I'm The Real Jason Duncan, back with another edition of Beyond the Grind – showing entrepreneurs how to stop being slaves to their own businesses and start building assets that run without them. 🚀

At our 2025 Exiter Club retreat in Gatlinburg, TN, something struck me about the experience: I wasn't buried in logistics, worried about last-minute details, or scrambling to handle business emergencies before I could focus on our members.

My team had everything handled.

The retreat ran smoothly not because I was micromanaging every detail, but because we'd built systems and developed people who could execute without me hovering over their shoulders.

That shift didn't happen by accident.

It happened because I finally understood what a young French philosopher named Étienne de La Boétie – or "E.B." as we've been calling him – wrote five hundred years ago:

"Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed."

Not "build better systems first."

Not "wait for the right circumstances."

Not "start small and gradually work your way up to freedom."

Just decide. Stop serving. Be free.

E.B. understood something most entrepreneurs miss: freedom doesn't begin with changing your circumstances.

It begins with changing your mind.

The entrepreneur who knows exactly what they need to do but keeps finding reasons to delay isn't waiting for the right strategy.

They're waiting to make a decision they've been avoiding.

The decision to stop serving the very business they built to set them free.

What Withdrawing Consent Actually Means

Here's the thing most people don't get about E.B.'s insight: there's a massive difference between knowing you're trapped and deciding you won't participate in your own captivity anymore.

I know "withdrawing consent" might sound like philosophical jargon, but it's actually very practical.

It means you stop playing the role you've built for yourself as the indispensable center of everything.

I've talked to hundreds of entrepreneurs who can perfectly describe their voluntary servitude.

They know they're the bottleneck.

They know their business would be more valuable without their daily involvement.

They can even outline exactly what they'd need to do to fix it.

But knowing and choosing to stop playing that role are two completely different things.

Stopping the role means you quit saying "I should probably delegate more" and start saying "I refuse to be the only person who can handle this client."

It means you stop thinking "Maybe next quarter I'll hire an operations manager" and start thinking "I will not spend another month being personally responsible for every decision in this company."

It's the difference between "I really need to document our processes" and "I refuse to let critical business knowledge live only in my head."

See the shift? It's not about strategy anymore. It's about identity.

Most entrepreneurs resist this step because being needed feels like being valuable.

The client who "only trusts you" makes you feel special. The crisis that "only you can solve" makes you feel important.

Withdrawing consent means giving up the drug of being indispensable.

And that's harder than most people want to admit.

Three Ways to Stop Playing That Role This Week

From here on, instead of saying 'withdraw consent' – which sounds pretty academic – let me talk about what this really means in plain terms: you need to stop playing the role you've built for yourself as the indispensable center of everything.

Here's where the rubber meets the road.

Stopping the role isn't just a mental exercise – it requires specific actions that prove to yourself you're serious about this decision.

Here are three ways you can stop playing that role starting this week:

#1: Pick One Decision and Refuse to Make It

Choose one type of decision that currently lands on your desk and declare that you will not make it anymore.

Not "I should delegate this" but "I refuse to be the person who decides this."

Maybe it's approving expenses under $500.

Maybe it's scheduling team meetings.

Maybe it's responding to customer service complaints.

Tell your team: "Starting Monday, I will not make decisions about X anymore. Here's who will handle it, and here's the framework they'll use."

The key is picking something you do regularly so you'll be forced to stick to your decision multiple times this week.

#2: Transfer One Client Relationship

Identify the client who "only trusts you" and refuse to let that continue.

Not gradually – decisively.

Email them this week: "I want to introduce you to Sarah, who will be your primary point of contact moving forward. She has full authority to handle everything you need."

Then stick to it.

When they call you directly, redirect them.

When they ask for you specifically, remind them that Sarah is their person now.

Your discomfort with this step is exactly the point.

You're stopping the role of being the only person this client can rely on.

#3: Document One Process and Remove Yourself

Pick something you do that "only you know how to do" and refuse to let that remain true.

