Robin Waite joins Just Keep Learning to share lessons on wealth, Ikigai, pricing, and why fearlessness, not perfection, fuels real business growth.
Entrepreneurship is rarely a straight path. It’s full of pivots, lessons, and sometimes painful wake-up calls. In this conversation with Justin Nolan on the Just Keep Learning podcast, business coach and author Robin Waite shared his philosophy on wealth, happiness, entrepreneurship, and what it means to build a life and business aligned with values rather than just profit.
Justin Nolan is an educator, creator, and host of the top global show The Just Keep Learning Podcast, where he interviews thought leaders such as Brendan Kane, Cody Wanner, and Sister Helen Prejean. Having grown up in a funeral home and endured the devastating loss of his two younger brothers, Justin battled lifelong anxiety and panic attacks before transforming his pain into purpose. With a Masters in Education and an audience of over 100,000 followers, he now empowers others to turn chaos into clarity through writing, coaching, and storytelling. By sharing his own journey with grief, resilience, and growth mindset, Justin helps people find their voice, package their message, and make a living teaching what they love.
Robin began by reflecting on what he would say to a group of high school seniors preparing to enter the world. His advice was not about test scores or career ladders, but about four essential pillars often left out of the classroom:
Robin believes these four areas form the true foundation of adulthood, yet most young people leave school without guidance in any of them.
When it comes to happiness, Robin points to Ikigai, the Japanese philosophy of life purpose. It blends four elements:
Ikigai teaches that happiness is not about chasing money but aligning work with meaning and contribution. Even in retirement, the Japanese find “professions” such as volunteering to stay connected to this sense of purpose.
Robin also highlighted Ali Abdaal’s book Feel Good Productivity, which reframes productivity around joy, not just efficiency. When we design lives that fill us up instead of drain us, sustainability becomes natural.
Robin’s own career illustrates this lesson. He once ran a successful marketing agency with 150 clients, but the constant grind left him exhausted and unfulfilled. When he sold the business, he took time to reset, and accidentally discovered coaching by mentoring others.
Through this, he found his true passion: helping small business owners understand pricing and money mindset. By shifting clients away from charging for time and towards pricing based on value and outcomes, Robin empowers them to see their work, and themselves, as worth far more than they had imagined.
Robin often uses metaphors from surfing to explain business and life. Catching a wave requires the right conditions:
Without these, no amount of paddling will create momentum. In business, too many people exhaust themselves trying to paddle when the conditions aren’t right. Instead, downtime should be used to regroup, so when opportunity arrives, they’re ready to ride the wave.
Justin added his own metaphor from wakeboarding: speed doesn’t make the ride better, conditions do. Together, they emphasised the importance of creating environments where success can naturally build.
One of Robin’s most powerful exercises is asking people to imagine selling the final hour of their life. Most would price it in the millions because that last moment is priceless. His question is simple:
Why do we treat every other hour as worth so much less?
This reframing encourages entrepreneurs to stop undervaluing themselves. Wealth is not just about accumulating money but about elevating the value of our time and using it to do meaningful good.
Can anyone succeed as an entrepreneur? Robin believes yes, with the right mindset. But there are common traps:
He shared examples of would-be entrepreneurs paralysed by perfection, when simply borrowing a bucket to wash cars or testing demand for dog-wash stations could validate an idea.
Robin broke down a simple path to starting:
This iterative process saves time, money, and heartbreak.
Many entrepreneurs obsess over demographics, but Robin says true niching goes deeper:
For Robin, this means attracting clients who share his adventurous “fearless” streak, people who run ultra-marathons, surf waves, or camp in the wild. Identity-based niching ensures not just business fit, but cultural and emotional alignment.
Beyond strategy, Robin stressed the importance of guilt-free rest. In a culture obsessed with busyness, many entrepreneurs feel guilty stepping away. But rest is like training a muscle, it must be practised.
He recommends two simple practices:
These practices bring calm clarity and remind entrepreneurs they are more than their to-do lists.
Robin closed with his signature mantra: JFDI, Just Fucking Do It.
Too many people sit on ideas for years, fearing embarrassment or failure. In reality, even if something flops, people forget quickly, and you gain clarity. The only true regret is never trying.
Robin Waite’s fearless approach to life and business blends practical strategy with deep philosophy. From Ikigai to wealth, from catching waves to testing ideas, his message is clear: build a business that values your time, aligns with your identity, and leaves room for joy.
Because in the end, entrepreneurship isn’t just about profit, it’s about living fully, fearlessly, and on your own terms.
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