You are Just One Roadmap Away…

It will help you identify what steps you need to take, when
to take them and how to take them

ROADMAPER
How to Build Your Roadmap To
(Online Business) Success

Muhammad Yousaf Saeed

ii
Text copyrights © Muhammad Yousaf Saeed
Cover Designed by: Aziz Designer

The moral rights of the writer, illustrator and editor have been asserted.

Copyright © 2023 by All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or distributed

in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of
the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often

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book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks, and
registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the
book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this
book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed
the book.

ISBN 978-969-696-807-8
You are Just One Roadmap Away…

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION ...................................................................................... xii

FOREWORD .......................................................................................xiii
PREFACE ........................................................................................... xvii
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... xxi
SECTION ONE: FOUNDATION ............................................................. 1
CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................ 3
KNOW YOURSELF ................................................................................ 3

Personality Traits: ............................................................ 4

Personality Tests:............................................................. 5
Go on a Self-Exploration Journey: ..................................... 7
CHAPTER 2........................................................................................... 10
KNOW WHERE YOU CURRENTLY STAND ........................................ 10

Get Complete Clarity on Your Income & Expenses:........... 11

Income and Expenses Analysis: ....................................... 12
Awareness of Your Habits, Personality, and Mindset: ........ 13
CHAPTER 3 ........................................................................................... 17
WHERE TO HEAD IN LIFE?................................................................. 17

How People Influence Us to Take the Wrong Path: ............ 17

The Shiny Object Syndrome: .......................................... 19
What Does Success Mean To You? .................................. 20
Everything is Possible: ................................................... 22
CHAPTER 4 .......................................................................................... 25
ROADMAP 101 ...................................................................................... 25
 Roadmap- What It is, and Why You Need it? .................... 26
Roadmap Bring Certainty in Your Life ............................. 29
Roadmap Provides You with the Right Information at The
Right Time:................................................................... 33
CHAPTER 5 ...........................................................................................34
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES ........34

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs: ............................. 35

The Dilemma: ............................................................... 37
Three Core Human Needs: .............................................. 38
Five Stages of Earning and Growth: ................................. 39
Find your needs at each level: ......................................... 42
List down all your Wants: ............................................... 44
Find your Uniqueness:.................................................... 47
Your Circumstances: ...................................................... 49
CHAPTER 6 .......................................................................................... 51
UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP .............. 51

How to Find Yourself and Your True Potential? ................ 54

Why Do You Want to Do The Business? .......................... 55
How Much Money Will You Need? ................................. 56
What Is Your Product or Service? .................................... 58
Levels of Entrepreneurs: ................................................. 60
Religious Perspective on Entrepreneurship: ...................... 63
SUMMARY OF SECTION 1 .................................................................. 65
SECTION TWO: ................................................................................... 67
ROADMAP FRAMEWORK.................................................................. 67

vi
CHAPTER 7 .......................................................................................... 69
STEP 1: GOAL / DESTINATION .......................................................... 69

Define Your Goal (Goal Setting Framework): ................... 69

Define Your Purpose: ..................................................... 69
Define your SMART goal: .............................................. 71
Is it a NEED or WANT? ................................................. 72
One Big Goal A Year. .................................................... 73
CHAPTER 8 .......................................................................................... 77
STEP 2: VEHICLE .................................................................................. 77
WHAT WILL BE YOUR VEHICLE? ....................................................... 77

Which vehicle will you pick? .......................................... 77

What is the Vehicle Potential? ......................................... 78
Power of ‘NO’:.............................................................. 78
CHAPTER 9 ......................................................................................... 79
STEP 3: DRIVER .................................................................................. 79
WHAT IS YOUR DRIVER? .................................................................. 79

1. Survival: ................................................................... 85
2. Pain: ......................................................................... 86
3. Gain: ........................................................................ 86
4. Money: ..................................................................... 87
5. Family: ..................................................................... 87
6. Fame: ....................................................................... 88
7. Impact: ..................................................................... 88
8. Faith/ Religion: .......................................................... 89
CHAPTER 10 ........................................................................................ 92
STEP 4: TIME ....................................................................................... 92
TIME ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK ......................................................... 92

How much time do you have? ......................................... 93

How Much Time Does the Goal/ Project Require? ............. 95
Time Management Calculator: ........................................ 99
Can you buy other people's time?................................... 102
CHAPTER 11 ........................................................................................ 104
STEP 5: RESOURCES .......................................................................... 104
SKILLS ................................................................................................ 104

Skill vs Business:......................................................... 105

1. Basic skills: ............................................................. 106
2. Income skills: .......................................................... 106
3. High income Skills: .................................................. 106
CHAPTER 12 ....................................................................................... 109
STEP 6: ENVIRONMENT .................................................................... 109
BUILDING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT ......................................... 109

1. Habits: .................................................................... 111

2. Consistency: ............................................................ 112
3. Discipline: ............................................................... 112
4. Achievement: .......................................................... 114
Long term: .................................................................. 114
CHAPTER 13 ....................................................................................... 116
STEP 7: INVESTMENT ........................................................................ 116
HOW MUCH INVESTMENT IS REQUIRED?..................................... 116
CHAPTER 14 ....................................................................................... 120

viii
STEP 8: ACCOUNTABILITY ............................................................... 120
WHO WILL MAKE YOU ACCOUNTABLE?........................................ 120

Can you make yourself accountable?.............................. 121

Systems Make You Accountable: .................................. 122
Other people make you accountable: .............................. 124
CHAPTER 15 ....................................................................................... 126
STEP 9: GUIDE ................................................................................... 126
WHO WILL BE YOUR GUIDE? .......................................................... 126

DIKIWI Hierarchy ....................................................... 127

Who do you need? ....................................................... 131
CHAPTER 16 ....................................................................................... 135
STEP 10: STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES ........................................ 135
STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES YOU MAY FACE ........................... 135

How to figure out your challenges? ................................ 135

How to resolve those struggles? ..................................... 136
CHAPTER 17 ....................................................................................... 137
STEP 11. WORST-CASE ANALYSIS ..................................................... 137
WHAT CAN BE THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO? .............................. 137

What can be the worst-case scenario? ............................. 138

What will happen if you are not able to reach your
destination?................................................................. 139
CHAPTER 18 ....................................................................................... 142
STEP 12. SETS OF LIFE ....................................................................... 142
SEVEN SETS OF LIFE.......................................................................... 142

1. Religion Set: ............................................................ 142

 2. Mindset:.................................................................. 143
3. Heart Set: ................................................................ 144
4. Health Set: .............................................................. 144
5. Environment Set: ..................................................... 145
6. Family Set: .............................................................. 145
7. Skills Set: ................................................................ 145
SUMMARY OF SECTION 2 ................................................................. 147

TIME TO GIVE BACK ................................................ 149

SECTION THREE: .............................................................................. 151
ROADMAP SPEED BOOSTERS .......................................................... 151

1. Burning Desire:........................................................ 151

2. Unfair Advantage: .................................................... 152
3. Power of 4x: ............................................................ 154
4. Opportunity Potential:............................................... 157
5. Stay on the Road: ..................................................... 158
6. Focus on One:.......................................................... 159
7. Difficulty Level: ...................................................... 161
8. Scalability: .............................................................. 162
9. Power of Unknown:.................................................. 163
10. Flow with the market: ............................................. 165
11. Emotions vs. Action:............................................... 166
12. Sunk Cost: ............................................................. 167
13. Compounding: ....................................................... 168
14. Timing: ................................................................. 169

x
 15. Collaboration/ Collaborate: ...................................... 170
16. Leverage: .............................................................. 171
17. Community and Network: ....................................... 172
18. Second (2nd) Order Consequence: ............................. 173
SUMMARY OF SECTION 3 ................................................................. 175
SECTION FOUR: ................................................................................ 179
ROADMAP IMPLEMENTATION STAGES ......................................... 179

Roadmap Framework Implementation Overview: ............ 179

Minimum Viable Roadmap (MVR): ............................... 180
Roadmap Framework Implementation Stages .................. 182
1. Help Stage ........................................................................................ 183
2. Build Stage ....................................................................................... 188
3. Grow Stage....................................................................................... 191
4. Scale Stage ....................................................................................... 195

Help, Build, Grow and Scale (HBGS): ........................... 197

5. Exit Stage ......................................................................................... 198
6. Owner Stage .................................................................................... 200
How to Play in between different stages of Roadmap?........................... 201
SUMMARY OF SECTION 4.................................................................203
Conclusion ........................................................................................ 208
What’s Next? ................................................................................... 209
1. Free Help and Guidance: ............................................................... 209
2. Paid Help and Guidance: ............................................................... 210
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................... 211
ABOUT THE AUTHOR ............................................................................. 212
 DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all those who think and believe

that they have the potential to grow big and help others.
They are just stuck and unable to find a clear Roadmap that
will lead them toward their desired goal. This book will
help you find your roadmap to success so that you can
serve those people whose dots are connected with you, and
who are waiting for you. Become the ultimate Roadmaper
of your life by building Your Roadmap and serve the
people for whom you were sent here.

xii
FOREWORD

If you decided to step into the Online Business Field. You

want to become a Youtuber, blogger, or freelancer. Want to
learn Artificial Intelligence, Block Chain, Game
Development, Ethical Hacking, Digital Marketing, Video
Editing, Software Development, and Mobile App
Development? Want to build, grow, and scale your business?
You need to define a full course of action.
People don’t have clarity. That's why most people won't be
able to achieve success. Roadmap brings clarity. That is
where this book ROADMAPER will help you how to build
your Roadmap to success.
Yousaf is my friend and I have known him for many years.
His roadmap expertise helped a lot in our Seekhna Seekho
Event in 2019. Why this, why that, how to connect this with
that, and so on. I have witnessed his expertise myself. That
is why I also made him the Admin of my Facebook group,
Learn freelancing with Hisham Sarwar. He has actively
worked with me in the group and helped me a lot in my
projection at the start.
I have told Yousaf to add his detailed introduction as
people should know what he has done and how capable he
is. But I know he will not talk about himself much as real
people focus more on getting the Job done. Let me do it for
him not only as a friend, but I also want you to know him
and connect with him to build your roadmap to success.
Yousaf has a decade of experience in the online field. He
has been active since 2011 and empowering people about
online business well before when I and other experts were
not active.
It is worth mentioning that He is one of the pioneers in
promoting and empowering people about online businesses
in Pakistan. With that vision, he founded Internet Business
Trainings (IBT). Which has empowered 1000s of people
along with many success stories. He was also one of the first
Flippa Super Seller from Pakistan. Which opens the doors
for many people to know about the flipping world that you
can sell your website and can change your life.
He was the one who laid the foundation for the physical
events back in 2014 when freelancers and solo entrepreneurs
were not accustomed to events and meetups.
Consider him as Tony Robbins of Business in Pakistan.
It is not an overstatement. As he is a deep thinker.
He came to me a year ago with Roadmaps Charts about
different online businesses. Where he shared how Roadmap
can help with the following:
• How to take the specific field.
• Stumbling blocks, one faces in their journey. How to
avoid them, seamlessly without getting into trouble.

xiv
 I shared my pain point with Yousaf that most people stay
at the individual skill level, not able to scale it up.
• They don't know how to set goals.
• They don't know about the frameworks.
• They will work at the individual level and when they
don't find the desired results they change their field.
They will divert and detract and that doesn't work to
get success.
I am overwhelmingly pleased by what Yousaf has written
and the thought process he has compiled in the form of a call
to action.
This book has different tools at each step of the roadmap
that will help you take action toward achieving your Goals.
If you are looking for the following answers:
• Why do you give up?
• Why are you not able to reach your goal?
• Why are you not able to identify the field?
• Why are you not able to find your niche?
• Why do you run away from competition?
• How will you identify which work you need to do?
• How long do you have to do that work?
• When do you have to leave that work?
 • How to build, scale and grow the business?
This is where this book Roadmaper will guide you. I
highly recommend reading this book and taking action. So
that you can build your Roadmap to Success.

Hisham Sarwar
Founder of Being Guru
Co-founder of [Link]
CEO of Infomist Services

xvi
PREFACE

Thinking of starting your online business? Confused about

which field to venture in with so many of them at your
disposal? Lack of a sense of direction?
I hear you! Understanding all your pain points, I have
created this book ‘Roadmaper’ that will resolve all your
ambiguities and provide you with a clear understanding as
well as actionable tips on how to create your very own
roadmap that leads straight to success.
The idea to create this book was built on the 11 Online
Business Roadmaps I created back in Ramadan 2017. When
I thought of creating something empowering and meaningful
for people. I realized I had spent over 10 years at that time
in the online business field and did multiple online
businesses and had enough knowledge that could positively
impact the lives of those around me. I have always believed
the right knowledge must be shared.
Following that belief, I did a 12 weeks training wherein I
created roadmaps about the different online business fields
including:
1. Blogging Roadmap
2. Freelancing Roadmap
3. Affiliate Marketing Roadmap
 4. Social Media Marketing Roadmap
5. Web Properties Roadmap
6. Service Agency Roadmap
7. Apps Business Roadmap
8. Product Launch Roadmap
9. E-commerce Roadmap
10. SAAS Business Roadmap
11. Startup Roadmap

In total, I have developed 11 powerful and actionable

roadmaps for 11 different online business fields. You can get
access at: [Link] for
free. Considering how many of us feel comfortable reading
or listening to things in Urdu since it is the national language
of Pakistanis, I have kept these in Urdu, but an English
version of the roadmaps will be available soon too.
We have all heard many success stories revolving around
online businesses. People do share their achievements,
earnings, and how success transformed their lives. Sadly,
there isn’t much sound knowledge available on how to
achieve a certain goal. The obstacles involved in a journey,
the do’s and don’ts a certain endeavor encompasses, and
what you must do to actualize your goals.

xviii
 I realized it was substantial to work on resolving these very
issues, hence I started working on creating a book that would
fix these problems. When I started my online business
journey roughly about 15 years ago, I did not have any sound
guidance. There was absolutely nobody to educate me or I
was not able to find one, on what path to take, what
roadblocks to avoid, what measures to take when facing the
different setbacks I faced, and how to move towards my
desired destination in a streamlined manner.
Since I faced all those struggles, I can feel the pain of all
those going through the same. This is precisely why I
decided to end the misery for you and provide you with a
clear understanding of how to kick-start your journey in
online business. When you embark on your journey to start
and build a career after reading this book, you will be well-
prepared to handle them. You will be equipped with the
knowledge and guidance on what routes to take, how to
avoid taking U-turns, what bumps to avoid, and how to stay
firm to your goal even when you hit a rocky patch.
All my knowledge comes from the experience I have
gained over the years. Having worked on myriads of online
ventures in the last 15 years, I have had my share of
successes and tasted many failures. I sincerely don’t want
you to go through much trouble to materialize your goals as
I did. I want things to be different and much better for you.
This is where ‘Roadmaper’ will lend you a helping hand.
Nowadays people keep jumping from one field to another
without getting any fruitful results because of certain
reasons. Firstly, many of them pursue whatever catches their
fancy, and whatever is hyped by the media. So, if 10 people
achieve success through affiliate marketing, the 11th person
thinks to start his/ her online career in it too without knowing
the problems involved, whether or not this is the right field
for him/ her, and without having a clear sense of direction.
Secondly, people don’t focus on exploring their inner
calling, and what they are meant to do. As a result, they end
up choosing the wrong field which in turn leads to
undesirable results.
This time around, I want to change both these dilemmas. I
want you to begin your journey with determination,
awareness, and a vivid sense of direction. When I was
working on the different roadmaps, I realized all of them had
a certain pattern. After digging deeper into that pattern, I
identified 12 frameworks of a roadmap- key elements
without which you cannot succeed and reach your desired
destination. I compiled those to make the foundations right
so everyone who wants to succeed in online business can
create systems, have direction, make a plan, and better
achieve everything their heart desires.
I am hopeful this book will help you save time, better
manage your obstacles, and achieve everything you want.

xx
INTRODUCTION

This book ‘Roadmaper’ is divided into 4 major sections.

In the very first section, I talk in detail about how you can
build a solid foundation to start your online career. A major
issue many beginners face is with having a concrete
foundation to build their career on. When the foundation
isn’t right and solid, it is going to be quite hard to construct
your entire career on it.
If you don’t have a good base to begin with, you won’t
have any foundation to construct your career on. You can
only move forward in life in a streamlined manner and
accomplish all that your heart truly desires once you have
some sort of strong foundation.
The first section is dedicated to building your baseline
along with actionable tools on how to make it happen for
real.
Moving on, the second part of the book is dedicated to the
‘Roadmap Creation Framework.’ This is where we
discuss the 12 core frameworks, I mentioned earlier that can
help you formulate your own, personal roadmap to success.
The section guides how you can use those 12 frameworks to
create a roadmap that fits your needs and wants.
 In the third section we will discuss the ‘Roadmap Speed
Boosters’. These boosters will help you reach your roadmap
destination fast. We will discuss each booster and its
effectiveness in your roadmap so that you can pick the right
speed booster.
In the fourth section of the book, we shine light on the ‘06
Stages of Roadmap Implementation’ with regards to
online business.
‘Stage 1- Help Stage’- If you are currently living from one
paycheck to another, want a clear guideline on how to start
your online business, and wish to make it successful, this
part is just perfect for you.
‘Stage 2- Build Stage’- Once you have started your online
business, and can manage your household expenses, you
naturally want to know the secret sauce to build up your
business. You want to know how to build up your team,
systems, and process for building a business. This is where
this part of the book comes in handy.
‘Stage 3- Growth Stage’- This stage is dedicated to all
those who have income pouring in their lives, and now want
to use it to achieve exponential growth. If you are earning
over 6 figures, wants to take his business to new heights of
success, but struggles with figuring out how to grow your
business, how to further scale your already flourishing
business, what opportunities to pursue, and whether or not
you should diversify into another business field, and the
likes, this section of the book serves your needs.

xxii
 ‘Stage 4- Scale Stage’ -This is the fourth stage of the
process, and it takes people around 4 to 6 years to reach it.
People at this stage have an income which is around 50 to
60% more than their expenses. If you are earning well, and
now want to automate your business processes and juice the
maximum profit out of your current resources and assets, this
is the part for you.
‘Stage 5- Exit Stage’ - At this stage, people are quite
affluent, and have made sufficient wealth. They either want
to exit from the business by selling it or handing over the
role of CEO. They spend about 5 to 10% of their time on the
business. At this stage, they want to completely exit the
execution phase, and focus only on growing the business and
their assets without any active working. If this relates to you,
move to this part of the book.
‘Stage 6- Owner Stage’ - That’s when someone who has
accomplished a lot, and made enough wealth exits the stage
of actively working and moves towards better wealth
management by investing in different opportunities. If you
have created enough stability, and are earning way more than
your expenses, and wish to become a true owner with no
worries, this is the stage for you to focus on.
Keeping in mind the different personas and needs of my
target audience, I have created this blueprint as such that you
can start it from any section you, please. Depending on the
stage of growth you are in, area of interest, and the struggles
you experience, you can open the relevant section and peruse
through it. If you would like to begin from scratch, go ahead
with that option because reading from the beginning will
help you get a great sense of clarity on how to shape your
life and business in the best possible manner.
I sincerely hope you utilize the full potential of this book
and leverage it to discover yourself as well as build a
profitable business for yourself. It is okay if you feel a little
confused and stressed now. We have all been through that
phase.
I want you to know that you are not alone. You are stronger
and braver than you give yourself credit for, and I am
constantly by your side. Let me be your coach and guide.
Allow me to help you and save you from all the tensions that
keep haunting you. Have faith in your creator, or the
universe’s power (whatever you believe in) and trust
yourself for making the right choice with getting this book.
Together, we can do amazing things and help you achieve
all your goals and dreams. Good luck on this journey! Let’s
begin it together on a positive note.

xxiv
 FOUNDATION

SECTION ONE: FOUNDATION

‘You can’t build a building on a weak foundation. You must

have a solid foundation if you’re going to have a strong
superstructure’- Gordon B. Hinckley

The journey to success, be it personal, spiritual, financial or

any kind of success, always begins with building a solid
foundation. Whatever foundations you lay today play a
monumental role in shaping you and your life in the long
run. If you aren’t happy with the current state of your life, it
is likely you weren’t able to lay down concrete foundations
before.
Hey, there’s nothing to worry about because with me as
your guide in the shape of this book, your life will soon get
back on track. I will help you build the right foundation you
need to structure your entire life and business.
This section of the book is entirely dedicated to building a
solid foundation. Concrete foundations comprise 3 core
ingredients:

1
 ROADMAPER

1. Self-awareness.
2. Knowing where you are right now.
3. Understanding where you wish to head in life.
Without an understanding and awareness of these three
aspects, it is nearly impossible to structure your life in the
right direction. Let us explore each of these factors one by
one in the following chapters of this section.
P.S. I suggest you keep a journal and pen while reading
this guide. Take down notes, pour out your thoughts on
paper, and explore different concepts as you go through
them. This strategy helps you keep track of your thoughts,
feelings, and explorations.

I want you to adopt a practical approach while perusing

through this book, so you have a roadmap right in front of
you by the time you wrap it up. Your ultimate goal is to
have a clear direction and a roadmap in front of you to take
your life forward. Without further ado, let us move to the
first chapter of this section.

2
 KNOW YOURSELF

CHAPTER 1

KNOW YOURSELF

‘To grow yourself, you must know yourself.’-

John C. Maxwell

It is your life, right? You are the main actor and director of
it. Now that we have established that, you can better
understand how important it is to know yourself to direct
your life story the right way. Unless and until you truly know
who you are, and what you want, you will always struggle in
giving the desired shape to your life. When you don’t know
what you genuinely desire, naturally, you cannot manifest it
as well.
Perhaps you think that you already know yourself. Well
sure you do. Having said that, you may not have realized that
we are constantly changing. Our thoughts, aspirations,
desires, strengths, weaknesses, and personality- everything
changes with time.
It is quite likely that what you desired 5 years ago is not
what you want now. A strength that you had earlier may have
shapeshifted into something else. Maybe you think you want
something, but it is only a superficial desire. It so often
happens that we don’t materialize our true wants and needs
because we lack clarity on them. Moreover, we aren’t always
fully aware of our strengths and weaknesses, which is why

3
 ROADMAPER

we can’t leverage the former and minimize the latter

effectively. Once again, this keeps us from getting where we
truly deserve to be.
Yes, therefore your roadmap to success always begins with
knowing yourself inside out.

Personality Traits:

To know yourself first we need to analyze your personality

traits. There are different personality tests that you can do.
But before doing any test. You need to know the following.
Your personality will not remain the same forever. It will
change according to your circumstances and experiences. A
personality test is a double-edged sword. Either it will help
you build your personality or it will limit you in a box. So
the purpose of the personality test is to:
● Explore your potential, talents, strengths, and
shortcomings, and know yourself better.
● Knowing about the successful/famous people with
the same personality traits as yours.
● Knowing what changes to make in your personality
to achieve the success you desire.

4
 KNOW YOURSELF

Personality Tests:
These are some of the most used personality tests:

1. Myers Briggs Personality Tests

[Link]

Myers-Briggs Tests describe 16 Personalities types

consisting of the following:
I - Introverted, quiet, and reserved / E - Extroverted, loud,
and outgoing
N - Intuitive, random, and no rules / S - Structure,
predictability, and rules
F - Feeling and emotional / T - Thinking, logical and
rational
P - Perceiving and indecisive / J - Judging and decisive

2. Disc Personality Test

[Link]

The DISC model describes four main styles: D, I, S, and C.

● D is for Dominance
● I is for Influence
● S is for Steadiness
● C is for Conscientiousness.

