What if the key leveling up your life wasn’t just doing more, but thinking further?

The next five moves in chess dictate whether you will win or lose. Grandmasters don’t react but rather anticipate, strategize, and calculate several moves ahead. In business, the same rule applies.

According to entrepreneur and author Patrick Bet-David, the most successful individuals don’t just hustle harder; they think five moves ahead.

In life, your ability to see a better future, one that is a significantly better version of yourself where you solve your problems and create sustainable solutions or system to organize your life is key to achieving your most audacious goals. 

This article will discuss the next five moves you must make to achieve your business goals and improve your life. 

Few things in life are as difficult as looking inward and being honest with yourself. It’s easy to stay busy. It’s easy to chase what others want or measure success based on someone else's standards. But the first real step toward building a fulfilling life is asking yourself one question:

Who am I, and what do I truly want?

Without clarity, it’s impossible to make consistent, strategic decisions. You might find yourself climbing a ladder that’s leaning against the wrong wall.

Self-knowledge matters
When you understand what truly drives you, you unlock energy that doesn’t burn out. You stop needing outside motivation because you are connected to something deeper. The challenge is that this clarity doesn’t arrive on its own. It requires deliberate reflection.

These questions help uncover your values You begin to see if you are drawn to overcoming adversity, supporting others, building something complex, or pushing yourself past limits.

What things do you become envious of?

Comparison is a trap that often signals a deeper issue. Envy can be a clue. If you keep feeling envy toward others who seem to be ahead, it could mean one of two things: either you’re not being honest about what you want, or you’re not doing the work required to get it.

There’s an important example that illustrates this. A friend had spent years jumping from one job to the next. He was constantly comparing himself to people who had started businesses and were earning millions. He felt like he was always behind. But when he finally asked himself what kind of life he wanted, the answer surprised him.

He didn’t want the stress of building a company. What he wanted was to be a respected salesperson, to earn a good income, to be home by evening, and to coach his son’s baseball team. That realization gave him clarity. It also removed the constant pressure to live someone else’s version of success.

Defining your vision
Once you define what success looks like for you, comparison fades and confidence builds.

Once you have an answer, imagine real-life challenges. If you push through those difficulties, would you still want that life? If the answer is yes, you're moving in the right direction.

In any serious pursuit, solving problems is not something you do on the side. It is the core of the job. Those who excel are not the ones who avoid problems, but those who learn to face them quickly, take ownership, and build systems that prevent them from resurfacing. This mindset is a major turning point for anyone who wants to gain long-term leverage.

Speed is your advantage
Success doesn’t mean fewer problems. Problems are constantly present in every journey. The only question is whether you love or hate solving a particular set of problems in your chosen field or pursuits.
Achieving success means solving your problems faster and more effectively than others. The people who lead in their fields are not exempt from problems either. They simply outpace them and do a better job of managing them.

Reframe the problem

Highly effective people see problems differently. Rather than reacting emotionally or avoiding responsibility, they approach issues with a deeper sense of curiosity. They view problems as equations and puzzles that can be solved by pouring energy into them.

This crucial mindset shift allows leaders to keep moving forward, even when others get stuck. They bring order in chaos or at least try to make sense of it to form structure and eventually bring clarity in every aspect.

When problems are seen through this lens, the process becomes more analytical. You shift from emotion to logic, which gives you access to better decisions. The problem is no longer something happening to you — it’s something you can work with and solve.

Own the problem before solving it
Owning the problem brings accountability. When you become accountable, you are accepting control. Don’t mistake this for taking the blame; it is simply how it is. Being responsible can entail a lot of work, pressure, and challenge, but it also gives you the opportunity to create change and puts you in a position to take action. 

Even if the issue involves others, ownership is the faster route to a solution. The brief moment of discomfort that comes from owning a mistake or shortcoming is valuable. It triggers action. Those who avoid ownership often get stuck trying to justify what happened. Those who embrace it move forward quickly and often find solutions to not only solve the issue but also avoid it in the future.

Keep asking why
Long-term solutions are created when you tackle the root of your problem. To address the real issue, you must keep asking “why”.

A practical example brings this concept to life. After losing a major client, the first answer might be that a competitor offered a cheaper product. But that’s not the full story. Why was it cheaper? Because it had fewer features. Why did that matter? Because most customers didn’t need the extra features in the first place. The solution wasn’t to lower cost but to better align the product with what clients actually wanted. 

The level of clarity only comes from disciplined thinking and a willingness to challenge first assumptions.

Create a solution

Once the real issue is identified, the next step is to develop solutions. Generating three options is often recommended. This prevents impulsive decisions and ensures that you’ve considered different ways forward.

From those options, the best solution is the one that delivers the highest return on time, energy, and resources. Once implemented, the work isn’t done.

Build a system to prevent the problem from coming back. That could be a new workflow, a process improvement, a communication rule, or a leadership change. Whatever it is, the goal is to treat each problem as a lesson that makes the system stronger.

The most effective teams and individuals don’t just fix problems. They learn from them, design around them, and reduce the chances of facing the same issue again.

No matter how capable you are, trying to win alone will always be a losing strategy in the long term. There’s a limit on how much one person can do; at some point, growth requires leverage. That leverage comes from building a winning team, a team that can operate, improve, and execute even in your absence.