Spend two hours this week documenting exactly how you handle it. Not a rough outline – a step-by-step process someone else can follow.

Then train someone else to do it and stop doing it yourself.

The goal isn't perfection.

The goal is proving to yourself that you can choose to not be indispensable.

What This Looks Like in Practice

At our 2025 Exiter Club retreat, I experienced living proof that withdrawing consent actually works.

The retreat involved dozens of moving parts – logistics, content, member coordination, travel arrangements.

Five years ago, I would have been the hub for all of it.

Every decision would have run through me.

Every detail would have required my approval.

Instead, my team handled the planning.

They coordinated with the venue.

They managed member communications.

They packed materials, arranged transportation, and solved problems I never even heard about.

I showed up as the leader and teacher, not the logistics coordinator and crisis manager.

That shift happened because I made specific decisions to stop playing the role of being the center of operations.

I stopped playing the role of the person who books hotels.

I stopped being the only one who could communicate with our members.

I refused to let retreat planning depend on my personal involvement in every detail.

It wasn't gradual. It was decisive.

The first time I stepped back from managing an event like this, it felt uncomfortable.

My brain kept telling me I needed to check on things, make sure nothing was falling through the cracks, take control "just to be safe."

But every time I resisted that urge and trusted my team instead, I proved to myself that my value isn't measured by how much I control.

It's measured by what I enable others to accomplish.

That's what stopping the role feels like in practice.

It's not a theory – it's a lived reality that creates space for you to do the work only you can do.

The Internal Resistance

Here's what nobody tells you about stopping this role: your brain will fight you every step of the way.

The moment you decide to stop being the center of everything, a voice in your head will start whispering lies: "What if they mess it up? What if the client gets upset? What if something important gets missed?"

That voice isn't protecting you. It's protecting the part of you that gets a hit of dopamine every time someone says "I need you to handle this."

When I stopped personally managing our retreat logistics, my brain went crazy for the first few events. I'd catch myself checking on details I'd already delegated. I'd ask "Are you sure everything's covered?" when I knew my team was more than capable.

That resistance isn't logical – it's emotional. It's your identity fighting for survival.

The entrepreneur who's been the hero for years doesn't just need to learn new systems. They need to learn how to sit with the discomfort of not being needed for everything.

And here's the thing: that discomfort is temporary. The relief is permanent.

Every time you resist the urge to jump back into control, you prove to yourself that your worth isn't tied to your availability. Every time you let someone else handle something you used to own, you create space for the work that actually moves your business forward.

But you have to be willing to stop playing the comfortable role of being indispensable.

Most entrepreneurs never make it past this step because they mistake the temporary discomfort of change for permanent danger to their business.

Don't make that mistake. The discomfort is just your old identity throwing a tantrum because it knows its days are numbered.

Words of Wisdom

"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." – Proverbs 16:9

The entrepreneur's heart plans to stay in control, to be indispensable, to keep all the decision-making power centralized around themselves.

But wisdom establishes different steps – steps that lead away from the role you've been playing and toward the freedom you actually want.

You can plan all day long to "gradually delegate more" or "eventually hire someone" or "start building systems next quarter."

But until you stop playing the role that keeps you trapped, those plans will keep failing.

God's steps for your business aren't about you being the hero of every story.

They're about you building something that serves others and creates value beyond your daily involvement.

The courage to stop playing the comfortable role of being needed? That comes from trusting that your worth isn't measured by how indispensable you are, but by what you enable others to accomplish.

Your Next Move

So here's your challenge this week: pick one of those three ways to stop playing the role and actually do it.

Don't think about it.

Don't plan to think about it.

Don't add it to your list of things to consider next quarter.

Just choose one and act.

Because E.B. was right: "Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed."

Your freedom is waiting on the other side of a role you've been playing for too long.

Until next time...

Go beyond the grind,

The Real Jason Duncan 🚀

Ready to stop playing the indispensable role that keeps you trapped? Learn proven strategies to build a business that runs without you through the #ExitWithoutExiting method. Join entrepreneurs who've successfully stepped back at The Exiter Club