Get Off The Treadmill - Audio Podcast

In the latest episode of the "Get Off The Treadmill" podcast, host Chuck Blakeman chats with Clayton Achen, founder of Achen Henderson, a cutting-edge virtual CPA firm. Clayton, a passionate advocate for small businesses, shares his unique journey from a sales career to becoming a significant force in accounting, focusing on tax, cloud accounting, and technology.

The conversation explores the seven stages of business ownership from...

There are Two Opposing Forces in Life and in Business we are faced with every morning before we even get out of bed; the Tyranny of the Urgent and the Priority of the Important. The Tyranny of the Urgent is like a three-year old, relentlessly pulling on us, demanding our attention, yelling at us to find clients, make the chairs, pay bills, hire people, do financials - it's all relentless and in our face. And it causes use to focus ...

In this episode of the “Get Off The Treadmill” podcast, Chuck Blakeman interviews Ben Kimball, co-owner of Kimball Productions, focusing on the shift from a "random hope" strategy to a deliberate, intention-driven approach in business.

Key points discussed include:

1. Initial Challenges: Kimball describes his early business strategy, which relied on hope—specifically hoping to cover expenses and manage mortgages—rather than struct...

Being wealthy or rich are vastly different things. Many, if not most people who are rich live in unimaginable poverty when it comes to free time. We pursue money because we think it will give us freedom, but freedom in our business is not a function of how much money the business is making.

In this podcast we will talk about the difference between being rich and wealth, and how one can lead to being a hostage and to having a JOB, a...

Jeff's journey is a compelling one. After a decade in the insurance industry with Century Insurance, he followed his passion by purchasing an independent insurance agency in Littleton, Colorado, creating Security-First Insurance. Jeff’s story is a testament to the highs and lows of entrepreneurship—the thrilling startup phase, the grueling early years, and the eventual realization that ownership wasn't all he had hoped for.

In this...

Instead of separating the "strategic" and the "tactical", or the "long-term" vs. the "short-term", we need to see how to use every activity in our business to do both, and the better we get at this, the faster our business will grow up and make money when we're not there.  

This podcast gives multiple examples of business owners who weren't dual tracking, started doing it, and saw their businesses not only grow, but give them freed...

Today’s guest is Liz Daeninck, founder of Valentis Wellness, which focuses on creating customized nutrition plans tailored to individual health challenges and life circumstances. Liz's expertise lies in understanding the body's responses to movement and diet, particularly for those dealing with obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, irritable bowel syndrome, and other chronic issues. She also works with individuals who have undergone...

The SBA tells us 50% of businesses fail in five years, but my experience is only about 1% (or less) actually fail due to outside circumstances. The other 49% experience something that was entirely avoidable. If you ask small business owners why they might go out of business, they will tell you they need a loan, or the market is just collapsing, the economy sucks, they can't find good people, or the competition is burying them.

We'l...

In this episode of the Get Off The Treadmill podcast, host Chuck Blakeman sits down with Scott Graves, co-founder and CEO of Alignment Financial Advisors, to dive deep into Chapter 3 of Chuck’s acclaimed book, Making Money Is Killing Your Business. This chapter, "The Way Off the Business Treadmill," offers a transformative blueprint for shifting from business overwhelm to a life of balance and fulfillment.

Scott Graves, whose journ...

How did one business owner move from working 55 hours a week to working 16 hours a week and make exponentially more personal income? 95% of business owners find out at some point that they have built themselves a job and are hostages to their businesses. How do we build a Mature Business that regularly produced both money AND time for us, not just money? It's not for the smart or the lucky, but for the intentional. 

You get what yo...

It's easy to spend thirty years of ups and downs, peaks and valleys, scarcity and abundance, always reacting to the good or bad times that seem to be happening to us, not because of us.  Because we feel dragged along by our business, we can't wait to sell it some fool who will do it all over again for another thirty years. Is it any wonder we're tired? 

This podcast shares examples of people who learned how to be proactive about th...

In this episode of the Get Off The Treadmill podcast, Chuck Blakeman sits down with Josh Allan Dykstra, a leading expert on human energy and the future of work. Josh, a dynamic keynote speaker and author, reveals why human energy—not employee engagement—is the secret to skyrocketing productivity, creativity, and retention in today’s workplace. 

While most companies focus on engagement to boost performance, Josh argues that it’s act...

On average, business owners work 55 hours per week, take very few vacations and do business while there. Most of us are working relentlessly, always hoping that we'll some how get to a new level next year and begin to reap some personal rewards from our business. But we don't even know what "level" we're on, let alone what it would take to get to the next one.

In this podcast we discuss the Seven Stages of Business Ownership, and h...

In the latest episode of the Get Off The Treadmill podcast, Chuck Blakeman sits down with The Evolving Expert founder, Vanessa Emerson, to dive deep into the powerful connection between business success and personal fulfillment.

Vanessa shares her journey as a business strategist and wellness educator, explaining why getting clear on lifetime goals and life vision is the secret to both thriving in business and truly living. 🙌

Vane...

Last episode, we discussed the first four stages of the Seven Stages of Business Ownership and the treadmill effect that traps many entrepreneurs. Today, we’re exploring Stages Four through Seven, which give you real freedom IN your business, not from it. Will also reveal why almost all business owners get stuck in Stage Four and won't take the small, measured risks to get that freedom.

Everything rests on "The Big Mindset Shift", ...

What if you could make more money in less time—and finally escape the daily grind of running your business?  

In this episode, Chuck Blakeman sits down with Bryan Farley, a seasoned entrepreneur and expert in creating scalable, self-sustaining businesses. Together, they dive into the transformative strategy of Freedom Mapping, a practical framework to help you simplify your operations and reclaim your time.  

💡 Here’s what you’ll ...