5
 ROADMAPER

3. HEXACO Personality
[Link]

HEXACO Personality test is mostly used by the businesses

when they hire an employee. HEXACO Personality test
assesses the six major dimensions of personality:

● Honesty-Humility
● Emotionality
● Extraversion
● Agreeableness (versus Anger)
● Conscientiousness
● Openness to Experience
Note: If you are new to all these personality tests. Please
only take one personality test. I would recommend starting
with Myers Briggs Personality Tests. If you start doing all
the tests. It will confuse you and you will start
procrastinating a lot and not be unable to take action.
Once you have taken any of these personality tests, work
on the following exercise.
Here’s a little exercise I want you to work on today.

6
 KNOW YOURSELF

Go on a Self-Exploration Journey:

● Keeping the findings of the personality test in view,

think of what you want, and write down whatever
answers pop in your head.
● Dig deeper into the goal to see if you feel truly
connected to it.
● Ask yourself questions such as:
○ Do I really want it?
○ Will it bring me joy?
○ Does this feel like my true calling?
○ Do I feel connected to it?
● As you ask yourself these questions, certain answers
will pop in your head. Be honest and jot them down
as you receive them. Your subconscious is designed
in a way that it answers according to the questions
you toss at it so expect to get some genuine answers
this time.
● Once you get some clarity on your goal, try to
connect it with your personality.
● Think of whether your personality is fit to manifest
the desired goal.
● Once again, you need to ask yourself some tough
questions:

7
 ROADMAPER

○ Do I have the strengths required to achieve this

goal?
○ Which of my shortcomings keep me from
materializing my objective?
○ What do I need to work on?
○ Do I have the right mindset to accomplish my
desired idea of success?
○ Are my habits healthy enough to take me towards
my destination?
● Write down the answers your subconscious
provides you with.
● Spend some time every week reflecting on the
answers so you can connect the dots between your
personality and your desired goal.
● Once you are better aware of the areas you need to
work on, start taking meaningful action. For
instance, you may realize that your goal requires you
to be more proactive whereas currently, you have a
bad habit of staying idle. With that insight, you know
exactly where to hit the hammer on. Perhaps, you
desire to be a successful digital marketer, and have a
knack for it. You now need to use your strength and
further hone on your potential to materialize your
respective objective.
It is important to know that you may not be able to find all
the answers right away. It will take some time, maybe days,
months, or years. It took me years to find out the answers

8
 KNOW YOURSELF

and align them with my personality and the goals I wanted

to achieve. Consider it as your first draft and write down the
answers you get. No need to make it perfect or edit it at this
stage. As you move on in this book. You will start finding
new answers. At that time, you will come back to this and
update it. Once you have this basic sense of awareness about
yourself, I want you to move a step further.
Your next task is to analyze where you are right now. The
next chapter explores this dimension in detail.

9
 ROADMAPER

CHAPTER 2

KNOW WHERE YOU CURRENTLY

STAND

‘If you don’t know where you currently stand, you’re

dead.’- Samuel Beckett

You can only move forward in the right direction in a

seamless manner when you know where you stand right now
on your roadmap journey. If you lack this awareness, it will
always be difficult to get where you wish to be because
unfortunately you don’t have clarity on your starting point.
Every journey begins from a certain point- the starting
zone. You must be aware of your starting zone so you can
map out your entire journey accordingly. Knowing where
you currently stand refers to understanding the current state
of your life, your income, the different sources of income,
your emotional and mental health, your physical state, and
your aspirations that you have a strong urge to achieve.
Since you have already begun your self-exploration
journey, knowing where you stand right now won’t be that
tough now because now you have a habit of taking a deep
dive into yourself.

10
 KNOW WHERE YOU CURRENTLY STAND

Get Complete Clarity on Your Income &

Expenses:

To figure out where you are, you must know your income
level as well as the total expenses you have. Oftentimes, we
hear people say how they wish to make more money. More
money may even be pouring in their lives, but at the end of
the day, they are always dissatisfied with it.
Do you know why this happens?
That’s purely because they don’t have clarity on the
specific amount of money they want. Remember an
important rule of the universe: it gives you what you deserve
and what you ask for. If you demand more money, you may
be getting $100, $1000, $10k, or even $1 million more than
what you are making now, but it does not feel enough
because you are unaware of how much you really want.
If you wish to be where you want, you need to know what
it is, and have a vivid understanding of where you are at the
moment. This is where a clarity of your income and expenses
is essential. If you don’t know how much money you earn
and spend, you will have some trouble figuring out the
income level you wish to reach.
Let’s make it interesting and engage you in an exercise.

11
 ROADMAPER

Income and Expenses Analysis:

Income Expenses
S/No Description Amount Description Amount

Total Income Total Expenses

● Take out your journal and a pen.

● On a fresh leaf, make two columns. I have added a
similar page in this book too; feel free to use it for this
exercise.
● Label one as ‘Income’ and the other as ‘Expenses.’
● Start with the ‘Income’ column and think of all the
different income streams you have. Write down any
income you have earned in the past month along with
the source and amount in the column. I know it is
difficult to recall your income expenses spread over a
long time, so let’s just stick to the last month only.
● Take your time with reflecting on your income.
● Once you are done, move to the ‘Expenses’ column.

12
 KNOW WHERE YOU CURRENTLY STAND

● Write down all the expenses you have done along with
the amount you have spent for every expense.
● Moving on, figure out if your income is more or less as
compared to your expense so you can figure out the
stage you are on.

Analysis:

● Income < expenses: If your income is less than your

expenses. You are at the ‘Help Stage- Level 1’.
● Income = Expense: If your income is equal to your
expenses or is slightly more (about 10 to 20%) than
expenses then you are at the ‘Build Stage- Level 2’.
● Income > Expenses: If your income is more, say 30%-
40% more than your expenses, you are at the ‘Grow
stage- Level 3’.
Make sure to write down all your findings in your journal.

Awareness of Your Habits, Personality, and Mindset:

In the same manner that you analyzed your current financial

state, you need to take a dive right into yourself. It is crucial
to know your current habits, mindset and personality
demeanor so you can assess whether or not it is supporting
you in your journey towards success.
Here’s another practice I want you to analyze your last
one-week habits and activities.

13
 ROADMAPER

● Closely take stock of your habits. This should include

the following:

❖ Your habits pertaining to when you wake up

❖ Any morning routine you have

❖ The first thing you do in the morning

❖ What activities you engage in throughout the day and

how you engage in them

❖ Any fitness/ exercise routine you have

❖ You’re eating habits

❖ When you go to bed

❖ Any sleep time rituals you have such as reading

before going to bed, or taking a shower prior to your
bedtime

❖ Any hobbies you have

❖ Any other habits you have such as smoking, or any

addictions

❖ Note down all these habits and be as unbiased as

possible. Even if you have certain bad habits, that’s
alright because if you assess them honestly, you’ll
be in a better position to improve on them.
● Next, analyze your mindset. Do you have a negative
or a positive mindset? A positive mindset encourages

14
 KNOW WHERE YOU CURRENTLY STAND

you to perceive everything optimistically. Even if you

experience a setback, you can get back up and take
another go at your goal. On the other hand, a negative
mindset keeps you from believing in yourself, and
mustering the courage to do things you want.
● To assess your mindset, think of how you behave in
different situations, and your attitude towards various
activities and endeavors. Do you easily lose hope when
you encounter a wrong turn, or do you find it easy to
think straight and find another path?
● You can nurture both negative and positive mindset
too. Perhaps, you find it easy to be positive
sometimes, but on some days, the negative mindset
takes charge of you. Do write down all these different
instances so you are in a better position to gauge how
you gravitate towards a certain mindset more.
● After you have a better understanding of your mindset,
move towards your personality. Observe your attitude
towards different aspects of life. Analyze whether you
are a go-getter, or have a laid-back attitude towards
your goals? Do you have an active lifestyle or an
unorganized one? If you were to describe your
personality in 5 words, what adjectives/ words would
you choose?
It takes a little time to watch yourself closely which is why
I want you to engage in this exercise for at least one full

15
 ROADMAPER

week. The more you observe yourself, the better you

understand how you are and behave.
In the same manner, spend some time reflecting on your
spiritual sense of awareness. What does spirituality mean to
you, and how spiritual are you? You may not realize this
right now, but your spirituality along with your habits,
mindset and attitude contribute massively towards the
fulfillment of your goals in life.
Once you work on all these exercises, you will realize how
much there was that you never knew about yourself. Now
that you know where you currently stand, it is time to figure
out where you wish to head in life.

16
 WHERE TO HEAD IN LIFE?

CHAPTER 3

WHERE TO HEAD IN LIFE?

‘Your life is your ship and you are the captain. Choose
your course, take the wheel firmly, and get on your way.’-
Michael Josephson

If you realize the power you possess over your life, you can
manifest absolutely anything you desire. This is exactly the
realization you need to have and accept so you can steer your
ship in the desired direction.
Having said that, this is not an easy task for many of us.
We have all been down that rabbit hole wherein we don’t
realize what we want, and start pursuing superficial desires.
Sometimes, it is the people around us who influence us, and
we take a direction they push us into. Sometimes, however,
we think we want something just because it seems tempting.
Let us explore these two notions first before moving
forward, so you understand why we keep meandering on the
wrong paths.

How People Influence Us to Take the Wrong Path:

Think of a time when you saw a friend making thousands of

dollars through freelancing, ecommerce, blogging, real

17
estate and so on and you felt it was the right career path for
you as well?
Or perhaps, you heard your cousin share stories about how
his investment in stocks is treating him well, and you
decided to take the plunge in stocks too?
Or maybe your spouse persuaded you to pursue a certain
business line because he/ she found it lucrative?
Or some influencers convince you that his training or his
business is the right or the only business that you should do
to achieve your dream goals.
Or your family decides the career for you because either
they are in the same career or they wished you to have
another career which they could not pursue.
If you have been through these or similar situations, you
know how such influences work their charm in pulling us
towards their desired direction. The focus in the previous
sentence is on ‘their’. While you do pursue a path, it is not
yours. You do take a direction, but it isn’t chosen by you.
You keep gravitating towards things, activities, ideas,
endeavors, initiatives and career pathways that others choose
for you, or make you choose them but as per their desires.
Don’t get me wrong. I am clearly not saying you shouldn’t
listen to loved ones, or shouldn’t be open to suggestions by
them. It is lovely to care for others, please your loved ones,
and sometimes even do as they say. However, when it comes
to deciding on the direction for your life, that choice should

18
 WHERE TO HEAD IN LIFE?

solely be yours because at the end of the day, it is YOUR

LIFE. You certainly don’t want to reach a point in your life
when you are swamped with guilt for not doing what you
wanted.
Similarly, it is absolutely fine to take feedback and
suggestions from others too. Who knows when someone
may suggest something that actually aligns with your
genuine desires, and you find yourself trotting in the right
direction. That happens only when you realize what you
want. Unless you know what you want, you won’t find it
easy to make the right and wise choice.
The influence people have over you can be immense, and
this very influence sometimes makes us opt for things that
we don’t really desire. To build a truly thriving and
meaningful life for yourself, you need to decide the direction
for yourself.

The Shiny Object Syndrome:

The Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS) is quite a big dilemma

that the better of us have been through. It so happens that we
are on a certain path, but bam, something catchy comes out
of the blue and grasps our attention. Before we even realize
it, we start floating in that very ‘catchy’ direction. Some days
later, we hear of something else that seems enticing to us,
and bam, once again, we switch our direction.

19
 SOS can be quite a menace. In most of the cases, it compels
us to make the wrong choice, quit our pursuits, and choose
something that isn’t meant for us. Yes, sometimes it is a
natural impulse to be swayed away by something that
catches your fancy, but if you keep following that trail, it is
likely you will never stick to a path.
Remember, that we can only yield real-time results when
we commit to a goal. Constant hard work and perseverance
leads us to our destination. Always chasing anything that
feels shiny may seem like a fun run at first, but this practice
never leads to anything substantial.
In order to find the right direction for yourself, you need to
steer clear of both SOS and being influenced by people. As
you work on that, you need to define what success really
means to you.

What Does Success Mean To You?

‘Life is like a compass. When you set your goals

correctly, it will take you to the right direction.’-
Anonymous

You need to set your goals in order to find the right direction,
and that brings us to another important aspect: goals
pertaining to what? Of course, the area you want to succeed
in, but what is that you want to succeed in? This is precisely
what you need to focus on: your idea of success.

20
 WHERE TO HEAD IN LIFE?

This book is titled: Roadmaper. This means it will help you

take towards the kind of success you envision for sure! But
here’s the catch: you are the one who can define what
success means to you.
Usually, when the word ‘success’ comes up, we think of
financial success. How much money one makes is usually
the metric for judging someone’s success. Contrary to this
popular belief, success is a relative term and its meaning
varies from person to person. For someone, success is about
earning $500, $5k or $50k; for someone else it can be
supporting family, for someone else it may be traveling; for
another person, it can be about serving humanity, and for
another soul, it may be about getting freedom from living
paycheck to paycheck.
Since I am a Muslim and have a strong faith in my religion,
I’ll touch upon the element of religion too. If it appeals to
you and you believe in it, do read through it. If it doesn’t
align with your values, feel free to skip it and move to the
parts that align with what you believe in.
Talking about religion, we have been given the concept of
heaven and hell so you can visualize what you’ll get if you
are sinner, and all that you will be rewarded with if you do
good deeds. These concepts work as ‘goals’ and you
understand why you should do certain things in life, and
refrain from others. You know now why you should do good
deeds because it leads to heaven in the end. Heaven and Hell
serve as goals. You know exactly what you’ll get in the end
when you get tested for your life on this planet.
21
 Goals that we set in our life work the same way, but to set
meaningful goals for yourself, you need to have clarity on
what success means to you.
Here’s another exercise for you:
● Think of what you want the most in life. Write down
whatever answers you get.
● Also, ponder on your core values. What are your
beliefs, and which principles you always follow to
live your life a certain way?
● Reflect on the activities that bring you the most joy.
● Moreover, think about how you define success.
It is perfectly fine to take some time with figuring out your
true meaning of success. There’s absolutely no rush. You
need to have complete clarity on this aspect before moving
forward because the clearer you are on your idea of success,
the easier it will be for you to build the right roadmap to
achieve your goals.

Everything is Possible:

Remember, I mentioned how I’ll touch upon some concepts

from Islam in this book. Well, it’s time for another one.
Every time we embark on a journey and try our hand at
achieving a goal, we fear whether or not we’ll be able to
achieve it. What we forget is that Allah has created

22
 WHERE TO HEAD IN LIFE?

everything in this universe for us. From the sun to the moon
to the trees to the mountains to everything in between is
solely created for humans.
If you understand this concept that everything has been
done for you, you become grateful. All the challenges are for
you too. You have the resources, and the ability to build
skills and overcome hurdles. The will to get everything you
want. We need to stop comparing ourselves with others,
focus on ourselves and look at those on a level below ours.
So we feel grateful and blessed.
While this book is about business, it also touches upon
personal development because you need to first develop your
mindset and personality to achieve your goals and build
business. You cannot achieve your objective unless you
shape yourself.
Moreover, we should also understand that we as humans
are meant to be challenged. We are put through different
ordeals in life as a means to test us.

“And certainly, We shall test you with something

of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but
give glad tidings to As-Sabirin (the patient ones,
etc.)”
— (Qur’an, Surah: Al-Baqarah/155)
It means that every challenge comes from Allah and He
has given you the strength to handle it. A verse from Holy
Quran reads: “Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it

23
can bear…” (Qur’an, 2:286). Allah only tests you as per your
strength and the ability to handle burdens. If you can face a
certain hardship, then only you will be put through it. Allah
knows what you can handle and challenges you accordingly.
Hence, every time you go through a test, know that if you
show the strength and determination to surpass it. You will
get through it for sure. You have the ability to withstand it,
and if you persevere, you will reach the other side of the
tunnel. Make sure you have a well-planned roadmap to guide
you. The next chapter throws more light on it.

24
 ROADMAP 101

CHAPTER 4

ROADMAP 101

‘A roadmap is simply a plan for moving or transitioning,

from one state to another. A roadmap provides direction to
the future.’- Pearl Zhu
This quote just reminded me of a story, and I feel like sharing
it with you.
Ali and Zain, two good friends, decided to go on a hiking
and camping adventure. Being adventure enthusiasts, it
wasn’t the first time for them to have such an experience.
However, the trail and site they chose this time was
completely new for them. Well, that’s what an adventurous
endeavor is about right- fresh experiences!
During the hike, Zain slipped and sprained his ankle a
little. While he was alive and fine, he lost his bag during that
slip. It fell from his shoulder, and down the hill. The worst
part was that the bag had their compasses and maps too.
They didn’t know where to go next, what route to take, and
how to find their way back because they lost the guiding
tools.
Despondently the two sat on a rock for a long time, and
thought of how to fix the situation. Well don’t worry, this
happened 3 years ago, and the two did finally get back home

25
safe and sound. How that happened is a story for another
chapter. What’s important right now is that the two did not
have any sense of direction, or something that could point
them in the right direction. They had lost their map, and
compass- the two most important ingredients to help them
out.
Without some guidance tools, you are practically lost in
this world. This is precisely why you need a roadmap.

Roadmap- What It is, and Why You Need it?

From the quote and story above, one thing is evident- a

roadmap lays out the route you need to take to reach your
desired destination.
However, a properly structured and elaborate roadmap
goes way beyond just laying out the route. It details out how
the path looks like, how your journey will shape into over a
certain period of time, the kind of speed bumps you may
encounter on the road, the detours you could take in case you
find a blocked street, where you must take a U-turn and
move to an alley you missed, or where you need to avoid
taking it, how you can surpass any ditches and trenches you
meet on your journey, and how to keep your motivation alive
when the going gets tough so you can reach where you are
destined to be.
Not just that, but a roadmap also helps you understand the
best possible route you can opt to meet your goals. There are

26
 ROADMAP 101

many pathways available to reach a certain destination, but

every possible route has its own capacity and limit. Perhaps,
a certain route can only take you from A to D and not all the
way till Z.
Let me paint a picture to help you better understand it.

Imagine you are in a maze, and have three options A, B

and C to find your way out of it. The routes indicate that A
is 10%, B is tagged 50%, and C is labeled 30%. Since you
don’t really know which route will get you out of the maze,
you are likely to pick an option based on your preconceived
notions, or the meaning you attach to the percentages with
each route.
Perhaps you pick A because it appears to be the beginning,
and you think it may lead you to Z- the end of the maze.

27
Maybe you think B is the best possible option because it has
the highest percentage of the lot. It is also possible you
choose C because you just go with your gut feeling.
It is only when you take these paths that you find out the
hidden truth about them.

● The capacity of path A is till 60%- if you take it, you

are likely to reach a little more than half of the journey,
but you still won’t reach the end.
● B’s capacity is till 70%- it can take you close to the
finish line, but still won’t make you touch it for real.
● The dark horse of the lot is C. Its capacity is 100%- if
you walk that path, you will find your way out and
emerge as the winner.

28
 ROADMAP 101

Every path has its own growth potential, and you can only
find that out when you walk those roads. But hey, you don’t
have that much time to just experiment do you? Of course,
one learns a lot from experimentation, trying things out, and
making mistakes, but there should be an easier way to figure
out what to do, and what to avoid.
This is exactly where a roadmap comes in handy.
A roadmap guides you in detail about every possible path
that may, can and actually does reach to a destination. With
a roadmap, a detailed analysis is possible and you can avoid
diversions and obstacles.

Roadmap Bring Certainty in Your Life

It so happens that when we decide to pursue a certain goal,

we walk on it for a while, but then end up quitting it halfway
through. Perhaps, there are too many roadblocks along the
way and you feel demotivated so you switch to another path.

29
 You stroll on the new alley for some time, but it has many
diversions and you become confused. Probably, you think of
making another switch to the first route ‘A’, and even make
it. Once you are back on path A, you wander on it and feel
chaotic on not getting desired results. This goes on for a
while and you end up losing every ounce of your will and
motivation.
You keep meandering on different paths, keep swapping
one for another, and keep dampening your spirits because
you don’t have a roadmap.

30
 ROADMAP 101

With a roadmap, things change for the better- all these

obstacles resolve. You know what you want and how to get
to it. Every path you take leads to somewhere, but to get the
desired results, you must take the right path. When walking
on that road, you need to be patient enough because it takes
time for the fruit to ripe. That said, patience comes with
clarity. If you don’t know where you are going, and what
awaits you, you are likely to feel confused. However, when
you have clarity, you know what goals await you and that
strengthens your patience. That’s how you are able to
smoothly walk towards your desired goal.
Sometimes we get influenced by others too when they keep
glamorizing a certain goal/ business field. But it is only when
we take that path, we realize it is not right for us. This too
happens because we don’t have clarity. When you have

31
clarity, you have the strength to easily block out that
influence because you know what you want, and what’s right
for you. Even if something catches your fancy, you are able
to manage the temptation. If it appeals to you, you
acknowledge it, but you can then better judge if it is the right
path for you to pursue or not.
Perhaps, it is a goal that is suitable for you when you reach
the 4th level, but since you are on the 1st level, you know
that the shiny object you see right now is the right fit for you
when you reach level 4 so you patiently work towards it and
stick to your current path.
Let me give you an analogy here to better explain it to you.
When a child starts kindergarten, he is just given some basic
concept of alphabets. He learns to recognize and pronounce
the alphabets. He is not taught nor expected to write full
sentences because he is not at that stage yet. After spending
a few years in kindergarten, he finally reaches the point
where he can write small sentences.
The same is the case with pursuing different goals. You
cannot have everything all at once. Depending on the stage
you are on, your genuine aspirations and passions, different
goals are more meaningful for you. Of course, you can set
your eyes on anything you want, but remember that to
achieve it, you may need to go through a certain journey
before that prepares you for it.

32
 ROADMAP 101

Roadmap Provides You with the Right Information at

The Right Time:

A roadmap is more like your guide. Just like a seasoned

mentor would advise you of the steps to take at certain times,
a roadmap does the same. It helps you understand the
different things you need to do at different times in order to
reach your destination. Naturally, when you take calculated,
powerful steps at the right time, you yield the desired results.

33
 CHAPTER 5

UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND

YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

Unless you know yourself completely, you cannot move

on to achieve the kind of success you desire, and the kind
you are destined for.
For better understanding of this topic, we have to
understand ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs.’
You may be thinking of what Maslow’s hierarchy of
human needs is and how it is helpful in your life and career?
Let’s find that out.

34
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs:

Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs describes the five

stages of needs human beings have:

Physiological needs: The first stage is Physiological needs

which includes clothes, home, food and all the basic needs
you have for your survival. Most of the people are facing
these challenges and working to get the solutions.
Safety needs: After fulfilling your Physiological needs, you
move to the second level of good health, employment and
personal security needs. If this level is completed, then you
move to the next level.

35
Love and belonging: This is when you have a need for
relationships, of love and belonging to someone, and of
building friendships and family connection. After the
completion of these needs, you move to the fourth level.
Esteem: You want people to respect you; have status in
society; and enjoy power and freedom. This is a very
important need that arises mostly when you have love and
happy relationships in life. When these needs are fulfilled,
you move on the fifth level.
Self-Actualization: Once you achieve all the other needs on
the previous four levels, you start thinking of what more
there is to life? That’s when most of us think of the purpose
of life, and feel a need for self-actualization. Take the
example of Bill Gates for instance. He is still noted amongst
the richest people in the world, and while he must have
enjoyed his wealth at a certain time, now he ended up
donating most of it to the ‘Bill & Melinda Gates’
Foundation. He made the move because he felt meaningless
with all the money, and wanted to enjoy a sense of
fulfillment. No, I am not insinuating you donate all your
money or riches in order to enjoy a sense of accomplishment.
Everyone has a different means to attain that- after all,
different strokes for different folks. But whatever way you
choose to attain a sense of self-actualization, the need does
arise.
All of these five stages are important in your life, and you
have to move from one to another in order to reach the fifth
stage. You have to meet the first stage physiological needs

36
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

and then safety needs, love and belongings, esteem and self-
actualization.

