How to Find your MISSION

Free "MISSION BUilder GPT" Included

Hey Solopreneur

Let me be honest with you. I wasted months trying to “find my niche.”

Every guru screamed the same thing: Pick a niche! Narrow down! Focus!

But here’s what they don’t tell you. When you’re just starting out, you have no idea which niche actually fits you.

So what do we do? We copy someone else’s niche. We chase what’s working for them. And six months later, we’re burnt out and miserable because we picked something we don’t even care about.

I’ve been there. And I know you might be there right now.

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Why I Stopped Listening to “Niche Down” Advice

The problem with niches? They’re narrow. They’re restrictive. They force you into a box before you even know who you are.

When I started, I tried three different niches. None of them stuck. Why? Because I was following trends, not my truth. I was building someone else’s dream, not mine.

Then I shifted my thinking. Instead of asking “What’s my niche?” I asked “What’s my mission?”

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What’s a Mission? (And Why It Changes Everything)

Think of a mission as your broader purpose. It’s not a specific topic or audience. It’s the change you want to create in the world.

Here’s mine: Help 5,000 people escape the 9-5 trap and become solopreneurs who do what they love.

Notice something? It’s broad enough to explore different angles. It’s specific enough to drive me forward. It’s personal enough that I’ll never run out of fuel.

Your mission is similar. It’s about helping people achieve something that aligns with who you are. Not who someone else wants you to be.

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The 4-Bucket Framework: Finding Your Mission

I created this framework after months of trial and error. It’s how I moved from confusion to clarity. And it works.

The framework has 4 buckets:

1. Passion – What you’re curious about

2. Skill – What you’ve learned or can learn

3. Impact – How you create value for others

4. Monetize – How you turn it into income

For each bucket, you’ll move through 3 phases:

• Dissonance – Restless for the next chapter

• Uncertainty – Awareness sparks growth through not knowing

• Discovery – Finding clarity through experimentation

You won’t figure this out overnight. That’s the point. Your mission reveals itself as you document your journey and explore these buckets.

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1. Passion: What Makes You Curious?

Passion isn’t just about what you love right now. It’s about what you’ve been exposed to. What shaped you. What you keep coming back to.

Maybe you grew up around a unique local craft. Maybe you were obsessed with cars as a kid. Maybe you spent hours reading about psychology or design.

Your past holds clues. Your curiosity is data.

Questions to Uncover Your Passion:

1. What topics do you find yourself reading about in your free time?

2. What did you love doing as a child that you’ve forgotten about?

3. If you could learn anything new without worrying about money or time, what would it be?

4. What experiences from your past still influence how you see the world today?

5. What problems do you get angry about because you care so much?

6. When you talk to friends, what topics make you light up with excitement?

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2. Skill: What Have You Already Learned?

Skills are everything you’ve picked up along the way. From your job. From hobbies. From life.

Don’t discount anything. The skill you think is “basic” might be exactly what someone else desperately needs.

You’ve learned more than you think. List it all out.

Questions to Identify Your Skills:

1. What do people frequently ask you for help with?

2. What skills have you developed through your job, even if you didn’t love the job?

3. What can you do today that you couldn’t do five years ago?

4. What hobbies or side projects have taught you specific abilities?

5. What do you know how to do that feels easy to you but hard for others?

6. If you had to teach a workshop tomorrow, what topic could you speak on for an hour?

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3. Impact: How Can You Create Value?

This is where passion and skill collide. Impact is about taking what you know and what you love, then using it to help others.

It’s not about you anymore. It’s about them. The people you want to serve. The change you want to create.

Think about transformation. What do you want people to experience after working with you or consuming your content?

I have a detailed Blueprint from Defining your MISSION to the Newsletter formats and Idea Generator Prompts Inside my “AI Writer Blueprint”-

[ Access Now ]

Questions to Define Your Impact:

1. Who do you naturally want to help? (Be specific about their situation, not just demographics)

2. What transformation do you want to create for them?

3. What problem keeps your ideal audience up at night?

4. How do your skills and passions uniquely position you to help them?

5. What would change in someone’s life if they learned what you know?

6. What impact would make you feel proud to talk about in 10 years?

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4. Monetize: How Do You Build a Sustainable Business?

