The 1 Goal Theory - How to Find Your Highest Calling for 2025

In 5 years, AGI will make the work we do today utterly meaningless. Here's how I'm preparing myself for 2025...

Special shoutout this week to

Mark Thompson

for making it to the leaderboard!

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It’s the first day of 2025, and I’m sitting in a starbucks.

Over a decade ago, I was building my first recruiting agency. Every local Barista within a 15 mile radius knew my name. I’d frequent any coffee shop I could, just to sit in the smells and build my business.

But this is the first time in 3 years I came to work at a coffee shop.

If you asked me why I stopped going?

I’d give you any excuse that came to mind:

“The music is loud.” “Gas is too expensive” “I love my home office.”

Or even this one…

“People I know might say Hi and distract me.”

But if I was honest with myself, I’d say…

“I love it here.”

Every year, I begin planning my goals for the new year around Thanksgiving.

By the time NYE arrives? I’m like a caged bull…

When those gates of January open up, I want to have a head start on everyone and everything else. And for the last 20 years of my career, I’ve treated every new year the same way.

Whether I was scaling a business, starting one, consulting for one, or even employed by one…it excited me to work harder, to push further past my goals.

There’s a downside to this, however.

Every new year feels like a race against time. Like I’m competing with my own shadow. I create this seemingly impossible summit to climb.

The moment I achieved the yearly goal → I’d celebrate for a day. Only to wake up and look for another Everest to climb.

But I’ve had a different feeling about 2025…and what lies beyond it.

Something has prevented me from “gearing up” for 2025. And for weeks I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Well last night, it smacked me square in the face…

Without any warning signs, I’ve completely lost track of what’s meaningful in my work.

I’ve been climbing a mountain that someone else laid out for me.

Are You Chasing Your Highest Calling at Work?

What if every year, on January 1st → you were only allowed to set 1 goal.

And when you achieved that goal, your work for the rest of the year was done. You could stop doing work and pursue whatever else you wanted for the rest of the year.

Achieve the goal in March? Congratulations! You get 9 months to do whatever your heart desires.

What 1 goal would you set?

Does it excite you?

Does it scare you?

The type A’s will shout, “But Ryan, I love what I do…I would never stop working.”

Ok cool, I get it. We’ve all heard that before. Thanks for the humble brag. Pat yourself on the back.

Only…

Most entrepreneurs think they love what they do…but in reality they’re lying. You might have yourself convinced, only to not have to face the fact that the career path you’re on might not be of your own making. That’s a harsh reality to face when you’ve sacrificed years of your life at work.

Here’s a quick test to find out if what your doing in your career is what you were called to do:

Consider this scenario for a minute…

What if I gave you $20,000,000 tomorrow…under one strict condition:

You must stop the work you’re currently doing, for good.

You can choose to work on anything else your heart desires…except that which you’re currently doing in your career today.

Would you continue to follow the path?

Would you take the money?

Let me know below…

Last night, I asked myself this very question.

I immediately thought, “Where do I sign?”

I’d go buy my farm, and spend my working days outside in the sun. I’d never look at a computer screen unless I needed to. I’d have my hands in the dirt all day long.

After the selfish desires passed…

My next thought was, "What would I do to find meaning and contribution?”

And what came out surprised me.

Building a Meaningful Career…on Purpose

I started day dreaming of all these uplifting thoughts. Thoughts that filled me up with energy and excitement.

I began to build a “Meaningful” work list of things I would pursue (now that I had $20mm)

• Teaching People how to grow their own food, and cook healthy meals right from their backyard.

• Showing someone how they can start a business they actually love, one that chases purpose and not money.

• I’d meet with my local community to educate them, teaching in person vs zoom calls.

• I’d help the People who truly need it, not just the ones who could afford my consulting rates.

• My words & writing would change lives around the world → some of whom I was lucky enough to meet in person.

Once these thoughts started flowing…I realized that I’ve been pursuing whatever path the internet told me worked well.

I’ve been sub-consciously swayed by the gurus. All the noise on social media lead me to stray from designing a career I wanted.