The Dilemma:

The people who have reached at fifth level and have all the
basic needs like clothes, home bread and butter; they have
good income, savings, assets, and plenty of time. They are
working on different passion projects, doing things that
spark joy for them, and engaging in activities that fuel their
sense of accomplishment.
Now those who are the first level often envy those at the
fifth level. They want to live a life characterized by freedom,
wealth and abundance of resources so they too can help out
people and achieve their purpose in life. That said, their
limited resources do not allow them to do so. Since they
struggle to have this realization, they continue feeling hurt
and upset from within, and keep dreaming of things that are
beyond their reach.
If only we understand these five levels, and then have a
complete sense of awareness of the level we are on, the level
we wish to reach, and the aspects we need to work on in
order to move to that particular stage.
Moving forward the five categories are going to be further
divided into three core human needs.

37
Three Core Human Needs:

To simplify things for you, let us divide the five stages

you’ve read above into three core human needs.

Basic needs: These are the basic needs that include

physiological needs and safety needs. From the time you
gain realization of what you want in life, and when you start
to work for your own survival, these are the needs you strive
for first. Many of us in the world always keep working to
attain these basic needs.
Psychological needs: When you fulfill these needs, you
start to experience the need to be respected, get love and feel
a sense of belonging with people you love, and want to be
loved by.

38
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

Self-fulfillment needs: The third stage is that of self-

fulfillment needs. This is when you have met the other needs,
and want to explore different creative ventures in life.
If you want to explore your creative faculties, and
experiment with new ideas, but aren’t successful in doing so,
it is primarily because you are not fulfilling the first four
stages. Whenever you try to do something, many things drag
you back and you see yourself at the same place unable to do
anything because you have yet to fulfill the requirements of
the preliminary stages.
So the question I want you to ask yourself right now is:
what stage am I on?
Go on, give this some thought, and pour your answer out
in detail in your journal. Go through the stages we have
described above so you get more clarity on where you are at
this moment.

Five Stages of Earning and Growth:

Different experts describe growth in different ways. Just like

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, there is another approach to
describe your stage of earning and growth.

39
Employee: This is when you work for other people. You
have certain obligations to fulfill, a job description to adhere
to, and duties to perform, and you get a certain amount of
remuneration in exchange for that.
Self-employed: This is when you work for yourself. You are
the boss of your work, you decide when to work, and whom
to work for, but you are the only one working in this
arrangement. The many freelancers you come across in the
community who don’t have a team, and are working solely
fall in this category.
Business or Entrepreneur: Quite often, one gets tired of
being the only one working and not going anywhere forward.
Of course, you can make a decent amount of money being
self-employed, but true growth only happens when you

40
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

delegate authority and tasks to others while you focus on

expansion and taking your work to the next level. That’s
when you decide to venture into a business or
entrepreneurship. You hire employees for yourself, turn your
work into a business, and start delegating tasks to others so
you focus on managing things and expanding your work.
Investor: Once you start to progress as an entrepreneur or a
businessman, financial wealth comes pouring in. There
comes a point when you wish to invest your savings and fund
in something profitable. That’s when you land at the
‘investor’ stage. This is a stage where you are investing in
different businesses- apart from earning through your
business, you also start earning through your investment.
Philanthropist: The next level is philanthropist wherein you
work for things that bring you pure joy, and also work
towards helping humanity.
Keeping this discussion in mind, you can further
understand the level you are on. Let me give you an example
to better help you understand how you can figure out the
level you stand on, and the level you wish to move to.

41
 Find your needs at each level:

At first level: Let’s assume, you need PKR 10,000 for

yourself, and about PKR 20,000 to fulfill your household
and family requirements. If you are earning a total of PKR
30,000, it means you can fulfill both these needs, and are at
the first level.
At level 2: Now, your needs have increased, and you require
PKR 20,000 for your personal needs like safety, and around
PKR 40,000 for your family needs. At this point, what is
your goal to meet these needs? If you are not fulfilling these

42
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

needs, you are likely to face many hardships, difficulties and

have to sacrifice many of your desires that your income
doesn’t allow you to indulge in. It is only when you meet
these needs that you can step on to the next level.
At level 3: Your expenses and needs have now grown
bigger, and you require PKR 40,000 for your personal needs
and PKR 80,000 for your family needs, you need around
PKR 120,000. How are you fulfilling these needs? The
expenses always continue to rise, but what is your plan to
meet them?
Similarly, your needs keep on increasing and so do your
expenses. If you cannot fulfill them, you can never rise to the
next level and move on in life. You need to understand what
needs you have, and how you can meet them.
There are some tough questions to ask yourself and answer
at this point:
● What is your source of income?
● Where are your expenditures going?
Only when you analyze all these areas, will you know
about your level of standing and what you require to move
forward.
So let us dissect these questions one by one to simplify the
process for you. Remember, I told you I’ll be guiding you
every step of the way.
Now your first question is the following:

43
 Q: Which LEVEL am I on?
Are you standing at safety needs, physiological needs,
esteem needs or at fulfillment level? Give it some thought-
there is no rush because haste makes waste. When you
identify your level of standing then proceed.
Once you have an answer, move to the next question.
Q: What are your WANTS?
We have talked about the needs and now we will discuss
‘wants.’ Without your needs you cannot survive and grow
but wants have a different effect on your life. These are the
different things you want to improve your quality of life, but
not really the necessities of life.

List down all your Wants:

S/No Want Description Amount Requires

Total Amount Requires

44
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

You must list down your wants. I am adding a chart here

that you must update this chart by layering about each level.
These wants may also be the goals you want to achieve. For
instance, a car is what you require to fulfill your need to
commute. You can fulfill this need easily with a small car
like Mehran. However, if you want a better car like Honda
Civic, or want to own a luxury car, say Audi. In that case,
that’s your want. You want a better car, you don’t really need
it, but that’s what you desire to amp up your lifestyle.
Mehran car costs around PKR 860,000 whereas Honda
Civic car costs around 8 million. The difference between the
price of the two cars is the difference between your needs
and wants. That difference is basically what you want! If
you can make that amount of money, and get your desired
car, you will have achieved that want.
Now the question is how eagerly do you want that car?
How much do you desire it? Is it really ‘your’ want or not?
Oftentimes when we feel the emergence of a certain want,
we start to strive to materialize it. In that process, sometimes
another temptation comes along, and we gravitate towards it.
Perhaps you are trying to earn and save money to get a
Honda Civic, but halfway through the process, you get an
urge to buy an iPhone. Following that temptation, you spend
your funds on the phone. You do feel happy for a while, but
that joy soon fades away, and the desire for the car hops back
in. It is these distractions disguised as temptations that steer
you away from your main goals.

45
 “You do not distance from your goals because you are
distracted.
You are distanced from your goal because you are
being attracted by other small goals”
Ben Hardy
If you don’t want to fall prey to your temptations and
distractions time and again, you need to know what you truly
want. This is where your roadmap will help you.
Remember the personality test you took? Let’s dig into
that. Your roadmap to success is completely dependent on
you. You need to know what success means to you, how you
see it, and what you want in life. This realization is best
achieved by first knowing yourself inside out.
Well, I completely believe knowing yourself is a lifelong
process. As we grow, we experience different situations, and
go through various phases in life. Every experience we have
changes us to a certain extent. Hence, we are always
evolving. Considering that, you will always learn new things
about yourself with time.
That said, it does not imply you cannot understand who
you are and what you want. There are certain elements of
your personality that can give you quite a good
understanding of yourself.

46
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

Find your Uniqueness:

All of us are unique in our own ways. Each one of us has

something special, more like a superpower that makes us
stand out from the rest. Some of us can speak better while
others are great athletes. Some have great writing skills
while others may be exceptional at cooking. Allah has
created you for a reason and has given you a unique ability
to stand out and help those who need it. Once you start
exploring your uniqueness in serving others that is when the
universe will come together to help and support you. This is
also the spirit of true entrepreneurs.
What is your uniqueness?
That is the million dollar question you need to focus on
right now!!
To find your uniqueness is necessary because that gives
your insight into your strengths and weaknesses. You cannot
find this out in one day. It is a long journey based on a test
and trial process, but you should know that you are working
towards that and your journey is going to find out about your
uniqueness.
Here’s a little exercise you can work on to know your
uniqueness:
● Sit somewhere peaceful with your journal and think
of any 5 things about you that come off as strengths.
The strengths could be anything from character traits
to talents to skills etc.

47
● If you have trouble exploring your strengths, think of
the things people compliment you on. For instance, if
people often praise you for your good communication,
that could be a strength.
● Next, think of any top 5 weaknesses- characteristics
that pull you back, and keep you from being your
amazing self. These too can be anything from
procrastinating to overthinking to being short-
tempered.
● After that, ponder on anything you find unique about
yourself- something you haven’t seen anybody else do,
or something you feel you are exceptional at. For
instance, you may be great at researching information,
or have a knack for making cakes. Whatever it is that
you find special about yourself, write that down.
● Once you have analyzed all these aspects, go through
the account a couple of times, and try to connect
everything. If you procrastinate, but are focused when
you start to paint, or make a vlog, perhaps, doing that
is your uniqueness, and your habit of procrastination
keeps you from being great at it.
● Write down your uniqueness on a fresh page and say,
‘I am unique in (whatever your uniqueness is)’
repeatedly. You have to first believe in yourself before
the world believes in you. As it may also change over
the time with new information and experiences you
get.

48
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

Make sure to revisit this account and update it with any

new findings you have about yourself. Chant the uniqueness
suggestion multiple times daily to remind yourself of what
you are good at. Also, you can have more than one unique
quality and strengths so never shy away from accepting that.
After going through your strengths, it is time to assess your
circumstances.

Your Circumstances:

To know where you wish to go, you must observe and

understand your current circumstances too. There is always
the possibility that yesterday your circumstances were in
your favor, but today they are not. You have to adjust
according to your circumstances, but you also need to make
them favorable for yourself.
For example, it is possible that a couple of years ago, you
had a comfortable life while earning PKR 50,000, but today,
the same amount seems small to accommodate your needs.
It means that you have to increase your source of income. If
we talk about the dollar rate, it is even more than PKR 220.
If you are sitting in Pakistan and earn USD 100, it means you
earn 22,000 approximately in Pakistani rupee. In this way it
is beneficial for you. If you are in a metropolitan city like
Islamabad, you won’t have many issues related to electricity;
but if you are living in a village and face electricity issues, it
is a disadvantage for you.

49
 It is necessary to understand your circumstances to know
about the advantages and disadvantages. If you are living in
a village, you can survive on a low budget and if you are
living in a city, you have more expenses which is the
disadvantage of being in the city.
Every place has its own advantages and disadvantages. If
you understand the environment and circumstances, you are
able to work according to your circumstances. Instead of
focusing on only the shortcomings and complaining, work
on realistically analyzing your situation so you can identify
both the good and bad points, and work accordingly.
Think of a situation for a few minutes. Imagine, you're
drowning in water and you begin screaming, there is a higher
chance that you will continue to drown. On the other hand,
if you keep yourself calm, there is a possibility of finding
something to move towards your survival.
So, it is necessary to know about your current
circumstances.
● Is your future safe? Or not?
● If not, how can you secure it?
● What situation are you in right now?
● What is lagging in it, and how can you overcome it?
● What is good about it?
● And how can you leverage it to improve your current
condition?

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 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

CHAPTER 6

UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

It is a common perception that business and entrepreneurship

are the same things and much easier to do. Everyone wants
to become a businessman or an entrepreneur because it
sounds cool. But you must have the necessary information
before making such an important decision. Once you have
enough information in hand, you will be in a better position
to decide which path you should take to achieve your goals.
We have discussed these two concepts in detail to give you
a better understanding of their similarities and differences.
Google sees an entrepreneur as "a person who establishes a
business or multiple businesses by undertaking financial risk
in return for profit." The word entrepreneur is derived from
the French word "entreprendre" and became popular in the
19th century.
Ever wonder what people were called before the
introduction of this term? Research shows that there is no
universally accepted definition of an entrepreneur. Different
people have their own understanding of its diverse aspects.
However, there is a visible difference between an
entrepreneur and a businessman.

51
Businessman vs. Entrepreneur:
A businessman is a person who launches a business with an
existing idea to offer its products and services to its
customers with the prime goal of earning profit. But an
entrepreneur is someone who builds an enterprise with a
unique idea and offers that never existed before. The primary
objective of an entrepreneur is to solve a problem for
people's benefit by carrying out commercial activities.
Let's understand this with an example. A person started a
textile business to earn profit by looking at someone who
was already doing it. By diving deep into this business, he
found some problems that could be solved through
technological innovation. Thus he chose to take the risk by
introducing a new method in the textile field. This action
classifies him as an "entrepreneur" because his idea will also
benefit other people.
Think of how Elon Musk has introduced electric cars that
use green energy, reducing pollution. His idea is a new
concept that will benefit the masses across the globe while
commercially generating revenues for him. Cars are already
there in the market, but an electric car is relatively a novel
concept.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, it is important to
come up with something different, or at least put a relatively
new spin on an existing product. This explains why it is
imperative to do extensive research for the business you
intend to do. Looking for something profitable is not a bad

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 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

thing. However, if you want to be an entrepreneur, your main

focus should be to impart value to people. Profit is the
primary objective of a businessman but becomes secondary
for an entrepreneur. And this is the main difference between
the two that needs to be understood.
However, there are no hard and fast rules in this regard. A
businessman may do some innovation from an
entrepreneurial angle, and an entrepreneur may focus solely
on profits at some point. So, an entrepreneurial and business
mindset do intersect at some point.
Now by understanding this concept and the difference
between businessmen and entrepreneurs. You will realize
that if you start with a business mindset i.e. do what others
are doing and try to do it best. You will start generating
income fast. But if you take the entrepreneur route for the
sake of money. You will not be able to get it soon as it
requires lots of tests and trials. As you are on a journey where
no one else has gone before.
Based on my research, I have come up with a
comprehensive definition of an entrepreneur encompassing
all of its dimensions.
“An entrepreneur is someone who is in the pursuit of
finding himself and his true potential by serving
others in a profitable manner.”
That brings us to the question of how to find yourself and
your potential? Let us elaborate below.

53
How to Find Yourself and Your True Potential?

Your entrepreneurial journey is an opportunity to discover

yourself and your purpose in life. Human beings are blessed
with unlimited potential but a limited time in this world. No
matter how long you live, what you do in this lifetime is what
it means in the end. A life without a purpose is directionless
and futile. The real test of life is to find your hidden talents
and know your strengths.
If you play on your strengths, success is guaranteed.
An entrepreneur's goal is to make a positive impact in
others' lives, but it also helps you grow personally. The
universe blesses you in many ways if you work for mankind.
And the most significant advantage is the satisfaction of your
soul.
Before you start your venture, you must ask yourself a few
questions.

• Why do you want to do it?

• How much money will you need?
• What is your product or service?
The answers to these questions will decide your future
path. Let's answer it one by one.

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 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Why Do You Want to Do The Business?

First of all, you should ask yourself why you want to do a

specific business.
● What is your motivation behind it?
● Do you want to make money only?
● Or do you want to bring change in people's lives?
The answer to these questions will decide whether you are
taking a business path or going for entrepreneurship.
Remember, there is no right or wrong motivation for
wanting to start your own business. If you are doing a job,
you may want to escape the 9-to-5 work hours and need
some flexibility. Or you may wish to pursue your passion.
Every reason is valid.
Some of the key motivators for doing business are as
follows:

• Making more money

• Pursuing a passion
• Escaping the corporate rat race
• Discovering your purpose
• Learning new skills
• Solving a need
• Giving back to the community

55
 Spend some time reflecting on your ‘why’ pertaining to
your desire to start and run your business. Never rush
through these things. You may think a certain reason is your
‘why’ and jump to a conclusion, only realizing a few days
later how it was an impulse thought only.
We stick to things we truly believe in. Considering this,
take your time with figuring out your real whys.

How Much Money Will You Need?

Money is a driving force for both businessmen and

entrepreneurs. It is paramount to know how much money
you want to make in order to actually manifest that goal.
Financial needs vary from person to person. An employed
person has different needs as compared to an unemployed
person. A student's journey is different from a non-student,
and a housewife has a dissimilar roadmap from a working
woman. Your circumstances, needs, and wants to determine
how much money you should make.
It is pertinent to distinguish between needs and wants here.
A need is a crucial necessity without which you can't live,
whereas a want is a desire without which you can live but
don't want to live. Your survival depends on fulfilling your
needs, not your wants. The basic needs of all human beings
are the same: food, clothing, air, water, and shelter.
In addition to these basics, some other needs are essential
for living a healthy and contented life, known as the

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 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

psychological needs of a person. These include self-esteem,

a sense of security, and love. If we talk about wants, every
individual has their own set of wants.
Someone may want a big house and a luxury car, while
someone else may dream of a trip to a foreign country.
However, our wants change over time. For example, you
might have wanted to buy a big toy castle when you were a
child. But your choice and preferences modify as you grow
older, so your desires also change.
Analyzing your needs and wants helps you decide how
much money you want to earn. You can do that by asking a
simple question: "can I survive without this?'. If the answer
is no, it is your NEED; if the answer is yes, it is your WANT.
Suppose you want to earn Rs. 500,000 per month because
you feel the amount is enough to satisfy your needs and live
a good life. If your expenses are less than Rs 100,000 per
month, you will spend Rs. 100k and save the rest. You will
be at peace. But why do you want to earn this much? Why
are you stretching yourself for a goal you will achieve after
a hard struggle? You may earn Rs. 100k per month to meet
your expenses, but it may not satisfy you. You have set a
high target for yourself, and meeting your target will give
you satisfaction.
Another person may have a different goal. He thinks he
can survive by earning PKR 50,000 per month. So he will
make enough effort to satisfy his needs. Thus, this is about
setting the right goals. Having realistic goals will drive you

57
toward success because your satisfaction is high when you
achieve your goals.
A significant determinant of the manifestation of your
goals, and increasing your revenues is your ability to stay in
a business for a longer period.
As Peter Drucker puts it:
“The ultimate aim of a business is survival.”
Thus, your realistic goal should not be to make more
money but to achieve a steady income.
One who stays in business will grow, expand and make
more money in the long run. But the one who wants to make
money quickly may get disappointed from the very
beginning and leave the business halfway. Perseverance is
essential to run a business. Aim to play long and you will
succeed. You get impressed by people who reach the top.
But you do not know their journey and their effort. There is
a struggle of many years behind every successful
entrepreneur.

What Is Your Product or Service?

The core element of business or entrepreneurship is the

exchange of value. The object of exchange is generally
referred to as the product. It can be a goods, service, idea,
person, or place. You get money in exchange for value
generated from your product or service. We most often think

58
 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

of something of value as money. For example, if you are

doing a job somewhere, you offer your skills in exchange for
money. If you give a professional service to a client, he will
pay you in the form of money. You may be selling your
product and earning money or helping someone to sell their
product and getting your commission. Thus the kind of
product or service you are offering sets your path.
Quality matters a lot to get a good return for your product
or service. For example, if you sell a good quality product
for $500, your customer will be happy to pay for it. But if
the actual perceived value of a product is $500, but you sell
it for $1000, your customer may think it is expensive. So the
value or benefit you offer through your product or service
must be higher than the customer's perceived value.
Businesses that stay long in the market are the ones that
maintain the quality of their products. They make customer
satisfaction a top priority. Sometimes they offer something
extra to increase the loyalty of their customers.
One of the factors that help you stand out from your
competitors is how unique your product or service is. That's
where entrepreneurship steps in. You are likely to do great if
you are giving a unique solution to an existing problem. So
think big but start small. Think of changing the world with
your product or service, just like how Microsoft or Apple
did. However, do remember they all start small.

59
 Levels of Entrepreneurs:

Becoming a true entrepreneur is a step-by-step process. It

takes time to get to the top. Thus, it is imperative to know
different levels of entrepreneurship here.
1. Technical Level:
The first one is technical level. A technical entrepreneur is a
person who is doing everything on his own. Either he sells
his skills or makes a product and starts selling it. Your
budget is initially low, so you do everything from sales to
marketing, management, accounting, law, finance, and HR.
You get maximum learning at this stage.
2. Managerial Level:
The second level of entrepreneurship is the managerial level.
That’s the stage you’re on when you hire a team and make

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 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

them work for you. You are now both an employer and a
manager. This stage teaches you how to hire, coach, and
manage people who work for you. Even at this level, you are
doing much of the work for your business yourself.
3. Visionary Level:
The third level is the visionary level. People with any
unique idea or vision hire a managerial entrepreneur who
further hires a technical entrepreneur, and a system is built
up. Oftentimes it so happens that if you remove the
managerial level and directly hire a technical entrepreneur,
your business will not flourish. At this level, you have an
enterprise that works without you having to work in it. Now
you have an established system where your employees and
management team work for your business, and you get out
of their way.
4. Ownership Level:
The next level on the entrepreneurial ladder is business
ownership. A business owner is a person who does nothing,
or we can say don’t do much but owns everything and gets
more benefits than anyone in the form of wealth or
generating money. Visionary, managerial, and technical
people are working for him, but he does not know them. He
has invested in building a system and owns the business to
get maximum product profit. He is able to create wealth.
All of these four levels are essential. Many people start
their journey as technical entrepreneurs but later move on to
the managerial level, climbing up the ladder, and then
61
become visionary. They may require 10 years to be an expert
at the technical level, spend 10 more years on the managerial
level, and then spend 10 more years on the visionary level.
It means it roughly takes 30 years to reach an ownership
level. Most people retire at the technical level, few move to
the managerial level, and very few reach the visionary level.
If you want to be wealthy and make money, you can
change your track. This book will help you do it. What you
earn at the technical level is less than the managerial level
and what you earn at the managerial level is less than the
visionary level. Instead of working at a technical,
managerial, and visionary level, you can directly move to the
ownership level. If you start preparing for ownership level
today, you will be at ownership level after ten years. This
way, you will skip thirty years of hard work. You can do that
by investing in something beneficial. Just like you invested
in this book. Chances are high that this is the first time you
came to know about the “Ownership” level. I will guide you
on how to play at this level in this book.
To upgrade your level, you need to learn skills or find ways
that help you work on tasks in less time. For example, Person
A is at the technical level and makes a logo priced at USD 5.
Person B makes another logo at the same time, and charges
500 USD for it. Person C also offers logo design services,
and makes a logo in less or same time, but sells it for USD
5000. All the logos are for clients belonging to the same
niche. If one seller sells a logo for USD 5,000, and finds a
client willing to buy it at that price, it means that he has

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 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

reached a level where he can give premium value to people,

and his clients too respect that.

Religious Perspective on Entrepreneurship:

Looking at "Entrepreneurship" from a religious perspective
is also important. Drawing a connection between
entrepreneurship and religion helped me scale my
entrepreneurial activities to a great extent, which is why I
want to share that perspective with you too.
While exploring this connection, I found myself studying
the Holy Quran properly, which in turn helped me find the
purpose of my life and the reason for my existence.
Entrepreneurship is about serving others and the Holy
Quran also instructs us to serve others. Allah Almighty has
created the heavens for mankind. In order to be worthy of
attaining a place in heaven, we need to serve humanity. How
can we do that? By using our unique qualities and potential
to help and serve each other. Allah has bestowed all of us
with some special power. His aim was to connect people
with each other through these qualities. For instance, you
may be good at running a business, but you need an excellent
vendor to provide you with the products you wish to sell.
Now that vendor may not have great business management
skills, but he is good at what he does. The two of you need
each other to grow in your own field.
The real purpose of our creation is to connect each other
and serve others.