Let’s be real. You need to make money. Passion without profit isn’t a business. It’s an expensive hobby.

Monetization is about creating a product or service that solves a real problem. Something people will pay for because it genuinely helps them.

Don’t overcomplicate this. Start with what people are already asking for.

Questions to Explore Monetization:

1. What problem are people already paying to solve in your area of impact?

2. What format would you enjoy delivering value in? (Writing, coaching, courses, templates, etc.)

3. What’s the smallest version of your idea you could charge for tomorrow?

4. Who in your target audience has money and urgency to solve their problem?

5. What would you need to earn monthly to make this sustainable?

6. What business model aligns with your lifestyle goals? (Time freedom, location freedom, etc.)

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Connecting the Dots: Building Your Mission Statement (Action Exercise)

Okay, you’ve answered all the questions. Now you have a pile of insights scattered across four buckets. Let’s turn that into a clear, actionable mission.

Don’t skip this exercise. This is where everything comes together.

Here is the “MISSION Builder” for you to Define Your MISSION for FREE

Step 1: Create Your 4-Bucket Visual Map

Get a blank piece of paper or open a digital doc. Draw four circles (or just make four columns). Label them: Passion, Skill, Impact, Monetize.

Under each circle, write your top 3-5 answers from the questions in that section. Just the key points. Not everything—just what jumped out at you.

Example:

• Passion: Freedom lifestyle, building systems, teaching online

• Skill: Writing, project management, simplifying complex topics

• Impact: Help people escape 9-5, create freedom-based income

• Monetize: Digital products, newsletters, 1-on-1 coaching

Step 2: Find the Overlap

Now look across all four buckets. Circle or highlight anything that appears in multiple buckets or that feels connected.

Ask yourself:

• What theme keeps showing up?

• What energizes me across multiple buckets?

• What problem appears in both Impact and Monetize?

• Do my Skills support my Passion?

Look for the golden thread that ties everything together. That’s your mission hiding in plain sight.

Example overlap: “Teaching” shows up in Passion (love teaching online) and Skill (simplifying complex topics). “Freedom” appears in Passion and Impact. “Digital products” connects Skill (writing) with Monetize.

Step 3: Identify Your Core Audience

From your Impact bucket, get specific about who you’re helping. Don’t say “everyone” or “entrepreneurs.” Drill down.

Answer these:

• What’s their current painful situation?

• Where do they want to be instead?

• Why can YOU uniquely help them get there?

Write this as a clear statement: “I help [specific people in specific situation] achieve [specific outcome].”

Example: “I help burned-out corporate employees who crave freedom build solopreneur businesses so they can escape the 9-5 trap.”

Step 4: Add Your “How” (Your Unique Approach)

Look at your Passion and Skill buckets. How will you deliver this transformation? What makes your approach different?

Think about:

• What method or process do you naturally use?

• What perspective do you bring that others don’t?

• What format do you want to work in? (Writing, teaching, coaching, etc.)

Example: “...by teaching them to validate ideas quickly and build minimum viable products without quitting their job first.”

Step 5: Draft Your Mission Statement

Now combine everything into one clear statement. Use this template as a starting point:

“I help [who] achieve [transformation] by [your unique approach] through [how you deliver/monetize].”

Let me show you how this works with a real example:

From the buckets:

• Passion: Autonomy, creative work, helping others find fulfillment

• Skill: Strategic thinking, content creation, simplifying business concepts

• Impact: Help people escape corporate trap and build freedom

• Monetize: Newsletters, digital products, small-group coaching

Mission statement: “I help 5,000 aspiring solopreneurs escape the 9-5 trap and build freedom-based businesses by teaching them validated frameworks through actionable newsletters and digital products.”

Step 6: The Reality Check

Read your mission statement out loud. Then ask yourself:

1. Does this excite me? If you feel a surge of energy, you’re on the right track.

2. Is it specific enough? Can you picture the person you’re helping and what you’re building?

3. Is it broad enough? Can you explore different angles and evolve without rewriting everything?

4. Would I work on this for 2-3 years? Your mission needs staying power.

5. Can I monetize this? Are people already paying to solve this problem?

If you answered “yes” to at least 4 out of 5, you’ve got a solid mission foundation.

