Building a Business from the Inside Out
The Do, Get, Be Cycle to Meaningful Work
When I started my journey of making a living, I was balancing two types of motivation: the need to gain approval from others and appear successful, and the deeper need to do work that I genuinely enjoyed.
Without a deeper sense of meaning, I knew my motivation wasn't sustainable and I would end up resenting the work.
This journey wasn't linear.
I took a random walk through career-dom because there were no paths I truly wanted to follow. I had the brains and work ethic to go into medicine, engineering, or the financial sector—areas my parents would have been very proud for me to pursue—but none of them appealed to me. My gut said no.
And so I simply followed my instincts, moving through what I call the Do, Get, Be phases, which has now landed me in coaching, mentoring, teaching, and hosting founders and freelancers as they look for their own paths.
My random walk to work I love
Straight out of university I chose to do a PhD because I thought becoming a scientist would fulfil my needs for learning and discovery. However, I also knew that being a physicist wouldn't make much money, wasn't relevant to many people, and would leave me feeling disconnected and lonley.
And so I became a web developer. It was a skill in demand at the time, it met my needs for learning and discovery but it still wasn't my path. Working on projects for clients took away my sense of autonomy and stifled my creativity. I was pleasing others, but not myself. The problems I was solving didn't fulfil me—they were technical rabbit holes that needed to be solved yesterday.
Starting the Happy Startup School helped me connect my needs for learning and discovery with my needs for autononmy, creativity and connection. This work allows me to explore the bigger questions of life while grounding these conversations in the world of business and making a living. It has been a marriage of my intrinsic desire for meaning and purpose with the external desire to be of service and to foster authentic connections with others.
I’m no longer just making a living, I’m making a life.
This career adventure has been about marrying my intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and aligns with a cyclical model that I've been pondering based on Do, Get, and Be—an ongoing process of moving from external to internal motivations and iterating towards alignment.
Thanks to Lucy Lomas for helping me understand this cycle more deeply.
The cycle works in this way: Being informs Doing, Doing invites Getting, and Getting sustains our Being.
Doing: Early on, we work to meet expectations—whether from family, friends, bosses, clients, or the market. Our actions are shaped by the need for approval, validation, status, or simply fitting in. Though it can feel limiting, this type of motivation is also about service—showing up for others and making beneficial impact.
Getting: As we gain experience, we start to enjoy the rewards of our work. Whether it’s financial gain, recognition, or personal satisfaction, there's an added layer of fulfilment. This motivation is essential; it fuels us and keeps us moving forward.
Being: The ultimate motivation is when our work aligns with who we truly are. We act not because of external pressures but because we’re intrinsically driven. Our business becomes an authentic expression of our values and identity. We create from a place of alignment, setting boundaries that honor our true selves while delivering real value to others.
The journey from Do to Get to Be is not a one-time loop—it’s a cycle. We move through phases of doing, getting, and being, constantly iterating and adjusting as we grow. Each cycle (if we allow it) brings us closer to alignment, where work becomes a natural extension of who we are - effortless impact.
When our business reflects who we truly are, work becomes more than a means to an end—it becomes a source of meaning, purpose, and joy.
How aligned is your business with the person you’re becoming?