63
 Entrepreneurship is the freedom within the boundaries and
within that boundaries entrepreneurship must be carried out.
The Holy Quran is the guide that helps define those
boundaries, right. There are many people who work from the
Entrepreneurial angle, but when we analyze them from the
Holy Quran’s perspective, they have one way or another
breached some boundaries. The Holy Quran helps people to
define the risks and the boundaries to play around in. If you
play within the Holy Quran's boundaries, you can build up
your business to a good level for this world and enjoy
rewards in this world and the Hereafter too.
That brings us to the end of this section.
Let us recap what we learnt in it.

64
SUMMARY OF SECTION 1

Here’s what we covered in this section:

● Always explore yourself, your thoughts, your
behaviors, your aspirations, your strengths, and your
genuine desires. Knowing yourself deeply gives you
clarity and serves as the first steppingstone to achieve
your desired success.
● Spend some time reflecting on what success means to
you so you understand what brings you joy, and what
you wish to achieve.
● Once you know yourself, figure out where you stand
in terms of success, finances, skills and the likes.
● Conduct a comparison of your income and expenses
to understand where you stand financially.
● After getting clarity on where you currently stand,
know where you wish to head in life.
● Get as much clarity as possible on your wants, needs
and desires so you get a clear sense of direction.
● Understand that whatever appears to be shiny may not
be what you really want every time. Getting clarity on
your wants, idea of success and goals helps you steer
clear of the Shiny Object Syndrome, and gives you
 the courage to avoid being tempted by the influences
around you.
● You need a roadmap to guide you the way forward
once you decide to move towards a certain destination.
Without a roadmap, you are lost and confused.
● Roadmaps help you understand the best possible routes
to meet the desired finish line, the capacities of
different pathways, and how to avoid being
misdirected.
● Understand the level of entrepreneurship you are on.
● Figure out your circumstances and your basic needs as
well as wants.
● Also understand the level of hierarchy of needs you’re
on so you can better identify your needs and wants.

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 ROADMAP FRAMEWORK

SECTION TWO:
ROADMAP FRAMEWORK

With the basics covered, let us now move to the ‘core’ of this
book- how to create your roadmap. In this section, we will
go through Roadmap Creation and I will provide you with a
framework that helps you structure a concrete and powerful
roadmap conducive to success.
The framework comprises twelve integral principles of
creating a roadmap which is why the framework is also
sometimes referred to as ‘The 12 Principles of Roadmap
Creation.’ Without these 12 elements, your roadmap will be
incomplete. On the contrary, if you work on completing
these 12 important factors, your roadmap will be very
effective and powerful allowing you to achieve your desired
goals effectively and quickly.

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68
 STEP 1: GOAL / DESTINATION

CHAPTER 7

STEP 1: GOAL / DESTINATION

Define Your Goal (Goal Setting Framework):

The first key element in creating a roadmap is to define your

goal. It means you need to clearly specify what your goal is.
We have discussed this earlier on in the book too. Once
you are clear on your goal. You need to move forward to the
goal-setting framework. To structure the goal’s framework,
you must also have clarity on the purpose you wish to
achieve. If you have gone through the work we’ve done up
till now, figuring that out will be a walk in the park for you.

Define Your Purpose:

What is your main purpose of setting up this goal? This is

indeed a million-dollar question. You figure out the answer
to that, your entire journey forward will be quite easy.
Let’s suppose that your goal is to earn a thousand dollars
monthly so the philosophy we use here is the ‘5Y strategy,
5Q strategy.’ This means whatever work you’re going to do
or whatever goal you are going to set, you need to dig deep
into the 5 whys associated with it by asking yourself 5
questions. For instance, if you say that “I want to earn five

69
thousand dollars or I want to earn a thousand dollars”. Let us
help you peel off the layers, one by one.
The first Y will be ‘why you want to achieve that goal.’
For instance, your ‘why’ may be to support your family.
Now you need to take this why and dig into it. Why is it that
you want to support your family? Ask yourself this question
and take a dive into it. Perhaps the answer you get states to
help them live a comfortable life. Now, interrogate why you
wish to do that. Keep doing that till you get an absolute
answer that cannot be peeled off anymore.
As you reach the absolute answer, you find yourself staring
at your purpose. The root cause from where all the whys
stemmed is what you need to achieve. That’s the thirst you
need to quench, and if you achieve that, you will materialize
your purpose in life.
Now you need to work on figuring out your purpose using
the same strategy as described above.
1. Why: __________________________________
2. Why: __________________________________
3. Why: __________________________________
4. Why: __________________________________
5. Why: __________________________________
Once you discover your purpose, and structure a goal
around it, you need to turn it into a SMART goal.

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 STEP 1: GOAL / DESTINATION

Define your SMART goal:

SMART is a tool that helps you create specific, measurable,

attainable, realistic, and time-bound goals.
Let me help you understand what it means, and how to
create such goals.
● S stands for specific: If your goal is to make money,
how much of it do you want to make? If you say USD
10,000, that is a specific goal.
● M symbolizes measurable: Considering that goal,
how can you measure it? For instance, you can keep
track of your earnings to gauge whether or not you
are moving closer to your goal of earning USD
10,000.
● A represents attainable: Is your goal attainable?
Attainable goals are the ones that can be achieved
within the resources available to you. To see if your
goal is attainable, you need to assess the resources
currently accessible to you. This includes human,
technical, financial and any other resources. For
instance, if you want to start your business, and have
some funds saved aside, that could be your financial
resource. If you have some skills to run it, those could
be the human resource and technical resources.
● R signifies realistic: It is important to dream big, but
when it comes to setting goals, it is crucial to start
with realistic goals, so you find them believable and

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 work towards manifesting them into reality. Check if
your goal seems realistic or not. If you want to
become a billionaire right away, that may not be
possible instantly. However, you can work towards it
by earning $10,000 a month first.
● T is for time-bound: Is there a deadline pegged to your
goal? Time-bound goals are those that are
accompanied by a timeline and a due date. If you don’t
know when your goal is due, chances are you may
procrastinate getting started with it. Also, you may
prolong certain tasks and never complete them. On the
other hand, if your goal is time-bound, you know just
when to start it and complete it. The first element is
about proper goals and clarity about your goal.
Your task now is to take your goal and turn it into a
SMART goal.

Is it a NEED or WANT?

Due to Inflation, Covid, Loss of Job or Shut down of

Business, or for any other reason. If you need to earn $1000
per month to survive. Your Roadmap to achieving your need
will be different. As compared to if you want to earn $1000
per month to live a much better life, travel or buy a car.
You have to identify whether your goal is a Need or Want.
It is also very important to identify it because if it is a Need
your Roadmap steps execution will be different compared to
If your Goal is a Want.

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 STEP 1: GOAL / DESTINATION

One Big Goal A Year.

Let me give you a new strategy for Achieving the Goal. Before
that first understand the difference between Goal and Result.

Goal vs Result:
Goal is not the Result. Result is what you get when you achieve
the Goal. Goal is what you do, Result is what you get. Goal is in
your Control, Result is not in your Control.

Read it again ^^^

“You want to earn $1000 in 3 months”. Is it a Goal or Result?

It is a Result. You will get it when you achieve the Goal.

Now the Goal can be you do the Job, Freelancing, or Business

that will help you get the Result of $1000 more or less.

Doing a Job, Freelancing or Business is in your control. If you

do the things that are in your control, eventually you will be going
to get the desire result.

Whenever you try to set a goal. Try to set a goal that you can do
(or get it done). Let me share my example. My One Big Goal for
2022 was to write this Book Roadmaper. Now that was in my
hand, it was something that I can do, so I did it. The result of it
will be branding, authority, book sales, revenue, coaching,
speaking and so on.

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My next year goal will be “Book Promotion” the tasks I will
do for that includes:

• Create an Audio Book

• Video Series on each topic of the Book on YouTube
(52 Videos)
• RoadMaper Challenge (12 Challenge)
• One Big Goal A Year Workshop (12 Workshops)
• RoadMaper Podcast – (52 Episodes)
• Appear on Podcasts / YouTube Show / Zoom
Sessions (100+)

If I do all the above or even If I do few of them. The result

will be more people will know about the book Roadmaper
and will read it. That will eventually help me earn more. If
you note one thing that all these are a digital asset that will
bring me compound results.

So, try to set the Goals which you can do (or get it done).
Instead of setting Result as a Goal.

One Big Goal A Year Strategy:

Once you get clear about where you want to go. What kind of
success you want to achieve. You need to a have a Roadmap for
3, 5 or 10 years. And for every year you need to set a One Big goal
that should be a big milestone in achieving your ultimate success.

My One Big Goal For:

2022 was to write a Book Roadmaper.

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 STEP 1: GOAL / DESTINATION

2023 is to Promote a Book by Building Digital Assets.

2024 (surprise )
2025 (surprise )
2026 (surprise )

Steps to Achieve a One Big Goal a Year.

1. Set a one Big Goal for the Year.
2. Set a one Big Goal for each Quarter.
3. Set a one Big Goal for each Month

That is, it. Yes. Don’t make it complicated.

I have tried to make it set to week and days, but it didn’t work for
me. Sometimes I didn’t work for 3 weeks and work for one week
and achieve One Big Goal of the month. Sometimes I event don’t
work for months and then work in one month to achieve the One
Big Goal of the Quarter.

It may or may not work for you. You must test it to find it out. So
don’t follow me, Follow yourself. Find out what works for you
and stick with it.

Ask yourself.
What is the One Big Goal If you achieve this year, you will be
fulfilled and satisfy at the end of the year?

Once you do that, your goal-setting phase is almost

complete. Now you need to move towards identifying your
vehicle that will take you to your destination.

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76
 STEP 2: VEHICLE

CHAPTER 8

STEP 2: VEHICLE

WHAT WILL BE YOUR VEHICLE?

You have set the Goal- the destination where you want to go.
Now you have to figure out how you will reach your
destination and which vehicle you will pick.
For instance, you have set a goal to earn $1000 per month
in 90 days. Now which vehicle you will pick whether it will
be blogging, freelancing, affiliate marketing, digital
marketing, trainings / courses, e-commerce, product launch,
website flipping, online job, etc.

Which vehicle will you pick?

To pick the right vehicle you need to know about that

vehicle. If you pick the wrong vehicle chances are you won’t
be able to achieve your goal or not in due time even If you
do everything else right. For example, if you pick blogging
chances are you may not be able to achieve your goal in 90
days, as blogging takes time to bring results. If you pick e-
commerce you may need the investment to start. Freelancing
may help you achieve your goal but for that, you need to
have a skill. The same goes for an online job.

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What is the Vehicle Potential?

You also need to consider the Vehicle's potential in the long

run. The vehicle you pick might look attractive now but in
the future scaling it or exit it will be a problem. The vehicle
may have the potential to earn up to $1k per month but you
are thinking about taking it to $10k per month. You may
need to build a side hustle and be willing to give it 2-3 hours
a day, but a vehicle may need more hours per day to bring
the desired results.

Power of ‘NO’:

Once you pick the vehicle after doing your due diligence and
proper research. It will give you the power of NO. Which is
very critical for your success. Let’s say Freelancing is the
vehicle you pick to achieve your goal of $1000 per month in
90 days. Now all other vehicles, such as e-commerce,
blogging, etc. will be distractions for you to achieve your
goal. This is where you use the Power of NO and will say
No to all those distractions. It will also help you build focus
around your goal.
You have set the right goal, pick the right vehicle. Now it
is the time to pick the right driver that will help you drive
towards your goal

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 STEP 3: DRIVER

CHAPTER 9

STEP 3: DRIVER

WHAT IS YOUR DRIVER?

To understand what a driver is and why you need it, let me

give you an example.
For a moment think that you venture into freelancing and
offer your skills as a graphic designer. Your skill at this point
is graphic designing, and it is the force that is driving you
towards your goal of making money. It is basically your
driver.
Since no journey is straightforward, it is likely you’ll face
some hurdles while freelancing too. Perhaps, you cannot find
a client even after 2 months. Maybe, you do find clients, but
they are low-paying ones; you have yet to land clients who
can pay you enough to help you reach your goal. It is
possible that you find yourself procrastinating a lot.
Whatever it may be, some bumps are likely to come your
way. When that happens, you may find yourself leaving
freelancing or perhaps graphic designing midway. It is also
possible that you experience the Shiny Object Syndrome I
talked about earlier. In any case, you may find yourself
gravitating towards another skill, field or idea.

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 The instant you make that shift, you change your driver.
Graphic designing or freelancing that was driving your
career’s car earlier is now replaced by something else. If you
keep changing the drivers, you will find yourself moving
nowhere really.
If you dig deeper into the issue using the 5Y and 5Q
approach we discussed previously, you are likely to figure
out that we often quit our goals because we are not
passionate about them. We lack the burning desire that
makes us go the extra mile for the things we believe in. We
lack the DRIVER!
The driver is not really any specific line of work or career
or an activity. It is something you are truly passionate about.
You only stick to those things for the long haul that you are
genuinely excited about, and those that you believe in. If you
don’t have that passion, that burning desire to do something,
you don’t have a driver that leads you to the finish line.
Think of someone who found a newfound zest for life after
he survived a heart attack. That person who just lost his life
now wants to live it king size, and in a healthy manner only
because he has witnessed what it’s like to lose it.
Look at someone who has lived an intensely tough life
marked by poverty, burning the midnight oil, working three
jobs, and still has the energy to do more. Only he knows the
plight he has been through, and has the burning desire to
improve his quality of life.

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 STEP 3: DRIVER

Similarly, if you want to achieve your goals, you need to

nurture a burning desire for them. Oftentimes, people turn to
motivational speakers to find their inner driving force. I’m
not saying that’s a bad thing. Sure, you should do what does
the trick for you, and helps you accomplish your goals. That
said, what’s important to understand is that your burning
desire is to be found inside of you, not outside.
Motivational speakers, motivational books and the likes
can rev up your excitement for sure, but to become
motivated to do something, you need to identify your
burning desire. That only comes from within, which is why
I always advise people to spend time with themselves, and
explore their thoughts, desires and passions.
Once you find the right driver, one that is meaningful and
powerful enough to make you stick to the right path, you will
find it easy to block out your distractions too. Ever seen a
racehorse? You might have noticed the blinders on its eyes.
The blinders make him focus only on the racetrack, and
block out all the distractions. You need to do the same if you
wish to win the race. Well, not really cover your eyes with
blindfolds or something, but focus on the prize, and clear out
the distractions.
It is crucial to figure out your distractions first. For
instance, for some, social media might be a distraction.
Every time you start to work, you may open a social media
app and spend hours hooked to it. For some people traveling
may be a distraction. They may find themselves checking out

81
tourist destinations more on work trips rather than attending
the conferences they went for.
I mentioned earlier how I’ll be linking this book with Islam
and the word of Allah. Here, I’d like to share the story of
Hazrat Yousaf (A.S). He became a victim of his brothers’
jealousy and they threw him into a well. Rescued by a
merchant who heard his cries for help, he is taken to be sold
in a slave market in Egypt. He was then imprisoned for not
accepting the invitation from his master wife for sin. Allah
helped Hazrat Yousaf (A.S) with each and every struggle he
went through. Once he was a captive lying in a jail, the king
of the region had a dream.
“And (once) the king (of Egypt) said: ‘Verily I saw (in a
dream) seven fat cows which seven lean cows were
eating; and seven green ears of corn and other (seven)
dry. O’ chiefs (of my court)! Explain to me my dream, if
you are able to interpret dreams’.”
Surah Yusuf – Verse 43.
He asked dream interpreters and predictors to decipher his
dream. That dream takes the king to Hazrat Yousaf (A.S).
Hazrat Yousaf told him that there will be seven years of good
and happiness and after that timespan, there will be seven
years when everything will vanish. If the king is to survive,
he must save food for the next seven years.
One might wonder why Hazrat Yousaf (A.S) went through
so many troubles in life as a child and landed in jail when he
was innocent. The answer lies in him predicting that dream

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 STEP 3: DRIVER

and saving the life of so many people including children’s.

His prediction was correct, and with that he helped the king
save many lives and keep them from dying of hunger. Hazrat
Yousaf’s (A.S) purpose was to help lives, and so he did.
Hazrat Yousaf (A.S) never lost hope, and never
succumbed to the struggles because he knew his purpose in
life, and that served as his driving force to withstand all the
hardships along the way. Similarly, you need to strive for the
same. Sometimes you are getting prepared for the best in the
future. If you keep your patience and do the right things and
stay on the right path you will eventually get the rewards of
good deeds.
Here are some tips to do that:
● Set aside some time daily to explore your purpose in
life.
● As you start getting clarity on your driver, write
down all the things, ideas and activities that distract
you.
● Stop listening to 10 different opinions by 10 different
people and being sidetracked by them.
● Write down clearly what you want, or what you think
you want, and ponder on it for some time regularly.
● Keep asking yourself different questions about your
purpose on a daily basis to make it more vivid inside
your head. Remember you need to see a clear picture
in your headfirst to focus completely on it.
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 ● Also, build the ability to say ‘no’ whenever needed.
This is actually a skill that helps you steer clear of
distractions and temptations that obstruct you from
reaching your goal and achieving your purpose in
life. To cultivate this ability, make sure to write down
all your findings to keep reflecting on them, and to
record your journey.

Factors that help you find Your Driver:

There are different elements that one way or another help
you find your driver.

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 STEP 3: DRIVER

1. Survival:

An extremely important driver that drives most of us is

‘survival.’ Many of us have the constant pressure of
surviving in this world because we are living in a hand to
mouth state. The survival stage is of two main types:
a- Naturally Created: when you are actually in a survival
mode and have trouble meeting your basic expenses.
b- Artificially created: when you start a business and are in
the survival mode because you need to make it grow.
Whatever type of survival you are in, you need to
understand it is your driver. Type ‘a’ survival zone is
naturally created whereas survival ‘b’ zone is artificially
created because you chose to start your business.
In either of the two cases, you need to recognize your
driver and analyze it. If it is genuinely or naturally created
then you have less options to move past it, but the options
are still there such as doing a side hustle or borrowing a loan.
If it is artificially created then you usually have more options
such as entering into a collaboration with another business,
doing a partnership, getting a loan, selling your business etc.
Either way, understand your survival mode and recognize it
as your driver so you can use it to your advantage.

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2. Pain:

Pain is a big driving force for many people. In most cases,

such people are not conscious of their health, but with time
they notice that they have some sort of health issue.
Becoming dull, gaining weight, experiencing ailments,
struggling with mental health issues are some instances of
going through physical and emotional pain that drives people
to find their purpose in life.
Another form of pain takes place due to emotional
problems, heartbreak and any kind of setback or loss that
stirs up some sort of bitter and intense emotions. Perhaps you
went through a breakup that made you realize you’re done
dealing with toxic people. Since you were abused with your
self-esteem left hurt, you decide now to prove your worth.
Maybe you incurred a huge financial loss and hit rock
bottom. Once you went on survival mode, you realized the
importance of sailing on the surface, and discovered your
purpose to become affluent, and also help others in attaining
financial stability.

3. Gain:

For some people, gaining something works as their driver.

Perhaps, you have a burning desire to tour the world, and
visit exotic places. Maybe you want to learn new skills and
decide to start your own institute that teaches people skills.

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 STEP 3: DRIVER

4. Money:

Money is quite often a driver for many people. However,

many of us have a skewed perception of it, and think of it as
something negative, and pursuing money as being
materialistic. Both perceptions are not true.
Of the many realities in life, money is certainly one. You
cannot deny its significance in our lives. If you have money,
you can easily get treatments for your health problems. If
you have money, you can upgrade your lifestyle. With
money, you can help people, and do so much more that adds
value in your life, and that of others too. Hence, money is
certainly not bad; it is how we perceive and use it that makes
it positive or negative.
Let me explain it with the ‘knife’ analogy. A knife can be
used to stab someone, but also cut fruit and serve to the
needy. How you use the knife depends on you. Same is true
for money.

5. Family:

Some of us are not moved by pain, gain or money, but it is

‘family’ that becomes their driver. Perhaps, you want to give
your family the best of everything, and that is your driver.
Maybe you are alone, and want to have a family of your own.
You realize how having a good career, reputation and
lifestyle can help you attract the partner you desire, and build
a family with him/ her, so you start working for it.

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6. Fame:

Fame is yet another immense driving force. At some point,

all of us want to be famous, get the love of people, and
become relatively well-known.
Think of how you see celebrities. You admire them,
sometimes envy them, and often find yourself imagining
living like them. Maybe not entirely, but a part of you does
want all the fame, glory and admiration that your favorite
celebrities have.
When you feel you have some value to give to the world
around you, you feel the need of recognition bubbling inside
you. You want to be recognized for that value you offer to
people, and as you become recognized, you get fame too.
Hence, the need for fame comes from the need to give value
to others. That’s when fame and recognition are your drivers.

7. Impact:

There are some people who work to create an impact that

changes the world for the better. The invention of electric
cars to save fuel is one such example. Microsoft's vision “A
microcomputer on every desk and in every home running
Microsoft software” is another example.
Impact can be created in many ways. Since all of us are
different, our perception of impact is different too. How you
perceive impact may not be the same as your friend views it.

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 STEP 3: DRIVER

For him, impact may be about adopting eco-friendly

measures, whereas for you, perhaps, it is about eliminating
world hunger.

8. Faith/ Religion:

Faith or religion as many people refer to it also serves as an

immense and an intense driving force for many people.
Some people find themselves feeling lost in life, stumble
upon an aspect of faith, and find light. Some are already
religious, and want to do something to serve their faith, and
that in turn becomes their driver. If their faith instructs them
to take care of the underprivileged people, that may become
their purpose in life.
These eight factors are important tools to discover, explore
and understand your driver.
What you need to do next is rummage through these eight
aspects pertaining to you and your life to figure out the tools
that can help you determine your driver.
Here is a table that can help you with that task.

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 Factor / Tool What Moves You? Intensity 0-10

Survival

Pain

Gain

Money

Family

Fame

Impact / Freedom

Faith / Religion

● The table above shows 8 factors that we discussed

above.
● In the column labeled ‘What Moves You?’ write down
anything relevant to that certain factor that affects you,
and can turn to be your driver. For instance, in pain,
you can talk about your health issues. In money, you
can mention your desire to be a millionaire.
● Once you are done mentioning at least one thing
relevant to every tool, point its intensity on a scale from
0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest, and 10 being the
highest. If fame is a big driver for you, perhaps it stands
at the level 7. Maybe money isn’t that big of a driving
force and ranks at 3.
● In this manner, work on all the factors.

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 STEP 3: DRIVER

● Next, analyze which of those matters the most to you.

You may not discover your true driver on the first attempt,
which is why you need to practice this exercise for 10 to 15
minutes weekly or monthly. The more you think on these
lines, the better clarity you’ll have about your driver

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 CHAPTER 10

STEP 4: TIME
TIME ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK

Once you have set your goal, find out the driver and pick the
vehicle. Now you need to create your time analysis
framework, which basically means you need to figure out the
time required to achieve your target.
To craft any road map, the time factor is necessary because
if you don’t plan your time efficiently, or don’t have a
deadline attached to your goal, you are likely to struggle with
the following issues:
● You may never get started with working towards
your goal
● You are likely to procrastinate a lot
● You may assume the goal is spread over a long
stretch of time, and allow fear to consume you
● You may work for some time, and then quit the
pursuit of your goal halfway through.
To overcome all these hurdles, working on the time
analysis framework is crucial.

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 Let’s analyze the different aspects pertaining to this
analysis.

How much time do you have?

