first, it feels like protection—but over time, it becomes the weight that holds you back from winning.
Many business owners unconsciously build up this armor over years of leading. They wear it in the form of control:
- Making every decision themselves
- Avoiding difficult conversations
- Refusing to admit they don’t know something
- Staying in their comfort zone rather than empowering others
While it may feel safer to stay protected, the reality is this: leadership armor isolates you, blinds you to opportunities, and limits your growth.
Rob captured this perfectly when he said:
"You're walking around with this each day, living a lie because in some ways you are."
I'm reminded of Conni Reed, founder of Consuela. At one point, her business was stuck at $3 million. She described how her “armor” manifested as micromanaging her team, trying to control everything, and focusing on her fears.
The breakthrough came when she let go. She allowed herself to be vulnerable, stopped trying to do everything herself, and truly empowered her team. The result? Her business grew to $46 million in just five years.
The catalyst wasn’t a new strategy or market shift. It was her decision to take off the armor.
"You can't be a good leader and understand team dynamics if you're wearing a bunch of armor and really focused on yourself." - Conni Reed.
This insight cuts to the heart of why so many leaders struggle to scale their businesses.
When we're wrapped in armor, protecting ourselves from what we believe to be harm, we miss the collective wisdom and strength right before us.
How to Shed the Armor
The strongest leaders aren’t invincible superheroes—they’re authentic humans who make space for others to step up, contribute, and grow.
Ask yourself:
- When was the last time I admitted to not having the answer?
- How often do I share challenges with my team?
- Am I building a team of leaders—or just loyal followers?
Taking off the armor means:
- Trusting your team to solve problems
- Making decisions from love rather than fear
- Focusing on building systems and leaders, not just quick wins
Leadership isn’t about carrying the weight of the world. It’s about creating an environment where others can thrive. Take off the armor, lighten your load, and watch your team—and your business—achieve more than you ever imagined.
One quote to start the week strong
"Your true self isn't afraid to allow the world to see how you really feel."​- Rob Dube
We're trained to maintain a perfect leadership facade. To project unwavering confidence.
To keep our doubts safely hidden.
But what if this carefully constructed image is actually holding us back?
Have a great week!
- Jean
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