In this episode of The Diary Of A CEO, Steven Bartlett and Natalie Dawson examine strategies for building long-term wealth and achieving professional success. They break down Dawson's PPF framework—a goal-setting methodology that helps people map their personal, professional, and financial objectives across different time horizons—and discuss why the common focus on passive income might be misguided.
The conversation covers several practical aspects of professional development, including the importance of continuous skill-building in a business landscape transformed by AI, and why earning respect through competence matters more than being liked. Dawson and Bartlett share insights about maintaining discipline, managing time effectively, and taking ownership of decisions while building sustainable wealth through active value creation rather than pursuing passive income strategies alone.

Sign up for Shortform to access the whole episode summary along with additional materials like counterarguments and context.
Natalie Dawson introduces the PPF methodology as a comprehensive approach to goal setting. She emphasizes the importance of categorizing goals into personal, professional, and financial buckets, with specific targets set for short-term (1 year), medium-term (3 years), and long-term (5 years) achievements. Dawson advocates for envisioning one's future self and reverse-engineering the steps needed to achieve these goals.
In today's rapidly changing business landscape, Dawson stresses the importance of continuous skill development. She evaluates candidates through hands-on technical assessments and emphasizes that business owners must develop crucial competencies in areas like hiring and financial management. Dawson and Steven Bartlett discuss how AI is transforming business practices, highlighting the need for adaptability and lifelong learning. They note that AI tools can accelerate learning and democratize access to education.
Dawson emphasizes that success requires taking ownership of decisions and actions. She advocates for facing challenges head-on and maintaining brutal honesty about one's strengths and weaknesses. The "be, do, have" principle she describes suggests that success comes from immersing oneself in the desired environment and practicing consistently. Dawson also stresses the importance of focused effort and wise time management in achieving goals.
According to Dawson and Bartlett, earning respect through competence and results is more valuable than being well-liked. They emphasize that respect comes from demonstrating expertise, maintaining ethical standards, and showing genuine leadership. Dawson shares her experience of overcoming the fear of judgment by creating work that demanded respect, highlighting how maintaining firm principles contributes to long-term success.
Dawson and Bartlett challenge the common focus on passive income, arguing that building wealth requires active skill development and value creation. They suggest that passive income should only be pursued after establishing substantial assets. Bartlett outlines a process for becoming a millionaire that focuses on skill enhancement and eliminating distractions, while Dawson emphasizes the importance of consistent work and optimization in creating sustainable wealth.
1-Page Summary
Natalie Dawson outlines the PPF methodology as a transformative three-step approach for goal setting, valuing its role in personal, professional, and financial planning.
Emphasizing the importance of being goal-oriented, Dawson often asks potential hires about their five-year goals. She believes that employees with clear goals contribute positively to team motivation and help achieve both the organization's objectives and those of the end customer.
Dawson uses PPF to categorize her goals into personal, professional, and financial ones, stating that all the goals she has encountered fit into these buckets. She underscores the importance of prioritizing and defining what success looks like in each area, with specific targets set for short-term (one year), medium-term (three years), and long-term (five years) achievements. This approach helps individuals focus on setting concrete and measurable goals across a structured timeline.
While Dawson doesn't explicitly discuss personal growth, she touches upon it as part of envisioning one’s future with PPF. She talks about setting clear targets for personal, professional, and financial success across different timelines. Many people, she points out, can set one-year goals but struggle to envision their lives five years down the line. She also illustrates how PPF conversations with her team members reveal different individual goals. For example, one woman aimed to increase her salary from $80,000 to $90,000 in a year, while a less performant man aimed for $200,000 to $250,000 in three years.
Dawson sees herself making significant financial investments and charitable contributions five years from now. She also relates this to Cardo Ventures' mission of assisting business ...
Goal-Setting Framework (PPF - Personal, Professional, Financial)
Natalie Dawson highlights the critical role of continual skill development and competence building for personal and organizational growth in a rapidly changing business landscape.
In the technical interview process, Dawson evaluates candidates' required skills by having them perform relevant tasks, such as making sales calls or creating a presentation on the spot. This approach is crucial because lacking necessary skills like using design software or being unable to produce content quickly can disqualify a candidate. Dawson also handles sales team training to ensure members assess their skills to understand and sell items—even seemingly uninteresting products like roofs—because acquiring such high-demand skills can be extremely valuable and increase their income potential.
Natalie Dawson emphasizes the significance for business owners of developing competencies in crucial areas such as hiring, recruitment, and understanding financial statements. Without these skills, they will have to depend on others who might not manage the growing business properly. Dawson commits to training team members and introducing them to successful contacts as a part of skill and competence development to potentially boost earning potential.
Moreover, Dawson advises business owners to take time to objectively assess where they spend their time and to identify tasks that do not add the greatest value for them to continue doing themselves. It's imperative to train someone else to perform those tasks flawlessly. Ensuring that new hires can replicate the current marketing strategies that work for the business is an indicator of their competence and understanding of the business.
Dawson and Steven Bartlett discuss the impact of AI on business and highlight how the rapid advancement of technology requires continuous learning and adaptability. Dawson underscores the opportunity for business growth by educating owners on integrating AI and automation to make better decisions. She points out that many small business owners in the U.S. are unfamiliar with AI and can be intimidated by it.
Bartlett suggests that AI and automation systems, like those provided by Vanta, are crucial for startups to meet regulatory requirements efficiently. With AI changing business practices, it's important to have a plan in place that includes the use of these tools.
Dawson believes that individuals can learn anything they want due to the abundance of accessible tools available today. She talks about her journey of developing communication skills, overcoming fear through launching a podcast, and practicing public speaking at every opportunity, such as making toasts during meals.
Dawson al ...
Skill Development and Competence Building
Natalie Dawson emphasizes that cultivating a mindset of responsibility, resilience, and self-belief is critical for overcoming obstacles and achieving goals. These attributes fuel the drive towards success and influence decision-making in personal and professional life.
Dawson discusses the importance of responsibility, indicating that a sense of duty is crucial to her success. By recognizing the necessity of taking ownership of decisions, such as choosing business partners and team members carefully, business owners can take empowered action towards their objectives. Dawson encourages embracing responsibility, pointing out that it symbolizes the capacity to respond to challenges.
Every individual, successful or not, faces their own challenges. Dawson argues it is crucial to face these challenges head-on and avoid using them as an excuse. Achieving brutal honesty with oneself about one's strengths and weaknesses can help cultivate self-like, leading to a stronger sense of self-worth. Dawson suggests this self-assessment is necessary for personal growth and moving beyond self-criticism.
Taking ownership of learning how to manage crucial aspects of business operations, like financials and hiring, is central to her advice. Dawson speaks about how she transformed from fearing judgment to taking command of her life and decisions. She advises business owners to take onus for the onboarding process, rather than leaving it to chance, to prevent failures and improve performance.
Dawson touches on the importance of replicating successful business strategies, urging business owners to document what works in revenue generation and allow new hires to emulate and improve upon these strategies, which helps business owners maintain control over the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.
Natalie Dawson counsels going all in on oneself and concentrating intensively on one's interests. By creating a personal environment geared for excelling in a specific domain, individuals can foster improvement. Dawson highlights the process of "be, do, have" — to be successful in a new role, you must practice and embed yourself in that environment. Dawson also emphasizes the importance of being fully present and engaged in any setting, a component of effective communication and claiming ownership of one's space and actions.
Dawson reflects on the value of hard work and confidence that comes from earning success. The fear that she would have money only through her husband without doing the work herself drove her to ensure that she put in the effort required to build her self-assurance and eliminate the fear of loss.
Building upon clear links between one's work and goals can prevent burnout. The belief that efforts will lead to the desired outcome makes the sacrifices feel necessary. Dawson underscores the importance of using time wisely to build t ...
Mindset and Discipline For Success
Natalie Dawson and Steven Bartlett discuss the importance of prioritizing respect over being liked, particularly in the context of business and leadership. Their insights highlight the necessary traits and actions that contribute to long-term success and genuine leadership.
Natalie Dawson emphasizes that in order to achieve wealth and success, it's crucial to prioritize being respected over being liked. Based on her experience in co-founding successful businesses and aiding many business owners, she exemplifies a communication strategy focused on this philosophy. Dawson's approach implies that respect gained through honesty and adherence to principles is key in business partnerships, and it should be valued more than merely being friendly. She contends that being liked by respectable people, as opposed to merely being well-liked by coworkers, leads to self-respect and contributes to a positive company culture.
Steven Bartlett reflects on his earlier career, mentioning that he used to hire people he could manage instead of those who knew more than him. However, as he gained security in his capabilities, he realized the importance of bringing on exceptional individuals who could contribute substantively to the business. He learned to value the respect that comes from associating with competent and result-driven people.
Dawson suggests that until a founders' successful revenue-generating process is replicable, they should not bring on someone just because that person is seen as smarter. She implies that a founder should aim to earn respect through competence and results. Demonstrating an expertise in specific areas with tangible proof or statistics can garner respect regardless of personal likability. For instance, Dawson focused on achieving measurable outcomes in recruiting, which allowed her work to be respected based on statistics and results. Dawson takes the stance that personal ethics reflect on professional behavior, underlining the principle that unethical personal actions could parallel unethical work conduct.
Dawson also stresses the importance of being sold on a product to sell it effectively, indicating that genuine belief in the product's value and demonstrating competence in se ...
Prioritizing Respect Over Being Liked
Natalie Dawson and Steven Bartlett delve into the discussion of building wealth through active income and skill development, contrasting it with the common desire for passive income.
In their discourse, Dawson and Bartlett highlight that focusing primarily on passive income without substantial assets may not be the most effective strategy for wealth creation.
Dawson takes a stance against prioritizing passive income before acquiring a million dollars or a substantive nest egg. She argues that passive income should be seen as a supplement to financial security rather than the primary method for building significant wealth. She emphasizes the importance of increasing active income and learning how to grow it to $160,000 or more. According to her, earning passive income should not be the goal one strives for from the start.
Bartlett outlines a "10 step process to becoming a millionaire within a year," focusing on enhancing skills such as researching jobs millionaires have, rating one's interest and skills in each, and picking one to master. He emphasizes using every moment to build skills and eliminate distractions.
Dawson further suggests that learning and developing skills instills confidence and can lead to income growth. They both imply that becoming skilled and proficient is crucial for creating and sustaining wealth. This includes investing in training and learning from experts to improve performance in any field, such as enhancing a Twitch channel's outreach.
Success comes through active work and one's personal management of time. By engaging in efforts that build tangible skills and provide value to others daily, one develops a foundation for sustainable wealth. Daw ...
Approach To Earning Wealth vs. Passive Income
Download the Shortform Chrome extension for your browser