To structure your time analysis framework, the first thing

you need to figure out is how much time you have.
If you have the time to work on your goal yourself, go
ahead and do it. It is important to invest in the necessary time
and effort in your own goal so when you are finally at the
stage where you can hire people and build the people, you
have the knowledge of how things work, and can guide them
accordingly.
However, if you don't have the time and mental energy to
devote to your goal, it is necessary that you have investment,
resources, or people you can hire to work for you. In case,
you are at the stage where you don't have time and cannot
even hire people, but still have the desire to fulfill your goals
to increase your income, you will have to go the extra mile
and put in the necessary effort.
At this step, the most effective thing you can do is to move
towards learning. Now you may be asking yourself: ‘I don't
have time and how can I learn?’
Not having enough time is something the better of us
struggle with too. What we need to understand is that there
are only 24 hours in a day, but there are also people who

93
make excellent use of these hours, and get their important
tasks done. If they can do it, so can you. The trick to getting
your work done is to incorporate some important time
management strategies.
Here are some things you can try:
● Multitasking to learn skills: Multitasking isn’t
helpful if you are doing a high priority task because
you end up having divided attention that messes up
with the quality of your work. However, you can
multitask when you are doing things that have now
moved to your autopilot mode. For instance, you
now know how to drive a car well, and can listen to
something while driving, right? In that case, listen
to a podcast that teaches you a soft skill, or helps
you focus on your goals while driving.
● Read a page: Pick a book on anything you wish to
learn, and only read a page of it daily. By the end of
the month, you will have at least read 30 pages if
not more and learnt something.
● Dedicate 10 minutes to learning: Choose a skill you
wish to learn to diversify your skill set and dedicate
only 10 minutes to studying it daily. 10 minutes isn’t
a very long stretch of time, but if you focus sincerely
on that skill in those 10 minutes, you’re sure to learn
a lot.

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 Begin by working on these three simple hacks, and you’ll
find yourself slowly learning and acquiring skills that can
help you materialize your goals.

How Much Time Does the Goal/ Project Require?

Understand that the time factor is different in each roadmap.

Every goal that we set is spread over a different span of time.
Some tasks require two hours whereas others may demand 6
hours.
If you are spending only two hours on a task that requires
you to invest at least 4 hours, you will not be able to get your
desired results in 3 months. It will take you longer, and you
need to accept that fact. It is crucial to analyze your goal and
every little task involved to speculate the time you will need
to finish it off.
Here’s how you can do that:
● Write down your end goal and make an assumption
of the time it will take you to reach the finish line.
For instance, if you want to run a successful blog
and earn from it, you need to give it 6 to 9 months
at least. In this case, 9 months is the time you’ll
need to start a blog, and structure it to the point that
it can become a money-making machine for you.
● Divide that goal into a mid-term and short-term
goal, and once again, make an estimate of the time
you’ll require to reach those targets. Continuing

95
 with the example of the blog, the short-term goal
could be to start your blog, find an idea for it, buy
its domain and hosting, create content for it and
have it ready in about 1 to 2 months. In this case, in
2 to 3 months you’ll need the time required to finish
off the short-term milestone. The mid-term goal
could be stretched to the 3rd or 4th month wherein
you start using strategies to steer your blog towards
earning.
● Once you have an idea of the short-term and mid-
term goals, work on identifying the tasks you need
to achieve those milestones. Start with the short-
term goal and think of every possible activity and
task required to accomplish it.
● Every task would need a certain timeframe. In some
cases, it would be a couple of hours, and in certain
cases, the timeframe could even be stretched to a
few days.
● Once you have mapped out everything that needs to
be done to meet your targets, you will have quite a
vivid picture of the time the project demands in
totality.
When analyzing the time required for a project, do keep in
mind the following aspects as well:

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Research Time Required:
What time do you need to conduct any research if that’s
required for your goal? This is a crucial question to ponder
on when starting your journey towards any goal.
Mostly, when you are embarking on a new venture, for
instance a business, be it online or the usual brick-and-
mortar form, you need to invest time, money and other
resources on research. How much research does your project
demand? Do you have the time to do it, or will you need to
buy the time of other people?
There are people qualified enough to carry out research
related tasks for you. If you have the funds to hire resources
to work on the research related tasks for you, go ahead and
do that. You’ll be saving yourself great amounts of time,
energy and other hassles involved in the process.

Learning Time Required:

You also need to think about the amount of learning time
you need to execute the project successfully. There are two
types of learning involved in any project:
● Basic Learning: This refers to wrapping your head
around the basics of the project. Let’s carry on with
the ‘blogging’ example for ease and reference. If you
are new to blogging, you’ll need some time to
understand how the mechanism works, the science
behind it, how it can help you earn and the likes.
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 Unless you are equipped with the basic knowledge
required to carry out the project, you will struggle to
do it. You can relieve your burden by delegating the
entire project to an expert on the matter, but even
then, so, my sincerest advice to you is to have an
understanding of the basic learning involved. That’s
because if you know how to do something, then only
you can direct another resource to work on it and
keep a check on their performance. If you don’t know
how a blog works, you may not be able to monitor
and gauge the performance of an expert blogger you
are considering hiring or have already hired for your
project. Hence, it is always a wise move to get the
basic learning a certain project demands.
● Advanced Learning: This refers to the advanced level
learning required for a certain project. In the example
of blogging, once you know the basics, you will need
to brush your understanding of the advanced-level
aspects pertaining to blogging, how to monetize and
take it up a notch. If you are a video editor, you will
need to brush on your video editing skills and learning
techniques like masking, layer-shifting, easing and the
likes to create even more striking videos as compared
to the ones you have already been working on. If you
are hiring someone else for a project, advanced-level
learning isn’t really your headache. However, it is
always good to keep honing your skills and knowledge
and take it to a higher level.

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Practice Time Required:
The third biggest critical part involved in any project that
most people ignore is the practice time required. Once you
are done with the research process, have the basic and
advanced learning, you need to start working on practicing
for the project, aka its execution.
To practice, you can work on it yourself especially if you
wish to execute it on your own. It is important to dedicate a
certain time for practicing every day to practically
implement your learning.
However, if you are outsourcing someone else for the
project, your practice time automatically minimizes.
Go through all these aspects to truly understand the time
required for your project. It is important to analyze it very
pragmatically, so you allocate the right time for the project
to complete it successfully. Remember, you’ll need to burn
the midnight oil for it especially in the start and particularly
if you’re doing it entirely on your own. The more time you
devote to it, the faster you’ll achieve your desired results.
You can also use a time management calculator to better
assess the project time required.

Time Management Calculator:

A time management calculator is quite a helpful tool in

calculating the time you spend on your daily activities so you

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can analyze whether or not you spend time doing important
tasks. Here is the link to download a time management
calculator [Link] Remember to
fill up all thirty columns of the sheet and analyze them very
objectively once you’re done.

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How to fill the time calculator?

You’ll be able to soon analyze how you have been

managing your time. Once you figure out the time you spend
in time-wasters- all the activities that yield no beneficial
result, you will be able to identify the activities you need to
let go of.
For instance, you may realize that you spend 2 hours using
social media and doing nothing productive in return. If you
are an influencer and you actually make money from your
social media activities that makes sense. Even if you aren’t
an influencer, but you are learning something positive from

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your time spent on social media platforms, then too, it is
good enough.
On the contrary, if all you’re doing is scrolling up and
down the newsfeed, comparing your lives to others, and only
daydreaming about things, you are not really benefiting from
your social media activities. Perhaps, those are the two hours
you can utilize in learning the skill you need to start your
online venture, or doing the research for your business, or
advancing your learning to the next level.
In this manner, you can successfully figure out the
different blocks of time in your day that are spent doing
pointless, useless and distracting activities that only take you
miles away from your goal. Free up your routine of these
activities, and you instantly end up creating time and space
for the high-priority tasks.
Can you buy other people's time?

“If You Want To Run Fast, Run Alone.

If You Want To Run Far, Run Together.”
African proverb.
If you don't have the required time. You can buy other
people’s time. For that you either need an investment or have
a network or relationship to have people work for you. In the
early stage of your business. You have to rely on your
network or relationships to have people work for you for free
or for less amount. Once you start generating some revenue
or get an investment you can hire other people.

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 This is an important point which you need to consider
while picking the business model. If you pick a business
model that requires you to have a team and you don’t have
the resources to have a team. You won’t be able to grow that
business.

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 CHAPTER 11

STEP 5: RESOURCES

SKILLS

You need manpower to do anything until we reach that time

where robots take over. Till that happens, manpower is
required! Whether you are going to work on your goals
yourself, or outsource someone, you will need some sort of
skills either way.
To understand the importance of skills, look at the graph
below.

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 STEP 5: RESOURCES

Skill vs Business:

The graph is mapped out with time against output/ return.

You can see a graph line for skill and one for business. If you
analyze the business line, you will see it has booms and
slumps. There are constant ups and downs that basically
signify the highs and lows one faces in a business. Also, the
gradient is not as steep as the one you see on the skill’s
graph.
The skill’s graph, on the other hand, is steeper and
continues to move upwards. There are slight fluctuations, but
they aren’t just as intense as the ones visible in the business
graph. The fluctuations represent a time when you
experience some sort of stagnancy in your skill. For instance,
once you learnt video editing, you did not take it to the
advanced level for some time, but once you started honing
your skill, the graph kept moving upwards.
Now if you compare the two, you will realize that skills
will always outgrow businesses. If you have a certain skill,
you can survive and even use that skill to thrive. The ups and
downs of your business won’t affect you much because you
have a personal resource that you can leverage to your
advantage. One of my really good friends who is a business
mogul often says that when your business is down your skills
will help you in your survival zone. Hence, it is very
important to build your skills so that you can grow.
Skills have mostly three levels:

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1. Basic skills:

Basic skills you need to do something. For instance, you can

write good essays so that can be your basic skill.
2. Income skills:

These are the skills you can use to earn an income for
yourself. If your skill can be monetized, it is an income skill.
For instance, if you can use your essay writing skill to make
money, it is an income skill; but if that isn’t possible, your
skill is only a basic-level skill, and not an income skill.
3. High income Skills:

The third level is high-income skills. These are the profitable

skills capable of bringing you big bucks. If you are a
copywriter, you have a good money-making skill. However,
if you can only write articles that get sold for a total of $100
to $200 a month, your skill isn’t a high-income skill.
To make it big in any area, and achieve your goals, you
need to focus on building high income skills. It is only when

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 STEP 5: RESOURCES

your skills are at an advanced level that you can provide

premium value to your clients, and that’s when you start
getting money in exchange for your skills.

If you want to continue your skill in your business, you

must move towards high-income skills so you can earn more
profit in less time. The questions you need to ponder on are:
● Do you have a skill right now?
● If not, which skill can you have?
● Is it a money-making skill?
● Which skill can you use for high income?
● Identification of the basic skills to achieve your
goals.
● Which skill you may outsource/hire someone for?
● From where you can learn that skill
Mostly those people move towards a high-income skill
who have developed their interest in that skill or have a
passion for it. They have complete research, deep learning,
and practice that takes them towards high income.
You must identify your skill and path and the requirements
for it. If you want to do blogging, then you need content for
your blog. Either you write it yourself or have someone write

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it for you. Either way, without content, you cannot be a
blogger.
You have to know about all of the skills as we know about
the content. Now, the problem is that content is required, but
if you cannot write content, you can hire someone for this
purpose. If you want to do it yourself, you need to know
where you should learn to write and create content.
If you want to give graphic services, you have to learn
graphic designing skills and then you will be able to provide
people with graphic services through a job or online portal.
You can generate income in this way or work for your goal.
It is necessary to have skills or you should be able to acquire
other people's skills and they will help you to achieve your
goals. If you don't have skills, you are unable to acquire
people skills and you don't have those resources that can help
you to move towards goals, your work will stop. That is the
worst case scenario, and your aim should be to avoid
experiencing that situation.
You have now set the Goal, pick the vehicle, find the drive,
have the time, know the skills required. It’s time to move to
the next step of a Roadmap framework.

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 STEP 6: ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER 12

STEP 6: ENVIRONMENT

BUILDING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT

“Your environment is more powerful than your

willpower”
-unknown
Once you have figured out the time you need and the skills
to work on, you can move forward. The third component of
the equation is to create an environment conducive to
achieving your goals. If you have skills and time, but your
environment is not supportive, once again you’ll struggle to
accomplish your targets.
For instance, imagine that you want to do graphic
designing. Now, you have skills and time, but there is no
electricity to power your laptop to practice the skill and
monetize it. What will you do? Let’s go a step further and
imagine you don't even have an internet connection; you
don't have an account or platform; and there are many other
factors that obstruct your career growth. This is the example
of an unsupportive environment that keeps you from
growing.

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 Let’s take another example. Athletes in Pakistan aren’t
given a supportive environment to hone on their skill so
many of them often lag behind international athletes in
competitions. On the contrary, countries like America
provide their athletes with more resources, opportunities and
a progressive environment to practice and grow, which is
why their success rate is much higher than that of the
Pakistani athletes.
A plant won’t grow unless you provide it with water, air
and sunlight. Similarly, unless you have a healthy
environment conducive to your growth, you will fall short of
accomplishing your goals. You need to pay attention to your
surrounding environment to assess whether or not it can
assist you in materializing your dreams into reality.
There are four factors involved in building an
environment:
1. Habits
2. Consistency
3. Discipline
4. Achievements
All these four factors play a monumental role in structuring
a supportive environment that facilitates you in achieving
your goals.

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 STEP 6: ENVIRONMENT

1. Habits:

From drinking water every day when you wake up to

brushing your teeth before going to bed, we are creatures of
habits. Our habits define us, and structure our lives. Your
habits form you- the most integral component in an
environment. If you don’t have the right set of habits to
propel you towards growth, you are likely to always struggle
with building a healthy environment, and utilizing an already
built environment that is supportive.

❖ Right now, you need to make a list of all your habits,

especially those pertaining to your work.

❖ Once you have the list in front of you, segregate the

habits into good/ positive and bad/ negative.

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 ❖ Think of the ones that keep you from working
dedicatedly and consistently.

❖ Next, think of the habits you need to work on, and

bring in place of the existing unhealthy ones.
2. Consistency:

Habits work only when you stay consistent with them.

Unless you work on a certain behavior consistently, you
won’t turn it into a habit. Moreover, consistent efforts yield
the results you want. It took Edison 9,999 tries to come up
with one successful invention. Imagine the consistency he
showed at that time to stay true to his passion. I understand
it’s not easy, but it’s certainly doable. This is the major
difference between a successful person and unsuccessful
person.

3. Discipline:

Your ability to exercise self-control regularly to do your

tasks diligently and effectively while blocking out all sorts
of distractions is ‘self-discipline.’ It is highly crucial to
exercise self-discipline if you wish to progress further in
your career. Discipline is about saying no to a temptation
every single time it pops up your way. For instance, if you
have a habit of staying glued to social media for hours daily,
you need to practice self-control to close the opened social
media tabs every time, and not respond to a social media
notification on a regular basis. This self-control that you will

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 STEP 6: ENVIRONMENT

exercise daily will build your sense of self-discipline. To

become disciplined, here are some hacks you can try:

❖ Note down all your distractions that eat away at your

productivity.

❖ Think of why you give into those temptations, so you

figure out the root cause. Do you find your work too
difficult or too boring? Do those temptations work as
your entertainment? Are they a way to mitigate
stress?

❖ Knowing these root causes is important so you can

create a system to overcome those issues. Once you
start working on these areas consistently, you add
structure to your life. For instance, if you use social
media to relieve your stressed nerves during work,
you understand that stress is the trigger. To relieve
stress, you can keep a cool drink of water with you
and sip it every now or then, or practice deep
breathing for 2 minutes after working on a task for 40
minutes. Now that you have new, healthier habits to
work on, every time you feel stressed, you resort to
those habits. Soon, you become more organized that
helps you better battle your distractions and build
more discipline.

❖ So figure out the root cause, and then find healthier

ways to manage it effectively.

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 ❖ Work on those habits consistently, and you’ll notice a
newfound sense of self-discipline bubbling inside
you.

4. Achievement:

As you start building better habits, optimizing your

environment more to encourage you, and become more
disciplined, you start to better achieve your targets. These
achievements serve as fuel that pushes you further. Every
time you accomplish an objective, you find the zeal and zest
to do even better. Your achievements keep the cycle going,
and you keep working on habits, consistency, and discipline.
As a result, you continue keeping your environment healthy
and supportive enough to facilitate you in your growth.

Long term:

The next element you have to focus on is the entire timespan

your goal is spread on. Are you working on it for the long-
term, or do you just want short-term results? If you are
playing for the long-term, you will effectively be able to
build up those habits. If you want short-term results then you
will not be able to build up habits.
Think of the habits you wish to build, and take them as
your long-term projects. For example, I wanted to read the
Quran with translation so that I could understand it and
connect things according to the Holy Quran. But I was not

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 STEP 6: ENVIRONMENT

able to do it. I started listening to the Quran recitations with

translations in the morning while driving to work. It started
gradually and now it has become a part of my habit and when
I don't listen to it. I feel there is a lack of something. Start
with one step and gradually you will become consistent and
it will become your habit.
There are two types of environments:
1. Internal Environment
2. External Environment
1. Internal Environment: Includes your health set,
mindset, and skill set’s. We will discuss more about them
in sets of life.
2. External Environment: Includes your working
environment, your market, weather and so on.
Find out is your environment is supportive to achieve
your goals or not. If it is not supportive find out the ways
and solutions that can help you make your environment
friendly.

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 CHAPTER 13

STEP 7: INVESTMENT

HOW MUCH INVESTMENT IS REQUIRED?

The next level you need to work on is an investment. There

are two types of investment: current and future investment.
The amount of money you need in the present moment is
your current investment, and the funds you’ll require after a
certain period of time are your future investment.
To do any sort of business, you need some investment,
which may not always be in the form of money. That is your
current investment.
Let’s say you want to start your blog. Now if you plan to
hire a writer to write the content for you, you’ll need some
investment. However, if you decide to write it yourself, you
won’t need financial investment in that case because your
time and effort will be the investment. Another important
point to note here is that writing is only one part of the
investment. Getting a domain, hosting and web development
will cost you.
At some point in your career or the goals that you are
pursuing, you will need some sort of investment otherwise
your journey may stop. For example, if you’re freelancing,
you may have started your work with free tools for graphics.

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 STEP 7: INVESTMENT

To take your career to the next level of growth, you may need
to buy premium tools. Buying these tools will give a boost
to your career and will also better position you as a
professional.
Similarly, if we take the example of blogging. You may
need money after the first 3 months of starting your blog to
further grow it or start another blog. Every business requires
some sort of investment in the future. You need to plan for
it now if you wish to keep growing bigger and better. But
how can you plan for future investments? Here are some
ideas to help you out:
● Think of any investment you may be considering
making in the present moment that may not be too
worthy, beneficial, or significant for you. Perhaps,
you are thinking of spending $1000 on a phone.
Well, yeah spending on a phone seems reasonable
to you right now, but if you are only going to use it
for taking pictures and using social media, you
might as well cut back on $300 or $500 and save
the remaining aside to invest in your business in the
future.
● Many of us do many meaningless spending every
day. You are shopping and feel like munching on
crisps even though you just had lunch. You see a
beautiful coat that catches your fancy and indulge in
some impulse buying. Start to notice such spending
so you can have a tighter grip on your unnecessary
and impulse buying. Every time you get an urge to
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 buy something not-so-important, put that money
aside for the future.
● Contemplate on the kind of future investments you
will need for your business in the long-run, or even
after 6 to 10 months. Do you have growth and
expansion plans? Have you set something aside for
the rainy days? What sort of growth projection do
you see?
● Analyze your investment needs in the future and start
to save for your future capital.
● Also, explore different funding options you can take
help from. Perhaps, you could take out a bank loan
in the future or borrow some money from your
family. Write down all these options, weigh their
pros and cons, and shortlist a couple of options you
may need to experiment with in the future.
These are critical decisions and thinking processes by
making roadmaps and analyses about them. This is the
power of a roadmap that you start building. After that, you
know that all of these things may be required. Now you don't
have investment but in the future, you may need them, so
you start working on them, and for them right away.

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 STEP 7: INVESTMENT

Exercise:
You need to strategize regarding your finances and for that,
work on the following:
● Current Investment: How much Investment do you
need to start?
● Future Investment: How much Investment you may
need in the future?
● Now keeping these in mind, figure out how much
money you have and can spend on pursuing the
online income stream you are interested in.
As you learn to better strategize, you also need to work on
becoming more accountable. Let’s discuss that next.

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 CHAPTER 14

STEP 8: ACCOUNTABILITY

WHO WILL MAKE YOU ACCOUNTABLE?

“Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to the

result.”
-Bob Proctor
Accountability is the next aspect you need to work on. If you
are not able to make yourself accountable about something,
you won’t tackle that task with responsibility.
Many of us often experience mood fluctuations, discipline
issues, interruptions in our work and the likes. Sometimes,
you are in the mood to work, but sometimes you are not. A
lack of accountability is the reason all such issues continue
to arise.
To go far ahead in your career, you need to become
accountable to your business and purpose in life. Now how
can you become accountable?

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 STEP 8: ACCOUNTABILITY

Can you make yourself accountable?

Accountability is a virtue you can easily inculcate in

yourself. Just focus on some important areas, and you’ll
gradually start building accountability.
● Analyze your weekly targets and activities
objectively.
● Assess how much of the work you were able to do,
tasks that are still work in progress, and those that you
haven’t started off yet.
● Next, identify your performance in all of them.
● Rate yourself in all the tasks, and you will understand
how accountable you have been, and how much more
effort you need to put in.
● You can also take the help of a supportive friend for
this task. He will serve as your accountability buddy-
someone who will keep a constant check on your
performance, advise you in areas of improvement,
encourage you when your motivation suffers a hit, and
help you stay accountable to your tasks and goals.
● You can also tie your milestones to some sort of
reward. On achieving a certain target, treat yourself to
something nice. The reward need not be something
extravagant every time. A coffee with a friend, a
picnic with family, some extra nap time, and treating

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 yourself to some chocolate can do the trick nicely too.
For bigger targets, you can have bigger rewards.
● Make sure to make regular journal entries about your
work to track your performance, monitor it, and
improvise it accordingly.

Systems Make You Accountable:

An important element that plays a role in your accountability

is the ‘system.’ Allah has created a system, a structure in this
universe. The sun cannot come before the moon and the day
cannot come before night. The universe operates
harmoniously because it is following its set system.
Like if you do freelancing, the freelancing platforms such
as Fiverr, Upwork, etc. will make you accountable. If you
don’t follow the rules and regulations and not fulfill your
commitments. You are likely to face the consequences. That
is why most of the people who work for clients outside of
these platforms don’t perform well and are not able to make
themselves accountable to deadlines. But when the same
person works for the client on these platforms they follow all
the deadlines and even try their best to satisfy the customers.
As they know it will be beneficial for their overall growth on
the platform.
Similarly, there is a system of accountability too. Some
people become more involved and responsible about their
work when they receive appreciation. Others work

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 STEP 8: ACCOUNTABILITY

dedicatedly when they have an authority figure looming on

their heads. Some people enjoy working in a challenging
environment. You need to figure out the system that works
best for you, and the one that can bring out that
‘accountability’ in you.
● Think about what makes you feel accountable to your
tasks?
● Do you need a platform wherein the platform makes you
accountable?
● Do you work best in teams?
● Is money your motivator?
● Is it easier for you to stay accountable when someone
else is working alongside you?
● Jog your memory a bit and think of the last time you
worked on a task and executed it successfully. Perhaps,
you completed an assignment in office, or maybe you
achieved your goal of losing 5 pounds in a month. What
is it that happened differently in that situation? What
made you stay accountable to your goal?
● Understand that everyone works differently. What works
for you may not work for a friend. If a certain friend has
been successful in making a decent amount of money via
freelancing, maybe that’s because he can discipline
himself to work remotely. If that does not work for you,
and you work best in teams, it is completely okay to
accept that. The more you understand and accept
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 yourself, the easier it will be for you to create the right
system that can help you grow.
● Once you identify a couple of factors that can unlock
your hidden accountability, try working on them. For
instance, if you were able to lose weight or complete an
assignment with the help of a buddy, or another
coworker, try having accountability for your new goals
too.
● Remember, it takes trial and error, and experimentation
to figure out the right elements that make up just the
perfect system for you so keep trying.
To achieve best results fast, record everything you
experience.