This ends now.

Here’s a list of all the products & services I’ve pursued in 2024.

1. An Email Ghostwriting Agency.

2. An AI & Automation Agency.

3. A 1v1 Coaching Business.

4. 3 Digital Newsletters.

5. Strategic Partnerships.

6. Revenue Share Consulting Ventures.

7. A Skool Community.

8. Multiple Courses & Lead Magnets.

9. A Podcast.

10. Multiple Social Media Followings.

Can you spot the differences between both lists? The “Meaningful” work list is centered around:

1. Educating People & Teaching.

2. Socializing and meeting People.

3. Changes People’s lives with writing.

But my “Current” work list is centered around:

1. Computers & Technology

2. Revenue and Funnels

3. Selling Services

My current work list is serving some of these interests, but as you can probably tell there’s alot of “extra” stuff in there. Mediums, products, services, and other ventures that I’ve bolted onto my business…

Strictly because it was easy for me to say yes to and build.

Also because these “extras” were a way to add another revenue channel.

2024 was the year I wanted to try a bunch of stuff. I wanted to build it, share it with you, and just try it all.

2025 is going to be the complete opposite = consolidation.

This year, my only goal is to pursue meaningful work.

Looking back at my current work list, let’s start trimming the fat:

1. Ghostwriting Agency

2. AI & Automation Agency.

3. 1v1 Coaching.

4. Digital Newsletter.

5. Strategic Partnerships.

6. Revenue Share Consulting Ventures.

7. Skool Community.

8. Courses

9. Podcast.

10. Social Media Content

Here’s how each one scores on my 3 meaningful traits:

1. Newsletter

   1. Educating? Yes

   2. Socializing? Yes

   3. Writing? Yes

2. Strategic Partnerships

   1. Educating? Yes

   2. Socializing? Yes

   3. Writing? Yes

3. Skool Community

   1. Educating? Yes

   2. Socializing? Yes

   3. Writing? Maybe

4. 1v1 Coaching

   1. Educating? Yes

   2. Socializing? Yes

   3. Writing? No

5. Courses

   1. Educating? Yes

   2. Socializing? No

   3. Writing? Maybe

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Let’s analyze how my current work items score according to my “Top 3 Meaningful Principles”:

1. Newsletter = 3

2. Strategic Partnerships = 3

3. Skool Community = 2.5

4. 1v1 Coaching = 2

5. Courses = 1.5

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Now knowing this, I can revisit my 1 Yearly Goal System and build my one priority for the year.

(spoken in present tense to manifest the achievement)

“The Autopreneur” newsletter impacts 100,000 People every week → teaching them how to use AI, Automation, & Digital Leverage to pursue their highest calling.

When I achieve this goal in 2025, I’ll have no more goals to pursue for the year.

That’s it.

The ultimate pursuit of meaning.

How I Plan to Get There

Some items in your business are in place strictly to turn a profit.

Other items are not scalable, but you do them anyways because they fill your spiritual cup.

Let’s revisit the list and see where we can consolidate further:

1. Newsletter = 3

2. Strategic Partnerships = 3

3. Skool Community = 2.5

4. 1v1 Coaching = 2

5. Courses = 1.5

Since the newsletter is the top priority…I’m going to use the rest of this list to help us get there.

Strategic Partnerships:

• Problem: If the goal for the year is to help educate 100,000 People…then this newsletter will need to reach a wider market. Organic reach is down, and I’m only 1 man with 1 area of expertise.

• Solution: We’ll be featuring guest authors, weekly contributors, and showcasing other subject-matter experts in the newsletter. We’ll also be publishing 2-3x weekly → providing more valuable content around AI tools, trending news, business strategies, and automated workflows. Our sponsorships and paid ads will only showcase technology that’s actually useful to you. This will eliminate alot of the time it takes you, to research thousands of new AI tools being created.

• If you’re interested in writing a guest post for The Autopreneur, please email me at ryan@blackboxautomations.com or DM here on substack by clicking the button below:

Skool Community & Courses:

• Problem: In order for me to directly impact your life & business, you’ll inevitably need more than just a long-form written newsletter. However, most technology courses & cohorts aren’t cheap.

