Issue 163, Part Time CEO Newsletter

Hey, it's Dhiren 👋,

This coming weekend I’m taking 13 founders on the Part-Time CEO Retreat

Three days. No distractions.
Deep work on their life and themselves.
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I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited.
This is my favorite work.
But as I prepare, one question keeps coming back:

What separates founders who take control of their year from those who let the year happen to them?

It’s not goals. Everyone has goals.
Revenue targets. Growth plans.
That “finally take a real vacation” promise they’ve made three years in a row.

It’s standards.

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🧠 Life Happens TO You When Standards Are Low

Most founders I work with don’t lack ambition.
They lack standards.
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Here’s the difference:
A goal is something you want to achieve.
A standard is the minimum you demand from yourself daily, weekly, permanently.

When your standards are low, you become reactive.
Your calendar fills with other people’s priorities.
Your week gets eaten by fires that shouldn’t have been fires.
You drift through months without meaningful progress, then wonder why nothing changed.
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You know what low standards look like?

• No clarity on what “good” actually means
• Accepting whatever shows up including clients, opportunities, meetings, without filtering
• Saying yes when you mean no because it’s easier in the moment

Without standards, goals become wishes.
And without clarity, life fills the vacuum for you.
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🧠 Standards Create Agency

Here's the mechanism nobody explains:
Standards shape identity. Identity shapes action. Action shapes results.

I learned this the hard way.

A few years ago I started working with a coach named Mark.
Our calls were at 4:00pm.
I knew Mark was particular about time.
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Most days I'd show up at 3:58, 3:59.
But the standard wasn't cemented.
I was giving myself leeway.

One day I showed up at 4:02.
I knew his rule.
But somewhere in my head, I figured it didn't apply to me.

I sat in the Zoom waiting room.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Thirty.
An hour.

Mark wasn't punishing me.
He was showing me something:
I thought I had high standards, but I'd been making exceptions for myself.

That one experience rewired me.
Now "you're late if you're on time" is how I operate.

I didn't set a goal to be more punctual.
I raised a standard.
The behavior followed.

Goals are directions.
Standards are infrastructure.
You need both, but standards come first

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Your Turn

Before you think about goals, pause and ask yourself:

• What am I no longer willing to tolerate
  ​What pattern has been draining me more than I admit
• What quality bar do I want to honor
  ​Where have I been settling for “good enough” because it felt easier
• What becomes my new baseline
  ​What simple action helps me feel grounded and consistent

This kind of reflection needs real space.
Not a rushed moment on January 1st.
Time where you can hear yourself think.

That might be three days at a retreat.
Or three quiet hours you protect from everything else.

It is the commitment that matters because you deserve a year that reflects who you are becoming, not who you have been.

🧭 Know a founder who needs to hear this?
Forward this. It could be the push they need.
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📢 Dhiren’s Updates

Part Time CEO Retreat prep is finally wrapped. 🙌🏽

The merch is packed, the 30 page journal is printed, and the giant, gorgeous 2026 Part Time CEO planner is sitting on my desk waiting to be handed out.

I spent this morning doing a last walkthrough of everything.
The room setups, the flow, the worksheets.
It is one of my favorite parts of running these retreats.
You can feel the shift before anyone even arrives.

The tools are ready.
Now we get to do the real work.

📌 Dhiren’s Pick of the Week

🎙️The High Performance Podcast​

The High Performance Podcast has been on my list for a few years, and everyone I trust says the same thing about it

High performers are not chasing goals
They are living by standards

The guests talk about the small things
How they prepare
How they recover
How they hold themselves when no one is watching

If you are thinking about raising your standards for the new year, this podcast is a solid place to start.

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ps: did someone forward this to you?​
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Cheers,