Other people make you accountable:

“We are the average of the five people we spend the

most time with”
-Jim Rohn
You may have heard the above quote of Jim Rohn. The main
component of this quote is that those five people are making
you accountable directly and indirectly by asking you what
have you done so far or how it is going, or sharing their own
experience about the particular things, and so on.

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 STEP 8: ACCOUNTABILITY

An important factor in becoming accountable is whether

others can make you accountable. Some of us feel
accountable to fulfill our goals due to peer pressure. When
you are surrounded by others like your friends, public,
colleagues etc. For instance, many people find it hard to stick
to a fitness routine and quit the gym after a while. However,
when they have a gym buddy- a friend who goes to the gym
with them, they become more accountable.
Similarly, when they hire a fitness instructor, they find it
easier to stick to the routine. Sometimes, our family helps us
stay accountable too because when you know they are
dependent on you, or have a desire that you wish to fulfill,
you work harder to materialize their wishes. So you need to
figure out if people help you become accountable and if
that’s the case, you need to use it to your advantage. Figure
out what kind of people keep you accountable, or give you
that much needed push to accomplish your goals.
A coach also works in the same way. He helps you set your
goals, and then keeps you accountable to them. Many times,
we don’t really need a coach to learn something new, but to
stick to our goals and become more accountable. We
sometimes do know things, but need the extra support that
nudges us to achieve our desired goals.
You do need to spend some time reflecting on how you
become accountable and then bring that factor in the
equation.

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 CHAPTER 15

STEP 9: GUIDE

WHO WILL BE YOUR GUIDE?

“It's good to learn from your mistakes.

It's better to learn from other people's mistakes.”
-Warren Buffett

You can achieve your Goal by yourself but for that, you have
to go through lots of tests and trials. Have to invest lots of
time, energy, and resources to reach your goal, and even then
it is not guaranteed that you will achieve it. However, if you
have a guide who has gone through that path or knows
someone, who goes through that path and helps you connect
with it that will be very helpful for you in your Roadmap. To
understand who you need i.e. either you need a Teacher,
Trainer, Consultant, Coach, Mentor, or Leader. We need to
understand DIKIWI Hierarchy.

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 STEP 9: GUIDE

DIKIWI Hierarchy

DIKIWI stands for data, information, knowledge, insight,

wisdom and impact. It is a hierarchy of how data transforms
into impact.
There is ‘data’ in the first image and in data there are
circles. After that, there is ‘information’ in which these
circles are colored. Next, those same circles are connected to
each other and create ‘knowledge’ which means information
when properly connected to relevant bits and pieces form
knowledge.
In the next image, you see two circles enlightened and the
image is labeled as ‘insight’. This means that only when you
use your knowledge to get a better understanding of things,

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you get insight into them. In the fifth image, a few pathways
are alight and the image is labeled as ‘wisdom’. This
translates as pieces of insight connecting to one another, and
making you wiser. Lastly, when you use your wisdom
effectively, you are able to create ‘impact’.
For example, you know that there is a sun. The sun is a
data, now information is that it releases light and knowledge
is that it also provides heat. Insight is that we can make
energy through this heat? In wisdom, the question is whether
we can make electricity through this energy? Yes, by making
solar panels. Solar panels will help you convert energy into
electricity. With electricity you can utilize this energy in
houses, cars etc. This is the power of the DIKIWI hierarchy.
Sun > Light > Heat > Energy > Solar Panel >
Electricity (House > Cars)
Now let us use this hierarchy to explain a practical
example. First, you got some data. You turn it into
information by saying you can earn money through digital
marketing, blogging, and eCommerce. Knowledge is that
graphic designing is used for earning money or through word
press and your interest is also in designing and word press.
Insight is that in designing you can use specific tools that
build up your skills. Wisdom is that if you learn a course then
you build up your work. When you learn about that course
you create an impact. Before you don’t have skills now your
skills are highly generating and help people.

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 STEP 9: GUIDE

Oftentimes, we are unable to get this clarity on our own. It

is difficult to just explore yourself and figure out our true
strengths and weaknesses on our own. On the other hand,
with a coach who is an expert at helping people better
understand themselves, this very task becomes easy.
Now the question is who do you need right now?
Download: [Link]

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130
 STEP 9: GUIDE

Who do you need?

There are few levels in a graph. The first level is a teacher.

What is the role of a teacher? As we have seen in the
hierarchy a teacher provides data. A teacher would tell you
that the sun shines in the day.
The next level is that of a trainer. What is the purpose of
the trainer? A trainer gives you information and tells you
how the sun works. A teacher guides you that an exercise
will be good for your health and the trainer guides you how
to do this exercise, the benefits of exercise and the likes.
Moving a step further, you get a consultant who helps you
connect the dots. Continuing with the example of physical
training, a consultant helps you analyze factors such as the
kind of training you need, whether or not the training is
according to your body, the kind of workout that will be
more effective for you, and the likes.
After the consultant comes the role of a coach. A coach
gives you insight and guides you about personal
development, skill enhancement and grooming so you
become a refined version of yourself and can better achieve
your goals.
The coach and mentor have a key difference: coaches
focus on improving your performance on the job as coaching
is a more performance driven thing whereas mentors focus
more on bringing out true personal development in you

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because mentors adopt a holistic approach to your growth
and career development.
Moreover, mentoring is mostly spread on a bigger stretch
of time so it is more of a long-term thing. Personal
development is an ongoing process- it carries on with your
life. It does not stop after a certain age or time. On the
contrary, coaching pertains more to achieving a certain
result, and improving your performance to achieve that
result. Once you accomplish the goal, coaching for that
particular objective ends. Hence, it is a short-term venture as
compared to mentoring.
A mentor’s job focuses more on shaping you as a better
individual so you work on your overall personality
development, and turn into someone who has unlocked his
true potential, and is capable of doing whatever he wills. As
opposed to that, a coach would focus only on bringing about
a certain improvement or two that relates to a goal. For
instance, if you hire a cricket coach to teach you how to bat,
his entire focus would be on teaching you good batting skills.
He may ask you to carry out certain exercises, eat a certain
diet and work on certain habits, but all those would directly
relate to your ability to bat. In case of a mentor, he would
make you focus on building your entire career as a batsman,
and would guide you on the right ways to become a better
professional that would require you to bring about many
lifestyle changes too.
A mentor then moves onto becoming a leader who is
someone who creates an impact. Leaders have a vision, and

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 STEP 9: GUIDE

they set out on a path to achieve that vision that usually

centers on the wellbeing and betterment of everyone. Good
leaders don’t just set out a path for you to follow, but they
guide you and help you turn into a guide for others as well.
All the guides, instructors and coaches we come across in
our lives are spread out on these 6 levels. You cannot meet
any one person who is at all the six levels at the same time.
Whether you have had a teacher or a coach or a mentor in
your life- the truth is you learn something from each one of
them.
Everyone has a different role and he helps you in his way.
So, you have to know where you stand in your journey. If
you are just starting then you need a teacher who guides you
on what online business is. After that you decide your
specific field then you hire a trainer who will help you build
the skill and after that, a consultant and a coach are required
to bring out the best in you.
Understand that depending on the level of learning and
growth you are on, you will need a different type of guide.
However, having a coach or a mentor is quite important in
life. A coach pushes you and a mentor helps you understand
your purpose in life and then fulfill it. However, the problem
with having a mentor is that you cannot always find the right
mentor easily, and even if you do, he may be far off, and not
accessible to you all the time.
On the other hand, a coach is someone with whom you can
communicate easily. He gives you two-way platforms where

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he guides you, provides you with tactics and you implement
them. After implementation, you discuss it with your coach.
To build a powerful roadmap for yourself, you need to find
a coach and mentor for yourself so you can build your
roadmap in less time, and fast-track your growth process.

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 STEP 10: STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES

CHAPTER 16

STEP 10: STRUGGLES AND

CHALLENGES

STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES YOU MAY FACE

Often, we ignore our struggles along the way that we are

likely to experience when we start pursuing our goal.
Mostly, when we set a goal, we only think of the good things
that are likely to happen. Amidst all the excitement, we
ignore the possible challenges that may come our way. Since
we don’t consider them timely, we don’t plan for them, and
when they knock on our door, we become demotivated and
quite likely will quit our goal midway.

How to figure out your challenges?

With this book, when you create your Roadmap. You’ll be

able to recognize the struggles that may come your way so
you can construct a strategic plan to combat them timely. For
instance, if you are planning a road trip, you think of the
things that may happen if your car breaks down, or when you
are going to refuel your car tank, and then you create a plan
accordingly.

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 ROADMAPER

Similarly, when you set your goal and start building a

roadmap, you need to foresee the probable challenges and
struggles you may face.

How to resolve those struggles?

Think of the roadmap you’re going to follow and analyze

your goal. Considering that, think of the various obstacles
that you may face. You can also read stories of people who
have gone on similar paths. These people could be your
friends, a mentor, or even random people online. Go through
their life experiences and learn from them. You will become
aware of possible challenges as well as ways to better handle
them.
For example, if you are going to do blogging, challenges
could be whether you will write the content yourself or hire
someone for it. What happens if you cannot rank? Would
you need some extra help for ranking your blog? What about
getting technological help? All these issues are the
challenges you will face to understand beforehand.
Identify what struggles and challenges you may face in
your Roadmap before time. And you need to prepare for it.

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 STEP 11: WORST-CASE ANALYSIS

CHAPTER 17

STEP 11. WORST-CASE ANALYSIS

WHAT CAN BE THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO?

One of the most critical parts of structuring your roadmap is

to understand and foresee the worst-case scenario. Once you
are done preparing for the roadmap and thinking of
achieving your goal, but what about when things go south?
What if you achieve more failures or those alone? You need
to think of the worst-case scenario if you follow your
respective roadmap and cannot achieve your goal for any
reason.
It is the part of life that most of the time things won’t
appear as we desire. It may be of many reasons such as:
● We are not up to the level yet.
● The environment and our circumstances won’t
support it.
● It might be that we have to learn some lessons to be
able to grow and move to the next stage.
● Perhaps, we have to go through it to find a new path
on the way.

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 ● Probably, we have to get some new friends who will
become a partner in our next ventures.
So whatever the reason for you not achieving your goal /
destination, there will be some positive side in it. There are
two ways to move: one is that you won’t prepare for it and
wait till it happens; and the second option is that you prepare
well before time so that when it happens, you have already
planned how to utilize that to your advantage.

What can be the worst-case scenario?

Analyzing and planning for the worst case scenario helps

you prepare for the setbacks, and also help you strategize to
fight for another win. Even if you don’t succeed at the first
try. You will become aware of the things you don’t have to
do the next time, and prepare for another way to achieve your
goals.
For instance, if you start a blog but aren’t successful in
monetizing it. You still have learnt about content writing,
SEO, different tools, keyword research and all that have built
and diversified your skill set. These skills help you in finding
other ways to earn a living. Your blog may fail but you have
found content writing. That is connected with your desire for
writing and that leads you to starting your freelancing career.
Which may also not grow much but that leads you to know
about copywriting and you developed your skills around it.
Which later on opens a door into a startup or business, where

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 STEP 11: WORST-CASE ANALYSIS

you got a job and that jobs pay you $5k a month. Whereas
your initial dream was to build a blog and earn $500 per
month and later on sold it for $5k.

What will happen if you are not able to reach

your destination?

Things happen to you for a reason. And you will only

understand it once you go through it with patience and do
whatever the best you can do in that situation. So never let
failure ride your head. Let it be your friend and guide to
move towards the next step. Those who take action face the
failures and learn to grow. Those who don’t take action have
nothing to gain. Those who play in the ground have the
chance to do the goal, not the ones who are sitting in the
stadium.
For instance, if I talk about myself, I have done website
flipping, affiliate marketing, digital marketing, run the
startup’s, did event management, provide the trainings,
worked on SAAS products, invested in software and tools,
did coaching and received coaching too and have done a lot
in the field of online businesses in past 15 years.
All the skills that I have built are now my assets that won’t
ever get lost, and will keep providing me with value one way
or another. This book ‘Roadmap’ is built on that.
Hence, whatever it is that you are doing, even if it doesn’t
become successful as desired, it will still pay you off if you
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adopt a positive attitude, and know how to use the learning
in the worst case scenario. Think of how you have learnt
freelancing, lead generation, different online earning media
and the likes. When you adopt a learning and can-do attitude,
your growth never stops. Even if one route did not prove to
be fruitful for you, you’re ready to take on another route and
grow better.
Say you have $5,000 saved over time and come across an
opportunity wherein you invest all your savings. Worst case
scenario in the situation is “What if all your money gets lost”
so you'll lose all your investment if the opportunity doesn’t
work out. On the other hand, someone who has $50,000
saved, and gets the same opportunity, he will invest 10% of
his funds i.e. $5,000 and even if it gets lost, he won’t feel
traumatized because he won’t lose all his investment. This is
the difference between the rich and the poor because the rich
take calculated risks and don’t bet on all their funds while
the poor don’t think that pragmatically and if they take 100%
risk, they are likely to lose 100% of their funds.
The rich never take a blind risk. They analyze situations,
and then take calculated risk according to their situation and
funds. Whenever you are thinking of investment, analyze the
worst case scenario and put in some portion of your
investment and not all your funds.
The more you fail when trying to succeed, the more you
learn. And it is part of the journey. You understand all the
different things you don’t have to do, and the things you need
to do right.

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 STEP 11: WORST-CASE ANALYSIS

I Did IT and I Am Successful.

(Note: Adding this part in the end after completing the
book).
If I talk about this book, the worst-case scenario will be the
book having poor viewership, or the book not selling at all.
But to see if that happens, this book must be published. Even
if the worst-case scenario happens, I’ll look at this entire
project as a massive learning opportunity.
During the process of writing this book. I became aware of
book writing, publishing, contacting vendors, learning about
books, understanding how audiobooks work, and how
keywords affect the book publishing process. I read and
listened to the books which were on my list for years. Just to
make this book even better, how to get ghost writing done
and much more. So in case the book doesn’t work out (your
reviews will answer that, looking forward to reading your
reviews), I feel I am already successful because the Yousaf
who started this book a few months ago have changed and
grown up as this book helped me transform while doing
research and writing it.
This is what I want for you and this book will help you
build a Roadmap that will help you achieve it. Whatever the
outcome will be, you will come out as a winner.
So, analyze what can be the worst-case scenario and how
you will convert that into your success.

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 CHAPTER 18

STEP 12. SETS OF LIFE

SEVEN SETS OF LIFE

You will be able to reach your goal / destination by

completing the above steps of Roadmap. But what If when
you reached at the top and realized that you have left
something behind or what you were looking for at the top is
at the bottom. This does happen sometime and when this
happens it will break you inside out.
This is where the last segment you need to work on is the
‘sets of life.’ I came across the sets of life in Robin Sharma’s
works and found it quite fascinating and helpful. Later, I
added a few more sets to it and turned it into the ‘7 sets of
life’. When you build your roadmap and align it with these
7 sets of life you will likely be more satisfied and fulfilled
when reached at your goal / destination.

1. Religion Set:

In a religious setting, there are different angles. Muslims will

have different boundaries, factors, angles and principles to
consider when exploring their purpose of life, and crafting
their roadmap as compared to Christians or Hindus. It is

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 STEP 12: SETS OF LIFE

important to consider your religion set, or the faith you

believe in when setting out on the journey to set and achieve
your goals. Also, if you do not believe in any particular
religion then too you need to specify the factors that affect
your goals.
Find out what will be your religion sets to work on and
keep in mind while building the Roadmap.

2. Mindset:

The 2nd element is the mindset. The mindset of the successful

and unsuccessful people are always poles apart. Those who
achieve their goals think way differently as compared to
those who procrastinate and only make castles in the air have
a completely different mindset. To become successful, you
need to build a success mindset and must think of how to
develop it.
Mind works on the data that we provide to it. If you listen
and watch the negative content your mind will start working
negatively. If you feed it with positive content, it will
flourish like a big tree which will have multiple branches
each having a fruits. What steps you take to protect your
mind and nurture it will play a vital role in your Roadmap
journey.

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3. Heart Set:

The heart set refers to the good and kind deeds we do. Such
deeds help us enjoy a personal sense of fulfillment that
brings us peace of mind. Naturally, when you feel peaceful
and happy at heart, you find it easy to pursue your goals. So
you need to ask yourself what is it that makes your heart
swell with happiness, and what are you doing to enjoy that
feeling?

4. Health Set:

What are you doing for your health set? You need to be
physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy to achieve
your goals. Hence, it is important to pay attention to your
health and different aspects of it. If you don't have good
health then all other things will fail.
Sometimes energy is more important than time. If you
have time but you don't have energy like people who reached
their retirement age have time and money, but they don't
have energy so, they are unable to do anything. That's why
energy is required. How is your health? What are you doing
for your health? What are you eating? Many times, you have
seen that when you eat junk food the next day your
productivity will be down. You have to work towards
building right health set to achieve your goals.

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 STEP 12: SETS OF LIFE

5. Environment Set:

We have talked about the environment in detail so make sure

to go through that section in Chapter 12.

6. Family Set:
Now the next is the family set. How much time are you
giving to your family? Allah has made humans as such that
they stay connected with people. All of these relations are
made to motivate a man and they will help you in your
growth and survival. Understand your equation and bond
with your family, and how much they influence you. Also,
pay attention to their role in motivating you to achieve your
goals. Are they supportive? Do you feel more inclined to do
something because of your family? These answers will better
help you in creating an environment and motivators to help
you accomplish your objectives.

7. Skills Set:

In skill sets, you require different types of skills for your road
map. There are two major types of skills: soft and hard skills.
Soft skills encompass skills like communication, behavior,
and attitude. Hard skills are your work skills that demand
technical knowledge and understanding. A combination of
hard and soft skills are required to accomplish your goals.

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 These are the 7 sets of life. You can reach your goals and
destinations without them. But if you build your roadmap
around these sets of life. You will feel more satisfied and
fulfilled when you reach your desired goal/destination.

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 ROADMAP FRAMEWORK: SUMMARY

SUMMARY OF SECTION 2

There are 12 steps in the roadmap creation framework. When

you follow this it will make your roadmap powerful and
effective. There will be more chances to achieve this goal.
● Using the 5Y and 5Q strategy, figure out your
purpose and goal in life.
● Make sure you have a SMART goal in place.
● Distinguish between your needs and wants so you
know your necessities and then the things you want
out of a certain desire.
● Understand the driver that motivates you to pursue
that goal, and the vehicle you plan on taking to
achieve it.
● Also analyze the time you’ll need to work on that
goal, and whether you have the means to buy other
people’s time and engage them in your project.
● There are three kinds of skills: basic, income and high-
income skills. Figure out the kind of skill set you have
right now, and how you need to polish it to take it to
the next level.
● Focus on creating the right environment for yourself
that is conducive to productivity and the fulfillment of
your goal. Pay attention to your habits, consistency,

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 discipline, and achievements to build the right
environment.
● Figure out what makes you accountable and then use
those elements to become more responsible towards
your purpose and goal.
● There are different kinds of guides available; figure
out the kind you need according to the level you are
on, and the level you need to reach. Analyze how a
teacher, trainer, consultant, coach, mentor, and leader
work and figure out what kind of guide you need.
● Be prepared for the struggles and challenges you’re
likely to face on the journey including the worst-case
scenario. Plan for them ahead of time so they don’t
debilitate your confidence much.
● There are 7 important sets of life: religion, mindset,
heart, health, family, environment, and skills. Figure
out the set or sets that impact you and your life the most
so you use them well to motivate you towards
achieving your goal.
It is crucial to follow these guidelines to move further
towards your goal.

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 TIME TO GIVE BACK

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just
help other people get what they want.”
-Zig Ziglar

When we help others in return nature help us. When we give

to others nature rewards us with more. Giving is the most
powerful concept that can help you achieve anything in life.
If you have read the book so far and got the value out of
it. I believe you are also a giver, like me giving and sharing
my learnings and experiences with you.
If you are like us, I have an ask for you or I would say
someone in the world is waiting for you. Share what have
you got from this book. People judge a book by its cover (it’s
reviews). If you have found this book valuable thus far,
would you please take a brief moment right now and leave
an honest review about its contents? It will cost you zero
rupees and few seconds.
Your review will help….
….one more entrepreneur support his or her family.
….one more employee find work they find meaningful.

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 ….one more client experience a transformation they
otherwise would never have encountered.
...one more life change for the better.
You can give review at any place you feel comfortable.
You can do it on Amazon, Audible, our Fanpage
(Roadmaper), at your social media accounts, at your
Youtube channel, at your blog or whatever the medium suits
you.
I sincerely hope and pray that your generosity of sharing
in the form of the review would come back to you and open
many doors for you. Let the wonders happen for you.
Maybe you are able to explain some point better or may
be the example you share in your review connects with
someone and he read the book and his/her life may be
transformed.
Thanks for the honest review and helping our cause of
lifting others together.

Your biggest supporter,

Yousaf

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 ROADMAP SPEED BOOSTERS

SECTION THREE:
ROADMAP SPEED BOOSTERS

Roadmap speed boosters will amplify your speed and help

you reach your destination fast. You can use one or more of
them.

1. Burning Desire:

This refers to the undying passion you have for a certain

goal. When you have a burning desire, you are willing to do
whatever it takes to achieve a goal. You don’t keep any other
options open for you because that one thing you are focused
on means everything to you. This also prepares you to take
on any challenge that comes your way. People who quit
midway on a journey often do that because of a lack of
burning desire.
For instance, someone who has had a heart attack once
would have the burning desire to prevent it and will live
healthy so he avoids having a cardiac arrest. For that person,
his health would become everything for him because only if
he stays healthy, he will live. In order to live, he will leave

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all the unhealthy activities, things and habits he once had,

and practice a healthy lifestyle instead.
You can create your burning desire artificially too. This is
usually done by creating an external pressure for yourself.
For instance, you want to invest in real estate, but short of
$50,000, you take out a loan and put an extra pressure on
yourself. It will be more of a burden for you and will
indirectly create an inner desire in you to work hard to repay
the loan. To do that either you will increase your income or
lower down your expenses. Either way, you got to work. If
you hadn’t taken a loan, you would not really feel that
pressure and accountability to earn $50,000 extra.
Now, I want you to do something. Think of what your
burning desire is? If you have a set goal in mind, why is it
that you want to passionately follow through with it? If you
don’t have a burning desire yet, think of how you can create
a burning desire for yourself?