• Solution: I’m no longer in the business of promoting individual courses or sending lengthy email sequences. You don’t need any more upsells or downsells. Every single template, download, workshop, course, prompt, and time-saving business system I’ve used or built will be hosted inside the Skool community. It will be as affordable as possible as a monthly subscription. You can choose to participate or not, or go through our extensive classroom of course material at your own pace. Join us, use what’s valuable to your business, and leave whenever you like.

• Click here to join The Automation Lab community and get access to more systems, automations, and AI tools.

1v1 Coaching:

• Problem: When working with a community or writing to a large audience, sometimes we lose the 1 to 1 human energy transfer. Selfishly, I love being directly responsible for impacting another Person’s life.

• Solution: I’ll continue my coaching business for the year, but will need to keep a strict cap of 7 new coaching clients per quarter. This will continue to keep me spiritually & financially fulfilled, while the community revenue funds the growth of the newsletter. Working directly with clients who come from the newsletter, also gives me new content ideas.

• Click here to learn more about 1v1 Coaching with Ryan, and see some of the success my clients are enjoying.

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To reach 100,000 People…we’ll need more than just a once a week share.

Why?

Because everytime I write a newsletter and promote it…this is what happens:

But I don’t want to be forced to write daily (nor will you probably read a daily newsletter)…

So here’s some of the changes we’re making to The Autopreneur in 2025:

• Wednesdays → Workflow of the Week

  • Wednesday you’ll get 1 workflow or automation that will help you grow your business. These marketing, sales, and delivery workflows will remove you as the bottleneck inside your day to day work.

• Fridays → The AI Forecast

  • Fridays are for memes and dreams. We’ll email you a list of bite-sized nuggets that we found interesting from the week. Topics include new AI tools, technology trends, and futurism content surrounding all things entrepreneurship.

• Sundays → Sunday Spotlight

  • Our Sunday deep dives will continue to help you upskill & strategize. You’ll continue to receive a deep dive from myself, as well as special guest authors. These are subject-matter experts in my network…People I learn from everyday.

  • We’ve got an awesome guest list coming to you soon…here’s the upcoming Sunday Spotlights for January:

    • January 5th - Ryan Hutchinson

    • January 12th - Tim Hanson

    • January 19th - Tom Harman

    • January 26th - TBD

Wrapping It Up

See you might “love” what you do, but you’re probably not “in love” with your work.

Mother Theresa was in love with her work.

Nicola Tesla was in love with his work.

If you had to think about your answer to my $20,000,000 question above…then its a sign something needs to change for your 2025.

And if you’re like me → you decided to take the money…don’t let your ego beat you up over it.

There’s no moral benefit to staying on a path you don’t enjoy…because you’re afraid of what others (or your ego) might think of you.

Don’t be afraid to change either…

• In my 20’s, I had a BMW, a $3000 suit, and a summer body.

• In my 30’s, I had wins on my resume, a network of millionaires, and an iron will.

• In my 40’s, I will write more words, grow more veg, and find pleasure in working less.

Once you understand this, you realize it’s not the money you’re after…

It’s freedom.

Freedom to pursue meaningful work.

Whatever that looks like to you.

Until next time, Autopreneur.

~ Ryan Hutchinson

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PS - Here’s 3 ways I will help you achieve your goals for 2025:

• Newsletter Benefits:

  • Click the link and share this newsletter with your friends. Only people who make the leaderboard get exclusive access these benefits.

• Community + Courses:

  • Want to use more Ai and Automation in your business? Join to get access to all my tools, systems, automations, and templates inside The Automation Lab.

• 1v1 Coaching with Ryan:

  • If you’re stuck on a business problem, and can’t find the answers you need…I’ve got a methodology that will help your business grow in any niche. Click to hear about some of my coaching clients and their success stories.

  • NOTE: Only 2 more coaching seats available for Q1. DM me with any questions: