Owning It: How to Find Your True Calling and Turn It Into a Small Business You Love

Some people grow up knowing exactly what they want to do. The rest of us? We collect skills, hobbies, and interests like stamps. We become good, sometimes very good, at many things, but it often feels like what we’re doing isn’t fulfilling enough, and we’re not sure what would be.

You might have tried several careers, started side projects, or turned hobbies into side hustles and half-businesses, but none felt like The One. And then comes a moment when you wake up one day and ask yourself: What am I doing here, in my life?

It often happens around forty, when you’ve accumulated enough experience but also feel you no longer want to pretend, wear masks, or comply with society’s expectations and norms for the second half of your life. And you’re right. Could you live your life in a more meaningful way? Could you wake up excited every morning, feeling the joy of working on your thing? Could we have fewer regrets and more courage? And most importantly, could this thing also bring you at least the income of your not-so-satisfying job?

I’ll be honest with you — stories of late bloomers warm my heart. They also make me wonder: what if there’s something in me I haven’t explored yet? What if there are more of us feeling this way? What if it’s time to discover it and own it?

I discovered Charlie Rogers’ Substack through a suggestion on a social media platform that, at least for now, does what others fail to do — host meaningful content.

Charlie has a name for ‘those who live beyond conventional labels’ — the undefinables — and he’s developed a process to help them design their life. Spoiler alert: what you’re looking for is already inside you. No “new age spirituality”, it really is there, just beneath a pile of “shoulds” and “musts”.

His process, described in his book undefinable life design that is set to be released in February 2026, starts with the idea that undefinables should embrace the curse and gift of having multiple talents and skills, and get to work digging for The One.

The Way to Your Golden Thread

Here’s how you might begin finding the thread that ties it all together.

Step 1: Map Your Many Interests

Start by listing everything that has ever interested you. The model breaks them into five groups:

Inherited: interests absorbed from your upbringing or environment.

Outdated: things you’ve outgrown but might still be doing out of habit.

Current: what energizes you right now.

Soon: what you’d love to explore next.

Ideal: your “one day” dreams.

Once you see them all on paper, patterns start to appear. What you thought was chaos becomes a map of your evolving self. You realize these aren’t distractions; they’re clues.

Step 2: Choose Your Few

Now that you’ve mapped the many, it’s time to choose your few, the categories worth going deeper into.

Not every interest can become a focus, but the right ones will energize rather than drain you.

Charlie calls this your Semi-Professional Zone, the sweet spot where curiosity meets mastery. You’re not burning out by chasing one “perfect path,” but you’re also not dabbling endlessly. You’re investing 6–20 hours a week into something that could grow roots.

Ask yourself:

Which interests feel alive and meaningful right now?
Which ones could I develop without losing the rest of myself?

Step 3: Find Your Golden Thread

Once you’ve chosen your few, you’ll likely still feel pulled in multiple directions. That’s normal.

The next step is finding your Golden Thread , meaning the link between who you are, who you help, and how you help them.

Charlie defines it simply: “It’s not a job title, it’s a living purpose that evolves with you.”

To find it, use the formula:

I help [who] to [how] through [what].

This exercise helps you see how your experiences and skills connect.

Maybe your Golden Thread is helping others find confidence, clarity, or creativity, whatever your unique mix enables you to do. For many, that clarity becomes the foundation of a business that finally feels aligned.

This is where clarity becomes visible — what Charlie calls your Signature Expression.

It’s how your purpose takes form in the world: a brand, a service, a project, a book, or even a community.

Ask yourself:

What do I believe the world gets wrong — and how can I make it better?
What few words could carry my message?
How can I share it in a way that lasts beyond social media cycles?

Your first step doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to be real. Publish that article, design that workshop, or post that introduction. Sharing your work is what makes you ready.

Step 5: Build Value Streams

Once your work is out there, you’ll want it to last. That means designing value streams — multiple ways to keep your purpose sustainable.

These include:

Income streams: how you get paid for your contribution.

Learning streams: how you keep growing.

Relational streams: people who support and ground you.

Impact streams: how you give back.

Health streams: what keeps you balanced and well.

Together, they form a system that keeps your business — and your energy — strong.

You can learn more about Charlie Rogers and his undefinable life design framework, here.

Building a meaningful business is one thing. Protecting it is another.

When you start from zero, your work slowly takes shape online: a website, a domain name, your first business email, a social media page to share what you do, maybe a few tools to manage payments, newsletters, or client data. Piece by piece, you’re building the digital version of your dream.

And just like your time, energy, and ideas, these digital foundations deserve protection. Safeguard your website from breaches, your inbox from scams, your social accounts from impersonators, and your clients’ information from leaks — from the very beginning.

Start your new business with equal amounts of enthusiasm and security in mind.

This article is brought to you by Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. It is part of our Owning It series, celebrating the legacy of the Women’s Business Ownership Act and the women who continue to shape business today.

We believe your ideas deserve to be safe from the very beginning, and that’s why we’re offering a special 30% discount for female entrepreneurs throughout October.

Use this link to claim your offer.