2. Unfair Advantage:

An unfair advantage refers to the added advantage you have

in a certain situation over another person. All of us have one
or the other unfair advantage in the situation we are in, and
leveraging it is very crucial to leap towards our goal.
For instance, the high dollar rate gives Pakistanis an unfair
advantage. The expenses are less as compared to those living
in the US, hence $500 would be of more worth to them than

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someone living and earning in the US. Similarly, if you live

in Lahore, or another metropolitan city of Pakistan, you are
likely to have access to better infrastructure including
electricity, internet connection and the likes as compared to
someone living in a remote area or village. You will find it
easy to explore ways to earn online as compared to someone
else who doesn’t have a computer or internet access.
Let’s see the unfair advantage from another angle.
Someone who did his MBA from a prestigious university has
an unfair advantage over another individual who did his
MBA from any other local university. The former would
have a better chance at bagging a job as compared to the
latter.
Oftentimes, those who lack an unfair advantage feel
envious of those who do have it. The truth is having an unfair
advantage is never a bad thing. All of us have it in one or the
other way. We just need to find it out and play it to our
strengths. For instance, your friend may not have studied in
an A-list school like you do, but he is being from a remote
village may get into a good college based on the quota
system and reserved seats for certain areas. That’s his unfair
advantage over you. On the other hand, you may have
excellent communication skills that help you do well in
interviews unlike him, and that’s your unfair advantage over
him.
Take some time to reflect on the different factors that can
be your unfair advantage. Perhaps you have a degree in a
subject that can be monetized? Maybe you already have
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worked under the guidance of someone who can help launch

your online career? What about the savings you have that
can be used as an investment for your blogging career?
Keeping in mind your goal, think of the unfair advantages
you have, but have been ignoring so far. Write them down,
and ponder on how you can utilize them to give your career
a good jumpstart.

3. Power of 4x:

The ‘Power of 4X’ refers to having four extremely important

people in your circle: mentor, coach, peer, and follower. You
need to surround yourself with these 4 kinds of people to
help you better achieve your goal. Now let us look at how all
these 4 people impact you.
A mentor is someone who has already achieved the goal
you wish to achieve, or something on the same lines. Having
a mentor is crucial because he can guide you in detail about
the ins and outs of the route you’re taking, can educate you
about the right path, and inform you of the roadblocks you
must avoid along with tips on how to do so.
Having a coach is crucial because he can guide you and
helps bring out the best version in you. So, a coach polishes
you, and helps you do the needful to achieve your desired
goal.

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 ROADMAP SPEED BOOSTERS

A peer is someone at your stage and can keep you

accountable. The more accountable you are towards your
goal, the better you will follow through with your roadmap.
Followers are people who look up to you. Having
followers is important because your followers and fans
inspire you to do even better. Plus, they look at you to learn
so when you teach them, you grow better.
Together, with these four people, you can create the right
ecosystem of growth for yourself. All these 4 types of people
have more or less the same goal as yours and keep you
accountable towards it.
For instance, if you are a WordPress developer, your
mentor would probably be someone who is considered to be
an expert in the world of WordPress development and
freelancing. Your coach would probably be someone who is
working in the field of WordPress and is ready to guide you
about how to do well in it. He may not yet have achieved as
much fame as the mentor but has enough skill and
knowledge to guide you. Your peer would be someone who
has just ventured into the field of WordPress and is trying to
strive to make a career out of it like you. Your followers
could be BSCS students of the first or second semester in
your college who too want to do freelancing as a WordPress
developer and seek guidance from you.
*Beware: Sometimes, it so happens that you stumble a lot
and are unable to achieve your target not because you don’t
have a coach or a mentor, but because you have too many of

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them. Remember the old age adage: too many cooks spoil
the broth? Well, that holds true in this scenario too. When
you have too many coaches for instance, you are likely to get
confused by the barrage of advice and strategies that come
your way. Naturally, when you are too confused, you meet
dead ends too often, and unfortunately never reach the
desired destination.
Hence, the key to tactfully exploit the Power of 4X is to
have one mentor and coach, a couple of peers and a handful
of followers. Having too many followers is great, but not if
they require you to teach them on a one-on-one basis because
in that case, you will not have enough time to work on your
plan. However, if you are a teacher in a college, that’s a
different scenario.
Now that you have analyzed the importance of the ‘Power
of 4X’, you need to see whether or not you have these 4
people in your life. Perhaps, you may have realized who your
peer is, and you may even have a follower, but still lack a
coach or a mentor. Maybe, you have a mentor, but fall short
in finding the other 3 people in your social circle. It is okay
in every case, even if you don’t have these 4 kinds of people
in your circle right away. But the goal should be to find these
people and surround yourself with them. So assess your
social circle, and see if there are people who can fall in any
of these categories, and then check if they serve the
necessary purpose. If not, you need to keep looking for a
coach, mentor, peer(s) and followers.

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If you need a business coach, who can help you build your
Roadmap and guide you in implementing the roadmap to
achieve success in your business. You can connect with me
at [Link]

4. Opportunity Potential:

During your journey, you will come across many

experiences, some of them will be clear and direct
opportunities whereas some will have the potential of being
an opportunity. The former will be evident to you while the
latter will be in disguise.
You need to inculcate in yourself the ability to analyze the
different opportunities that come your way. Analyzing them
is crucial because only when you identify the right
opportunity at the right time, you can exploit it the right way.
You may not know the full potential of an opportunity until
you grasp hold of it. Perhaps, you are offered to teach
freelancing pro bono to a group of 20,000+ newbie
freelancers. You feel like taking the option but are worried
about how much time it will consume. However, if you
analyze this opportunity tactfully, you will realize that the
exposure to such a large community will increase your fan
following, help you practice what you already know, hone
your skill more, and also attract more clientele.
When analyzing opportunities, do keep in mind its scope.
Is it something that promises a big return, but is short-lived?
Or is it something that doesn’t look too promising right
away, but can become huge in the long run? Sometimes, you

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need to utilize a short-term opportunity even if it's transitory

because it has the possibility of giving you a decent
jumpstart. On the other hand, some short-term opportunities
only look glamorous, but aren’t fruitful really. The same
holds true for long-term opportunities.
Take your time in assessing the potential an opportunity
holds. Once again, a coach will be helpful in making that
assessment with you.

5. Stay on the Road:

Possibly you are thinking how staying on the road aka

sticking to your chosen path is a booster. First, let me
describe what staying on the road truly means. When you
start pursuing any goal, you are likely to come across some
obstacles, some shortcuts, some detours and some dead ends
or U-turns.
Now what happens mostly is that we feel demotivated in
the instance of obstacles. We feel there isn’t a way out and
our path is blocked so we are likely to give up. When we see
shortcuts and detours, we jump to choose them because they
seem like an easy option instead you need to focus on the
road you are traveling. You may see shortcuts and be
tempted to see them, but these shortcuts are often
misleading. Shortcuts are usually diversions.
Staying on the road means you stick to the path you started
on. Instead of giving up, losing hope, quitting midway and

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feeling demotivated, you keep moving on the chosen road.

However, it is very important that you analyze the situation,
the problem at hand and stick to the road you have picked
even if it is long and full of hurdles. If you have clarity on
the path, it will lead you to the end destination. Hence,
picking the right path in the beginning is paramount to your
success. If you have clarity on your end destination, and
choose the path accordingly, you must stick to it. It may be
long, twisted and even difficult, but it will eventually lead
you to your desired goal.
Right here, visualize the goal you wish to achieve and then
think of the path you wish to take. Do you get an answer as
to what road you should choose? Is it clear or blur? Write
down your findings and keep building on them till you can
see a clear path that you can stick to for the long haul.

6. Focus on One:

The ability to focus on one thing instead of trying to do too

many things at once is a huge gift. Some people naturally
have that talent, while others have to work on themselves to
build this particular habit. It is considered an important speed
booster because your focus determines what you do and who
you become. With a divided sense of focus, you aren’t able
to give any one task your 100% effort. Naturally, if you are
working with 20% focus, attention and energy on 5 tasks at
a time, the results will be around 10 to 20% too, sometimes
even less because your energy will deplete too soon. You

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cannot expect even 50% results let alone 100% by only

investing 20% of your focus to a task.
Now imagine how the scenario will instantly change if you
were to give your complete, 100%, undivided attention to the
most important task on your to-do list. Obviously the results
will be nothing short of great because you are fully focused
on it. The more you are focused, the less likely you are to
make mistakes, and the higher will be your productivity.
That’s how ‘focusing on one thing’ boosts your progress
while following your roadmap.
When you start your roadmap journey, you need to focus
on one path at a time. Often people pick a path and then start
multiple things. For instance, you start an agency but you
also start your own branding, freelancing. These are all
related but when you focus on multiple things, your energy
gets divided and you are unable to focus on one goal and
achieve it.
Now what you need to do right now is to think if you are
focusing on any one thing right now? It could be anything:
your job, your side hustle or anything else. If the answer is
no, you need to ponder on the reason behind this divided
attention. Why are you so distracted? Keep digging into the
matter till you reach the root cause and figure out what’s
bothering you.
Once you have an answer or even a cluster of answers,
you’ll realize how your focus has been so scattered. At this
point, I want you to think of the goal you wish to achieve,

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keep it in view and tell yourself that you will focus on it and
it alone. Do that daily, and gradually focusing on the ‘one
thing’ will become easier for you. Focus comes from clarity.

7. Difficulty Level:

Dream big they say because it is only when you dream big
that you’re able to manifest those dreams. I completely agree
with this notion. That said, when it comes to choosing a goal
and a path, you need to analyze its difficulty level. Every
goal has a different difficulty level, and you may not always
be at the point to adjust to that level.
Let me make this clearer with an example. For a minute
think you are just launching yourself as a marketing coach
who offers digital marketing online. Right now, you are on
a stage where you are just starting out with your new venture.
If you wish to acquire an existing online marketing
company, it will be highly difficult and nearly impossible for
you to do so. The difficulty level of this particular path will
be too high for you, probably 90 on a scale of 1 to 100 with
100 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.
You probably won’t have enough investment to acquire;
will also be lacking the leadership skills to manage a big
team, and may not have enough wins to your credit to
convince the other company to trust you. If you don’t get the
acquisition, you are likely to feel demotivated and quit your
goal altogether.

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This explains why most people quit their goals midway

because they choose a difficulty level they are not ready for
yet. It is good to challenge yourself, but too many challenges
too early on in the journey tend to be overwhelming and
scary. Hence, always choose a difficulty level you can adjust
to easily. As you progress along the way, you can increase
the difficulty level.
While it is important not to pick a very tough level, it is
equally important not to go too easy on yourself as well. The
instant you go too easy, you get comfortable and once you
enter your comfort zone, your growth instantly stops. What
to do then? Pick a moderately difficult level so you neither
get too comfortable, nor too scared.
Considering the path you are on right now, or the path you
wish to pick, assess its difficulty level. Is it doable for you?
Or is it too easy? Or perhaps way too tough? Can you do it
or do you think it is too scary for you to dip your toes into?

8. Scalability:

Similar to the ‘difficulty level’, scalability is another

roadmap booster that can do wonders to your overall growth.
It refers to the ability to grow over a certain time period.
Certain paths and ideas are scalable while others may not
have a high growth potential. In order to accelerate your
momentum on your roadmap journey, you must look for
scalable options.

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Scalable options are quite promising. When you see

yourself growing 2x than the growth projection you had in
mind, your motivation automatically increases. This is how
scalability boosts your progress. In order to leverage its
power, you need to choose scalable options. If something
isn’t scalable, it may not fulfill your desired goals. For
instance, a building can only handle two storeys, but if you
build a plaza on it, it may fall and create a setback. Similarly,
you need to figure out a scalable path for you, and then stick
to it.
Now you need to assess whether or not your desired
pathway has the potential to scale up. Can you see yourself
growing 5x or 10x in another 5 years while sticking to that
path? If yes, what is the particular element in it that makes it
scalable? If the answer is no, why are you still on it?

9. Power of Unknown:

This is one of the core fundamental principles of making

your roadmap work. Before explaining that, I want you to
think about the faith you have in Almighty Allah. You
cannot see Him, but you can feel His presence inside your
heart. You know He is always looking out for you, and when
you make a prayer, you feel that innate connection with him.
When you leave everything on Him, and beseech Him for
help, you know everything will eventually work out. Right?
This is the power of the unknown. This is the power of faith.

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And this is the power that keeps you going even in the
toughest of times.
This is exactly what the power of the unknown means. You
have faith in Allah because you know He can do it all. You
trust Him with all your heart, and this trust keeps you
moving.
In the same manner, you need to believe in the power of
the roadmap you’ll structure. Belief is one of the strongest
emotions in the universe. When you truly believe in
something, you know it will happen. Similarly, you need to
believe that your roadmap will work, and it will take you
towards your desired goal.
I understand that sometimes it is tough to believe in things
you cannot see. You can’t see your dreams coming to reality
yet, so it is difficult to believe in them. This is where you
have to use the power of imagination, and picture yourself
achieving your goals using your roadmap.
You cannot know everything beforehand. But if you
follow your roadmap effectively, you can start your journey.
If you keep waiting for the time when you’ll know
everything, believe me you’ll never get started. That’s not
what you want right? In that case, you need to have faith in
the roadmap and go on.
For that, I want you to ask yourself if you truly believe in
yourself, your capabilities and your potential. Do you?
Because only when you believe that you can do whatever it

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is that you want, that you will have the strength to believe in
your roadmap and the power of the unknown.

10. Flow with the market:

Ever observed water flowing in a stream? It keeps on moving

despite all the rocks that come its way. Even if the stream is
on a terrain, it makes its way and flows on. It somehow finds
its way even when there is no specific path to flow on.
‘Flowing with the market’ is almost the same, and if you
inculcate this ability in yourself, you will certainly boost
your progress manifold. Basically, this means you need to
adapt to the industry you are in along with all its trends and
happenings. For instance, if you are into marketing, and you
notice how digital marketing is trending, you could start
learning about digital marketing and start providing digital
marketing services.
The ability to flow with the market gives you an edge over
your competitors. Instead of moving side by side with them,
you stay one step ahead which ultimately gives you an upper
hand over them.
Analyze your roadmap and see if the goal/destination you
want to achieve is aligned with the market flow or not, if it's
aligned with the market flow you will reach your desired
destination fast.

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11. Emotions vs. Action:

Many entrepreneurs don't handle their emotions well. In any

intense situation, they find themselves giving into the
impulse urges. In fact, this holds true for all of us. We find it
easy to lose our temper in a traffic jam instead of staying
calm and finding a way out of the packed road. Every time,
an unexpected, extra pressure comes our way, we give into
the problem instead of looking for ways to fix it. The truth is
reacting emotionally never gets you too far on the road. The
same applies to the corporate world. Businesses are not built
on emotions. They are built on taking the right actions.
Instead of being emotional, you need to focus on taking
meaningful and powerful action.
Imagine a scenario for a few moments. Think that you are
running a successful blog, but after a recent Google update,
you find its rankings dropping really low. You start losing
on the traffic you built over the past year. This tense situation
worries you. Now that you are in hot water, you become
impatient and may stop regular posting altogether. This is an
emotional reaction. While it may be easy to act this way, this
emotional reaction won’t solve your problems.
On the contrary, if you respond to the situation by carefully
analyzing the recent update and create an action plan to
overcome the setback, you are quite likely to get your
website back in the game. Your rankings will slowly
improve, and your lost traffic will return. This is how

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responding to the situation and taking careful and well-

structured action changes the game for you.

What you need to do right now is to analyze if you work

on emotions or actions. Think of any difficult situation you
were once in, and how you handled it. Were you emotionally
charged at that time, and gave into an impulse urge? Or were
you focused on mitigating the issue, and had a powerful
action plan in hand to handle it? Yes, one cannot make an
action plan right away, but even if you did not react to the
situation and took a moment to think of how you could
resolve the mess, that in itself is taking a meaningful action.
Analyze your current go-to mechanism in difficult times
and then create a series of actionable steps for your roadmap.

12. Sunk Cost:

The sunk cost is the cost you’ll have to bear if something

does not go well. There will be some investments that won’t
really yield any ROI. You need to analyze where to invest,
and where not to. If you are thinking of following a certain
online career path, identify the sunk cost associated with it.
Is it worth an investment or not? For that, it is important to
conduct a thorough market analysis related to that field.
Knowing the sunk cost attached with a certain field/
pathway is important because it can help you save a great

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deal of time, investment, and energy. If you have analyzed

the sunk cost of a career path and know it won’t bear you
any fruit in the long run, you’ll know that you need to let go
of it and find a better substitute.
This happens mostly when you are stuck in your business
and unable to move forward. Analyze the activities you are
doing and find out if you are incurring sunk cost or not.

13. Compounding:

Compounding refers to something growing bigger and better

over time. If something has the ability to compound over
time, it is likely to yield great results for you. One thing
becomes 2x then 4x and so on.
For instance, if you are a successful freelancer who is
earning over $2,000 a month, you could now start teaching
people. This creates a compounding effect for you because
you get good word of mouth, are likely to get clients, build
social networks and so on.
In the same manner, you need to find out the things in your
roadmap that can produce a compounding effect: things that
yield more results. Compounding elements may not be
everywhere, but wherever you can find it, go ahead for it.
Right now, assess the pathway you have in mind, and try
to locate any activity or task in it that could produce a
compounding effect for you.

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14. Timing:

The timing of your activities and initiatives plays a very

crucial role in determining their success. For instance,
starting a restaurant in the northern areas of Pakistan right
now may not be very profitable since the areas are affected
due to heaving flooding.
Let’s take another example. Covid-19 brought forth a very
crucial time for the entire world. Many businesses collapsed
and ended completely in that time. However, the concept of
home chefs spread like wildfire in that time. People still
needed to eat and FoodPanda saw Covid-19 as an
opportunity in disguise. It provided a good opportunity for
home chefs and gave them many incentives that encouraged
them to sell their food via FoodPanda. Home chefs knew that
the particular time was a good point to start their career, and
that’s how many of them achieved great success.
Following suit of that, you too need to see whether or not
you are venturing into a certain field at the right time. No, I
am not saying you need to wait for the perfect time to do
something because perfect timing is a myth. However, you
do need to analyze the market and see if its current trends
will support your venture.
Conduct a thorough market analysis in reference to the
online career you are interested in. See if the timing right
now is favorable for your venture.

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15. Collaboration/ Collaborate:

Collaboration refers to joining hands with others instead of

doing everything in your own silo. Collaboration creates
synergy that has immense power.
Remember the story of how an old man takes a bunch of
sticks and shows his son how that bunch is unbreakable as
compared to a single stick? When he hands his son a single
stick, he can easily break it. However, when he gives him a
bunch of sticks, he cannot break them at all. He then goes on
to explain to his son the power of unity and joining forces
with the right sort.
You need to start doing the same. Instead of seeing your
competitors as competition, see them as collaborators. Try
to join hands with them and leverage their strengths and
provide them with some benefits. This exchange of benefits
will yield humongous growth for all of you.
Keeping in view your roadmap and career pathway, think
of the different individuals and organizations you can join
forces with and enter into powerful collaborations with.

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16. Leverage:

Leveraging is similar to collaboration to a certain extent.

However, it also encompasses figuring out the factors that
you can leverage such as finances, HR, technical stuff etc.
In any given situation, there are certain things you can
leverage on. For instance, if you are going out for groceries
and the electrician is on the same route, you could drop by
and have him fix your iron that has been broken for weeks.
Instead of doing it separately at another time, you leverage
the fact that both the supermarket and the electrician are on
the same route, and get both tasks done on your way.
Similarly, if you run a digital marketing agency and get an
opportunity to teach in an academic institution, you could
leverage that opportunity by taking that offer. Think of how
you can spread the word about your digital marketing
company among your potential students and may end up
finding good resources for your firm.
Plus, you will also indirectly market your company and
increase its fan following in the market. Moreover, you may
meet part-time professors who are also entrepreneurs and
seeking good digital marketing agencies for their brands. As
a result, you may find some great clients.
To cut the story short, there is always one or the other thing
that you can leverage in every situation. Now the question
arises: have you figured out what you need to leverage in
your situation, and if yes, how are you leveraging it?

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17. Community and Network:

In Islam, the concept of community is extremely strong.

Muslims are encouraged to pray together as a unit in the
mosque so they get a chance to talk to one another, know
each other’s problems and help each other in the test of time.
Likewise, having a community around you and by your
side can help you immensely in your career. If you are a
social media marketer, think of how much you can grow if
you publicize the word about your work directly or indirectly
in a community of around 10,000 people.
You may be aware of the group ‘Eat Sleep Repeat’ on
Facebook. Any time a member of the community visits a
restaurant, he posts it there and that’s how other members
learn of good restaurants. Marketers of restaurants see this
as an opportunity to grow, and create positive word of mouth
in the group so more people visit their restaurant.
You too need to find a community or a group of
communities you can leverage. Instead of starting a new
community afresh, you can create the buzz about your work
in an already established and grown community. However,
when it comes to growing in a community and leveraging its
power, you need to first provide value to its members. So if
you want people in a Facebook group to follow you and visit
your website, you need to first provide them with valuable

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tips and tricks pertaining to freelancing, or whatever it is that

you do.
Right now, think of the existing communities on social
media and the internet that you can exploit. If you don’t
know of any yet, research on them.

18. Second (2nd) Order Consequence:

It is an important factor to understand that can really boost

your speed while following your roadmap. You need to think
of what consequences, side-benefits or advantages that can
come out of a decision when making it and tie it with
increasing your speed on your roadmap journey.
Let me explain it better with an example. For example, you
have $1000 and want to spend it on something. You decide
to buy a TV or LCD for $1000. Its second order consequence
is that you bought a TV and now you will watch for
entertainment that wastes your time. On the other hand, if
you buy a laptop with these $1000 then you will be able to
watch something useful like watching an informative tutorial
and can use it to start your freelancing journey and start your
side hustle. If your roadmap is about freelancing, the second
order consequence of buying a laptop is more beneficial and
supportive for your roadmap as compared to buying a TV.
If you think about second-order consequences, then you
will be different in making your decisions. So whatever it is
that you are deciding, be it related to your habits or roadmap,
keep its second order consequence in mind and make the

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decision accordingly. Your goal should be to boost your

speed and that happens best when the second order
consequence of your decision is harmonious with your
roadmap and goal.

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 HELP STAGE

SUMMARY OF SECTION 3

● Roadmap speed boosters will amplify your speed and

help you reach your destination fast.
● A burning desire is the undying passion you have for a
certain goal. When you have a burning desire, you are
willing to do whatever it takes to achieve a goal.
● An unfair advantage refers to the added advantage you
have in a certain situation over another person. All of us
have one or the other unfair advantage in the situation
we are in and leveraging it is very crucial in order to
leap toward our goal.
● The ‘Power of 4X’ refers to having four extremely
important people in your circle: mentor, coach, peer,
and follower. You need to surround yourself with these
4 kinds of people to help you better achieve your goal.
● During your journey, you will come across many
experiences, some of them will be clear and direct
opportunities whereas some will have the potential of
being an opportunity.
● Staying on the road means you stick to the path you
started on. Instead of giving up, losing hope, quitting
midway, and feeling demotivated, you keep moving on
the chosen road.