Step 7: Test It in the Real World

Here’s the part nobody talks about: your mission needs validation from the market, not just your journal.

Do this in the next 7 days:

1. Share your mission with 3-5 people who fit your target audience

2. Ask them: “Does this resonate with you? What would you want help with related to this?”

3. Watch their reaction. If they lean in and start asking questions, you’re onto something.

4. Create one piece of content based on your mission and post it publicly

5. See what response you get. Engagement = validation.

Refine based on feedback. Your mission will evolve as you learn more about your audience and yourself. That’s not failure-that’s iteration.

Your Mission Is Ready When...

You know your mission is solid when:

• You can explain it clearly in 30 seconds

• It guides your daily decisions (what to create, who to talk to, what opportunities to take)

• You feel energized, not drained, when you think about it

• It’s flexible enough to grow but focused enough to say “no” to distractions

• Other people can see themselves in it

Remember: Your mission is a living thing. It grows as you grow. The goal isn’t to find the “perfect” mission. The goal is to find a mission compelling enough to start building today.

Now you have your foundation. Everything you create moving forward flows from this mission.

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Understanding the Three Phases: Your Journey Through Each Bucket

Here’s what most people don’t tell you: finding your mission isn’t a straight line. You’ll move through three distinct phases for each bucket. Sometimes you’ll be in different phases for different buckets at the same time.

Let me walk you through how this actually works.

Phase 1: Dissonance (Restless for the Next Chapter)

This is where it starts. You feel unsettled. Something’s off. You’re scrolling through other people’s content thinking “I could do this” or “Why am I not doing what I love?”

What’s happening: Your current situation doesn’t match your potential. The gap between where you are and where you want to be creates tension. This discomfort is actually your intuition telling you it’s time to move.

What to do: Don’t ignore this feeling. Write it down. Journal about what’s making you restless. This phase is about acknowledging that change needs to happen. You don’t need answers yet. You just need to admit you’re ready for something different.

Example: You’re in a marketing job but keep daydreaming about teaching others how to build side projects. That’s dissonance in your Passion bucket.

Phase 2: Uncertainty (Awareness Sparks Growth Through Not Knowing)

Now you’re exploring. You’re trying things. You’re posting content, taking courses, talking to people. Nothing feels “right” yet, and that’s frustrating.

What’s happening: You’re building awareness. Every experiment teaches you something. Every conversation reveals a new angle. You’re not confused—you’re gathering data. Uncertainty isn’t the enemy. It’s the learning phase.

What to do: Stay in action. Try different formats. Talk to potential customers. Test different topics. Keep a “learning log” where you track what energizes you and what drains you. The patterns will emerge, but only if you’re actively experimenting.

Example: You start writing about three different topics to see which one you enjoy most and which gets the best response. Some weeks you feel lost. That’s normal.

Phase 3: Discovery (Clarity Through Experimentation)

Things start clicking. You notice patterns in what works. You see which topics you return to again and again. You understand who you’re really trying to help and why.

What’s happening: All that uncertainty is paying off. You’ve collected enough data through action to see the truth. Your mission isn’t something you think your way into—it’s something you discover by doing.

What to do: Crystallize what you’ve learned. Write down your insights. Define your mission statement. Make decisions based on your discoveries. You’re ready to commit to a direction while staying open to evolution.

Example: After six months of experimenting, you realize you love teaching beginners how to validate business ideas. You’ve found your sweet spot.

Important: You’ll cycle through these phases multiple times. As your mission evolves, you’ll experience new dissonance, new uncertainty, and new discoveries. That’s growth. Embrace it.

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Final Thought

You don’t need to have it all figured out. You don’t need to pick the “perfect” niche. You don’t need to follow someone else’s path.

You need a mission that excites you. One that’s big enough to explore. One that’s meaningful enough to sustain you through the hard days.

Start there. Build from there. Document the journey.

The rest will unfold.

To your mission,

Mike

P.S. I’d love to know what you discover about your mission. Hit reply and share your draft. I read every response.