This move is about shifting from being the center of everything to becoming a leader who builds systems, develops trust, and surrounds yourself with people who raise the standard of execution.

Codify everything
The first step is to make yourself replaceable. That may sound counterintuitive, but it’s the very foundation of making everything sustainable. The less your business, organization, or projects depend on you, the more valuable and scalable it becomes.

This starts with documentation. Write down how you do things. Record videos of yourself completing tasks. Build checklist. Your goal is to create a set of resources so detailed and accessible that if you had to step away for six months, someone else could take over with minimal confusion.

This process does two things:

Codification turns your valuable skills into a system that your organization can use. In simple terms, it’s about multiplying yourself. It’s about converting your knowledge into something repeatable and transferable.

Hire based on trust
The next step is to find people who can execute your system and eventually improve them. At this stage, character becomes more important than credentials. You are not just looking for impressive resumes. You are looking for people who are dependable, honest, and take ownership.

Integrity is the core trait to filter for. If someone is inconsistent with their word, cuts corners, or lacks discipline, it will eventually affect the quality of your work and culture. 

To test this, assign small projects before making long-term commitments. This gives you a chance to observe how someone performs when there’s no spotlight. Observe how they communicate, follow through, and respond to feedback. 

When a team is built on trust, oversight becomes less necessary. Trust equals speed, productivity, and goal achievement. 

Hiring based on trust is the key to avoiding micromanaging. When everyone on your team does what they say they’ll do, the workflow becomes smoother. Meetings are shorter, and bottlenecks disappear. People take initiative because they know they are trusted to figure things out, eventually creating a contagious momentum.

A team that trusts one another doesn’t waste time second-guessing, double-checking, or waiting for permission. Each person understands their role and follows through with confidence.

Scaling is one of the most misunderstood parts of growth. Many think of it in terms of revenue, headcount, or technology. But the most reliable way to scale an organization is through people. Not just by hiring more of them, but by helping the people you already have grow into stronger, more capable contributors.

This move is about creating a culture where individuals are encouraged to stretch, lead, and take ownership. As your people scale, so does your impact.

Simple daily question
One of the most important habits for leaders is asking, “How can I help my people grow today?”

This question sets the tone. It shifts the focus from micromanaging performance to developing potential. Instead of reacting to problems or managing tasks, the leader becomes someone who builds others. That investment compounds over time.

The same is true in family life. What can you do for your family today? How can you help them? It doesn’t have to be grand. A simple gesture compounds.

In business, encourage your team members to set personal and professional goals. Make those goals visible, trackable, and supported. When people are held accountable for their own growth, they bring more focus and energy to their roles.

When this mindset becomes part of the company’s culture, performance rises across the board. People begin thinking bigger—not because they’re told to, but because they feel empowered to.

Encourage Intrapreneurship
One of the best ways to develop people is to treat them as internal entrepreneurs. This is known as intrapreneurship, which gives individuals the opportunity to take ownership over a project, process, or department as if it were their own business.

Instead of always giving directions, allow them to build their own strategy. Let them experiment, make decisions, and be responsible for outcomes. This teaches leadership, initiative, and accountability in a way that no instruction manual can.

For example, if a sales manager wants to improve performance, give them space to design and execute a new sales process. Support them, but don’t interfere. If they succeed, they gain confidence. If they struggle, they learn from experience. Either way, they grow.

Creating room for intrapreneurship transforms employees from task-takers into problem-solvers. It also creates leadership at every level, which makes the business more adaptive and resilient.

Create real buy-in with ownership
When people feel a personal stake in the results of their work, their level of care increases, they think beyond their job description. They consider long-term impact, customer experience, and the company’s future. Their commitment becomes internal, not just transactional.

Scaling through people doesn’t require a massive budget or a perfect hiring pipeline. It requires a shift in leadership focus—from control to empowerment. When individuals are challenged, supported, and trusted to lead, the organization becomes stronger from the inside out.

This kind of growth is slower at first, but far more stable. It doesn’t depend on one person or one idea. It depends on the consistent development of people who want to push boundaries and build something meaningful.

In chess, a good player looks for an undefended piece. In business, a good strategist looks for gaps left by complacent competitors.

In every competitive environment, there comes a point when others become complacent. They stop innovating, overlook certain markets, or fail to meet the needs of a specific group. When that happens, an opening appears. The people who succeed in the long run are the ones who have trained themselves to spot those openings and act before anyone else does.

This final move involves staying alert, reading the environment carefully, and being ready to strike when the opportunity arises.

Opportunities come from watching closely. If your competitors are slacking, step in and serve their customers better.

Move quickly
Taking the opening requires preparation. You can’t always predict where or when an opportunity will show up, but you can prepare your systems, team, and mindset to be ready.

Being ready means having the confidence to make decisions without excessive delay. It also means knowing what your strengths are, what markets you can serve well, and what capabilities you already have that others aren’t using effectively.

Speed matters. The first to act often gains the greatest advantage. But speed without clarity can lead to wasted effort. Only after knowing yourself, solving problems, building a team, and developing people does it make sense to take aggressive action in the market.

It’s about timing, awareness, and preparation. When those elements are in place, what looks like a lucky break to others is simply a well-timed move.

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