175
● The ability to focus on one thing instead of trying to do
too many things at once is a huge gift. When you start
your roadmap journey, you need to focus on one path at
a time.
● Analyze the difficulty level of the path you’re stepping
on. It is good to challenge yourself, but too many
challenges too early on in the journey tend to be
overwhelming and scary. Hence, always choose a
difficulty level you can adjust to easily.
● Similar refers to the ability to grow over a certain time
period. Certain paths and ideas are scalable while others
may not have a high growth potential. In order to
accelerate your momentum on your roadmap journey,
you must look for scalable options.
● The ‘power of unknown’ is one of the core fundamental
principles of making your roadmap work. You need to
believe in the power of the roadmap you’ll structure.
Belief is one of the strongest emotions in the universe.
When you truly believe in something, you know it will
happen. Similarly, you need to believe that your
roadmap will work, and that it will take you toward
your desired goal.
● ‘Flowing with the market’ is another speed booster and
if you inculcate this ability in yourself, you will
certainly boost your progress manifold. Basically, this
means you need to adapt to the industry you are in
along with all its trends and happenings.
 HELP STAGE

● Analyze if you react to emotions, or are you focused on

the action because for you to succeed in achieving your
goal, you need to do the latter. This also boosts your
progress and hence is an important speed booster.
● The sunk cost is the cost you’ll have to bear if
something does not go well. There will be some
investments that won’t really yield any ROI. You need
to analyze where to invest, and where not to.
● Compounding refers to something growing bigger and
better over time. If something has the ability to
compound over time, it is likely to yield great results
for you.
● The timing of your activities and initiatives plays a very
crucial role in determining their success. Make sure to
assess the timing of your initiatives to plan them well.
● Collaboration refers to joining hands with others
instead of doing everything in your own silo.
Collaboration creates a synergy that has immense
power.
● Leveraging is similar to collaboration to a certain
extent. However, it also encompasses figuring out the
factors that you can leverage such as finances, HR,
technical stuff, etc.
● You too need to find a community or a group of
communities you can leverage. Instead of starting a

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 new community afresh, you can create buzz about your
work in an already established and grown community.
● You need to think of what consequences, side-benefits,
or advantages can come out of a decision when making
it, and tie it with increasing your speed on your
roadmap journey. This is known as the second-order
consequence and is an important factor to assess in
order to boost your speed along the journey.
Find out how many of these boosters can you currently
make use of or utilize along the journey to escalate your
progress.
 ROADMAP IMPLEMENTATION STAGES

SECTION FOUR:
ROADMAP IMPLEMENTATION
STAGES

Roadmap Framework Implementation

Overview:

Should I add this part to this book or not? This is the question
that I was wondering about for many months. Because I
know that implementation is the hardest part. That is why
before writing this book I was working on building a
Roadmap platform. I did the research, created the Platform
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wireframe, and did some surveys with the potential users of

the platform before building it. While doing the survey I
came to know that most of the people are not aware of the
importance of Roadmap, such as:
● What is a Roadmap?
● How does it work?
● How can they implement it in their business or life?
● Why would someone come to your Platform?
● Who are you to teach about Roadmap?
That gave birth to the idea of writing this book. Hopefully
this book serves the purpose, and you will be able to get the
value out of it and understand the importance of Roadmap
and will be able to use it in your life and business. So, with
your support we will be able to build the Roadmap platform
that will serve you better in achieving your goals. You can
find more details about the roadmap platform at
[Link]

Minimum Viable Roadmap (MVR):

Roadmap Framework Implementation has six stages one has

to go through in order to grow bigger and better, and achieve
complete financial independence. We have created a
Minimum Viable Roadmap (MVR) for each stage. Where
we will discuss the core action you need to take at each step
of a Roadmap.

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 HELP STAGE

Characteristics of each stage

Download: [Link]

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Roadmap Framework Implementation Stages

Download: [Link]

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 HELP STAGE

1. Help Stage
How to go from Zero to 5 Figures
Income < Expenses
Core Focus on Skill Building and Selling the Skill

This is the very first stage of the process and one that all of
us go through and must go through. This stage is usually
spread over 1 to 2 years in terms of an online career.
At this stage, people have low income, and their expenses
surpass their current income. The characteristics of people at
this stage include the following:
● More time at hand: Since, most people at this stage
are barely earning, they have more free time at their
disposal.
● Little to no skill: Since people at this stage are barely
starting out with earning, they don’t have any skill
really.
● Few good habits: Discipline is amiss in the lives of
these people as they still have to figure out what they
need to do to make things meet. Along with that,
there are mostly many good habits they need to work
on.

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● Low accountability: Naturally as they don’t have a

sense of purpose and goal, the accountability level is
quite low as well.
● Little to no experience: As the majority of people at
this stage haven’t done any job or business really, they
don’t have much experience in that area.
Those at this stage can be divided into two categories:
people with low income and those with no income.

People with No Income:

The major chunk of people at this stage are those who have
yet to get a job but have family support.
If you belong to this category, you need to start finding
some sort of medium to earn a living. At this stage, your
driver is survival, and mostly the vehicle you use or can use
to drive yourself towards survival is doing a job. Freelancing
too is a good option. If some sort of funds can be arranged,
maybe doing a small-scale business is possible.
The goal is to start earning something, be it just $50 or
$100 because delaying this process more will only increase
your expenses and burden. So whatever opportunity you get
to keep your kitchen running, go for it.
Moreover, you should also focus on getting some sort of
skill that can be monetized. Since you are just starting on
your journey to earn an income, you have time to learn a

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 HELP STAGE

skill. Focus on learning a hard skill at this point such as

graphic designing, video editing, bookkeeping and the likes.
Doing a short course is a beneficial option at this point.
If your family is supporting you and providing you with
basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing etc., you
have the ease to enroll in a course that can help you learn a
skill. Understand that this support won’t be forever; it is
more like a golden opportunity at this time that you should
leverage. You are still at the survival stage because you
cannot be dependent on your family or whoever is
supporting you for good. Earning money isn’t a want for you
right now, but more of a need.
Moreover, if you are a student, concentrate well on your
studies and make good use of this time so you can build a
career with ease. You need to be accountable to yourself
because at this stage, you need to pick up yourself and move.
Accountability can also be induced with the help of a friend,
a family member, a teacher so figure out who or what can
make you accountable and use that factor to become more
responsible.
The guides you need at this stage are teacher and trainer
because you need to learn things at this stage.

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 ROADMAPER

People with Less Income:

If you are at this stage, your income is less, and expenses are
more than what you earn. You are likely to have some sort
of experience, and probably a basic-level skill.
Your goal should be to increase your income so you can
meet all your current expenses. The core focus should be on
finding out how to generate more income and learning new
and high income skills in the time you get after your job or
whatever it is that you’re doing to earn an income.
Also before doing that, find ways to earn more through
your current profession. Perhaps, work for a promotion in
your job. If you are running a business, maybe work on
another product or venture in a new market. Make your
income, expenses sheet, conduct a detailed comparison
between the two and look for ways to cut back on some
expenses so you can start saving money.
You can also take some training, learn better skills and
advance towards a better salary in your job. Or if you’re
doing your business, you can hire a business developer to get
more clients. There are different things you need to try to see
how to increase your income in your current profession.
Next, think of how you can utilize your extra time left from
that profession and do some side hustle. Find out how your
experience can help you amplify your income. Work on your
side hustle using that angle. Probably, you’ll need to learn a
new skill, work on learning and practicing it.

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 HELP STAGE

You need a teacher and trainer at this stage. If you work

well on this stage, you can move from the help stage and go
to the build stage.
At this stage, you just have to get started. It is only when
you do something, you can figure out whether or not this is
the right skill/ path for you.
Just think of if that thing can give you money or not. If you
think you should do Bykea or become Uber driver, just do it.

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 2. Build Stage

How to go from 5 Figures to 6 Figures

Income > Expenses
Core Focus on Team, System, and Process Building with a
long-term approach

This is the second stage one advances on after he grows from

the help stage. This stage is usually spread over 3 to 4 years.
The characteristics of people at this stage include:
● Income is equal to expenses: Since you are earning
better than before, you can meet your expenses. In
some instances, your income may be a little more
than your expenses. The people at this stage have
their necessities covered, and now want to do a bit
more to earn better.
● Some skill set: Since people at this stage are
earning income, it is probably due to a job or a
business, or some sort of online medium, they have
some skills.
● Some good habits: Similarly, they have some good
habits too such as waking up on time, working on

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 BUILD STAGE

certain hours, blocking distractions etc.

● Some experience: Due to working professionally,

people at this stage have some experience.
● Are accountable: Accountability also starts
pouring in their lives since they work and have to
do it consistently to make ends meet. However, the
accountability level is yet to bloom more.
● Urge to earn more: They wish to earn between
$1000 and $10,000.
If you are at this stage, you can relate to the character
sketch drawn above. Since your goal is to grow your income,
you need to focus on finding an extra way of increasing your
finances. Also, you have some time at your hands to do a
side hustle. Your driver again at this stage is money, and the
Vehicle can be freelancing, blogging etc.
Most of the people here are solopreneurs. Your focus
should be on developing top-notch communication skills in
soft skills, and the art of delegating work to others in terms
of hard skills.
Also, you should invest 70 to 80% of your time in your
side hustle or even your main source of income especially if
you are self-employed and outsource people to do the 30%
work. For instance, if you have been graphic designing for
the past 2 to 3 years, and have made some clients, you can
now hire a resource on a part-time, full-time or contractual

189
basis, and delegate about 30 to 50% of your work to him/
her.
You need to build the habit of delegating tasks to others,
regular work communication and correspondence with your
resource(s) and following up with him about work. At this
stage, your team keeps you accountable.
To grow further, you need a consultant or coach at this
point.
Remember, you are at the build stage so you need to build
up something that gives you good ROI and helps compound
your income in the future.

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 GROW STAGE

3. Grow Stage

How to go from 6 Figures to 7 Figures?

Income > Expenses
Core Focus on Management

This is the third stage of the process. People at this stage are
able to manage their expenses quite well and have an income
which is around 40% than their expenses. To reach this
stage, you need about 3 to 5 years.
Let us look at the characteristics of people at this stage:
● Less time: People at this stage are fully invested in
their career which can be a job or a business, or a
combination of both so naturally, they have less time
to spare for anything else.
● High income skill: They have a high-income skill
that they are monetizing to earn their living which is
why they are able to generate 40% more income than
their current expenses.
● Great set of habits: Man is a creature of habits, and
his habits are what make or break his life. People at
this stage have been successful in achieving many of

191
 their professional goals because of their healthy habits
which in most cases include rising and sleeping early,
journaling, planning, exercising, eating healthy,
organizing their life, delegating tasks etc.
● Have a structured accountability system: People on
this stage are responsible, and take full charge of their
life. Their accountability is what helps them grow
bigger and better.
● Have great experience: Since people at this stage are
working for the past 3 to 5 years, they are bound to
have considerable experience.
At this stage, your goal is to climb further on the success
ladder. Your driver is still money at this point accompanied
by fame and success. Your vehicle can be some sort of online
business since this book is focused on that.
Ideally, you should use 50% of your time working on your
tasks and make your team work on 50% of the tasks. You
need to work on your management and leadership and
communication skills at this stage the most.
Moreover, you need to work on following the ‘A-player
hiring’ strategy. There are three main levels when it comes
to resources: A, B and C. The C-level player is someone who
doesn’t do well in his work. He will barely follow the
instructions and get the job done. The B player follows the
instructions well, and completes the task just as instructed.
However, he too does not bring anything more to the table.
On the other hand, the A-level player is the star of the show.

192
 GROW STAGE

He is someone who will always go the extra mile and give

you polished work without you asking for it or without
wanting any reward. His reward is intrinsic motivation, and
it’s in his nature to give refined work.
Your goal to grow more prosperous should be to hire A-
level players. They will be the ones who will help scale your
business because they will always bring more to the table
and supply your business with the necessary fuel it needs to
succeed. But remember to hire A-level players, you need to
first become an A-level player. Because if you aren’t at that
level yet, the A-level players that you hire will somehow
threaten you.
This is the reason a B-level player always hires a C-level
player to work for him because he knows an A-level player
will intimidate him, and a B-player will be at the same level
and it won’t be possible to be an authority figure for him.
Similarly, a C-level player will look for a player below his
level. The case is slightly different for an A-level player
because he is at the point where he isn’t threatened. A-level
players look at the world differently. They want to leave
their legacy behind, and create more leaders to help others
which is why they are comfortable hiring A-level players. So
your goal should be to look for A players. You need a coach
and mentors at this stage.
In growth, you look for new resources, systems, processes
and for all of that your investment increases and your
revenue is supposed to increase.

193
194
 SCALE STAGE

4. Scale Stage

How to Increase Profit?

Core Focus on Profit

This is the fourth stage of the process, and it takes people

around 4 to 6 years to reach it. People at this stage have an
income which is around 50 to 60% more than expenses. Let
us look at the characteristics of people at this stage:
• Have less time: People at this stage have less time to
spare since they are involved in many things.
• Have excellent skills, experience, and habits: Since they
have been working for several years, they have excellent
skills and habits that help them grow more. Naturally,
they are bound to gain quite a considerable experience
too.
In the scale stage, you are not bringing anything new, be it
system or resource. You only improved on what you have.
The resource you hired at the growth stage is now
experienced and does the same task in 2 hours for which he
used to take 8 hours before. You start utilizing resources,
systems better than before. Instead of bringing new stuff you
focus on optimizing it so you juice the most of its goodness.

195
 You spend 25% of your time working at this stage. Most
of it is spent on mergers and acquisitions. You need to work
on skills of networking, building joint ventures, doing
collaborations, and the likes to escalate your growth.
If you scale well, you exit better. Jumping straight to exit
from growth is a mistake. You need to work on tracking the
SOPs for your systems, processes etc.
Your main goal is to create impact and make more money.
You get more ROI on less investment. Also at this stage,
demand for your service/ product is supposedly high so you
focus on adding more products or expanding your services.

196
 SCALE STAGE

Help, Build, Grow and Scale (HBGS):

These 4 stages are very critical for your success. Most of the
people stay in first 2 stages. Few people can go third stage
and very few are able to go to the fourth stage. To help you
understand it better.
Let me explain it with a Framework. Which we called “The
6-Figure Revenue Framework”. It will give you more clarity
that will help you take some concrete actions towards your
goals.
Download: [Link]

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 5. Exit Stage

How to Exit from the Business?

Core Focus on Negotiation

You mostly reach this stage after 5 to 7 years on average.

You do things mainly because of your wants. Money is the
driver at this stage, and your vehicle is the same as the scale
stage. You spend 5 to 10% of your time at work in this stage
because you are exiting out of the main execution work and
have teams in place to manage it. Your focus should be on
further improving your communication to do better
negotiations and collaborations.
You should also work on data analysis, so you analyze
things well and make informed and profitable decisions. You
should hire those people who already have worked on those
processes and improved in another organization.
Moreover, you also need to do top team research. Your
accountability at this stage is your buyer, target audience,
customers, or your CFO.
At this stage too, you need coaches and mentors.

198
EXIT STAGE

199
 6. Owner Stage

How to Own and Create Wealth?

Core Focus on Investment

You reach here after 7 to 10 years. However, sometimes it

can take you more time too. Time varies depending on the
business, industry, time invested, hard work of an individual,
etc. In the online business, it takes around 7 to 10 yrs. Your
time invested in this stage will be 1 to 2 % only. You need
to work on building the skill of asset & wealth management,
so you are able to secure and grow it.
The habits you need to work on are deal and business
analysis. You also need to learn investing skills. You’ll
mostly be investing in other businesses.
Tips: it is not necessary you have to go through all these
stages. You can jump from help to owner stage. Also, time
taken varies. How is it possible? By the help of having a
roadmap. Create a well-structured roadmap for yourself and
exploit the speed boosters along the way, and you’ll find
yourself better skipping the in between stages.

200
 OWNER STAGE

How to Play in between different stages of

Roadmap?

There are different ways to play among the different stages

of the roadmap. It isn’t necessary that you need to start from
the help stage or move to the next stage and then move to the
owner stage. The beauty of this book is that you now are
aware of the different stages and have the power to leverage
them.
You can move through all the stages in a step-by-step
manner. However, there is another route too. You can plant
the seeds of exponential growth at any stage and skyrocket
your progress. For instance, if you have somehow made
more money at the help stage, or have some extra funds, you

201
can invest that money in some business, real estate, blogging
venture or anything and create a compound effect.
Many times, it so happens that people are earning a lot, but
still struggle at the help stage. This happens when you don’t
invest your money in something lucrative but keep on
spending it. For instance, you may be earning in 5 figures,
but keep spending that money and keep surviving. Rather
than saving some amount for investing.

202
 ROADMAP IMPLEMENTATION STAGES: SUMMARY

SUMMARY OF SECTION 4

● Roadmap Framework Implementation has six stages one

has to go through in order to grow bigger and better and
achieve complete financial independence.

Help Stage
● Help is the very first stage of the process and one that all
of us go through and must go through. This stage is
usually spread over 1 to 2 years in terms of an online
career. At this stage, people have low income, and their
expenses surpass their current income.
● The major chunk of people at this stage are those who
have yet to get a job but have little or no family support.
● If you are at this stage, your income is less, and expenses
are more than what you earn. You are likely to have some
sort of experience, and probably a basic-level skill.
● Your goal should be to increase your income so you can
meet all your current expenses. The core focus should be
on finding out how to generate more income and learning
new and high-income skills in the time you get after your
job or whatever it is that you’re doing to earn an income.
● You need a teacher and trainer at this stage. If you work
well on this stage, you can move from the help stage and
go to the build stage.

203
Build Stage
● This is the second stage one advances on after he grows
from the help stage. This stage is usually spread over 3
to 4 years.
● People at this stage have some skills, some stable
income, some good habits, some accountability, and
experience.
● Most of the people here are solopreneurs. Your focus
should be on developing top-notch communication skills
in soft skills, and the art of delegating work to others in
terms of hard skills.
● Also, you should invest 70 to 80% of your time in your
side hustle or even your main source of income
especially if you are self-employed and outsource people
to do the 30% work.
● To grow further, you need a consultant or coach at this
point.
● Remember, you are at the build stage, so you need to
build up something that gives you good ROI and helps
compound your income in the future.

204
 ROADMAP IMPLEMENTATION STAGES: SUMMARY

Grow Stage
● This is the third stage of the process. People at this stage
are able to manage their expenses quite well and have an
income which is around 40% than their expenses. To
reach this stage, you need about 3 to 5 years.
● People at this stage have at least one high income skill,
less time, great set of habits, great experience and
accountability, and want to scale their growth.
● At this stage, your goal is to climb further on the success
ladder. Your driver is still money at this point
accompanied by fame and success. Your vehicle can be
some sort of online business since this book is focused
on that.
● Ideally, you should use 50% of your time working on
your tasks and make your team work on 50% of the tasks.
You need to work on your management and leadership
and communication skills at this stage the most.
● Also focus on hiring A-level players.

Scale Stage
● This is the fourth stage of the process, and it takes people
around 4 to 6 years to reach it. People at this stage have
an income which is around 50 to 60% more than
expenses.

205
● People at this stage have less time, but great skills,
experience, habits and accountability systems.
● Your main goal is to create impact and make more
money. You get more ROI on less investment. Also at
this stage, demand for your service/ product is
supposedly high so you focus on adding more products
or expanding your services.

Exit Stage
● This is the fifth stage. You mostly reach this stage after
5 to 7 years on average. You do things mainly because
of your wants.
● Money is the driver at this stage, and your vehicle is the
same as the scale stage.
● You should also work on data analysis, so you analyze
things well and make informed and profitable decisions.
● You should hire those people who already have worked
on those processes and improved in another
organization.
● Moreover, you also need to do top team research. Your
accountability at this stage is your buyer, target audience,
customers, or your CFO.
● At this stage too, you need coaches and mentors.

206
 ROADMAP IMPLEMENTATION STAGES: SUMMARY

Owner Stage
● This is the sixth stage, and in the online business, it takes
around 7 to 10 years to reach this point.
● Your time invested in this stage will be 1 to 2 % only.
● You need to work on building the skill of asset & wealth
management, so you are able to secure and grow it.
● The habits you need to work on are deal and business
analysis. You also need to learn investing skills. You’ll
mostly be investing in other businesses.
● There are different ways to play among the different
stages of the roadmap. It isn’t necessary that you need to
start from the help stage or move to the next stage and
then move to the owner stage.

207
Conclusion

First congrats to you on reading this book. Now you have

understood the important of having a Roadmap and how you
can build your own Roadmap to success.
Let’s recapped what we have covered.
In Section 1 we have worked on the foundation of building
a successful online business.
In Section 2 we have worked on creating a Roadmap by
following a 12 steps framework to achieve your goals.
In Section 3 we have worked on finding the speed boosters
that can help you reach to our goals fast.
In Section 4 we have created a Minimum Viable Roadmap
(MVR) for 6 Stages of Online Business i.e. Help, Build,
Grow, Scale, Exit and Owner.

Start building Your Roadmap

Remember
You are Just One Roadmap Way from Your Success

208
 ROADMAPER

What’s Next?
As my commitment to help you succeed. I have designed
three roadmaps for you.
1. Free Help and Guidance
2. Paid Help and Guidance

1. Free Help and Guidance:

If you are looking for free help and guidance from me. This
is how I can help and guide you for FREE.

• Roadmap Challenge
Join Free Roadmap Challenge. Where you will build your
roadmap with me live. [Link]

• Roadmaper Video Series

A video series on the Roadmaper book. Where I will share
a detail insight about each topic of the book. This will help
you understand the book better and implement it.
[Link]

• Roadmaper Podcast
Podcast where different experts will be sharing their
Roadmap to success along with my own flavor to spice it up.
[Link]

209
• Roadmaper YouTube Channel
I will be sharing regular content to help you more. You can
subscribe to the channel here for all the updates.
[Link]

• Download Resources
You can Download Roadmap Resources at
[Link]

2. Paid Help and Guidance:

Let’s make some money together 😊

• Business Coaching
If you are looking for a coach. Who can bring the best
from you and help you achieve your goals. This is what I
do the best. [Link]

• Consultation
If you are looking for consultation this is where you can
find more details about it. [Link]

210
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, I want to thank Almighty Allah for making it possible.

Without his guidance and support. I won’t be able to write a single
word.

I also want to acknowledge you for reading this book. As you

were the purpose for which I have wrote this book. I hope that all
this effort were worthwhile and now you will be able to build your
roadmap to success. Thank You.

I want to thank my parents and family. Their prayers and support

are there with me always. It helps me when I down and out and
not getting a drive to write, but their prayers help soften the burden
and lighten the path. Thank You.

A person who become the victim of this book more than anyone
else, who have to listen to me 24/7, read the book after getting
many threats and need to give me feedback was no other than my
wife. She stood by myside when I need the most. Along with my
princesses (daughter) Fatima and Hafsa. They were the energy
source all the way. Thank You.

A person to whom I called my Guru and big brother Hisham

Sarwar. His support and guidance have helped me see things
different. He planted the seed for this book in my head. Thank
You.

In the end Special Thanks to all those from whom I have

learned, those who supported me directly and indirectly, my well-
wishers. Thank You. Stay Blessed You ALL.

211
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Muhammad Yousaf Saeed have been associated with the online
business world for the last 15 years. In this span of time, He has
worked on many endeavors, accomplished many goals, and
struggled with certain setbacks.

He is a serial entrepreneur, renowned Flippa Super Seller,

Business RoadMap Expert, Business Consultant, Investor,
Speaker, Event Organizer, Trainer, Mentor and Coach. With his
work and coaching, He has helped and empowered thousands of
people.

His vision is to Help, Build and Grow entrepreneurs as he

believes entrepreneurs are the real change makers. He wants to
help, educate, and guide youth and inculcate in them love and
respect for everyone.

He thinks failure is nothing. Everything happens due to certain

reasons. It is totally up to us how we take them either learn and
grow or become disappointed and frustrated in life. However,
many people don’t accept this fact which is why it takes them
quite some time to achieve their goals, and most people fall short
of doing so their entire life.

Moreover, people also lack a clear sense of direction and clarity

in their lives to pursue their genuine wants and goals. This is
precisely why He entered the coaching business and started
providing people with in-depth career and business coaching to
empower them with the knowledge, tools and strategies to
materialize their dreams and goals.

This book Roadmaper is one of his ways to help people and

provide them with the right understanding to become the

212
Roadmaper of their life who can structure the right roadmap that
helps them succeed in life. He lives in Islamabad, Pakistan with
his family, and you can visit him online at [Link]

For now, enjoy this book and allow it to unlock your true
potential.

Author’s Contact Information:

Muhammad Yousaf Saeed

Social Media:

Facebook: [Link]

Instagram: [Link]

Twitter: [Link]

Websites:

[Link]

[Link]

Email:

info@[Link]

ibtassistant@[Link]

213
 Remember

You are

Just

One Roadmap

Away…