Monday morning, Eric woke early. He didn't need an alarm clock; the birds chirping outside did the trick—and there were plenty of them around the cabin. It was, after all, built to correlate with the wildlife and the surroundings.

Showered and dressed, he hopped in his truck and set out to the job site, but first he needed to stop at the coffee shop and get his usual: a large coffee, one cream, no sugar. As usual, the shop was busy with regulars—mostly guys like him stopping in to grab coffee and a breakfast sandwich or donut. He whipped his truck into a parking spot next to a much newer truck with a professional logo he recognized. Must be the crew building the apartment complex across the street, he thought, knowing they had a fleet of work trucks, a perk they were able to offer their employees.

“Hey, Joe,” he said, recognizing a carpenter who he'd gotten to know enough to speak to whenever they saw each other. “How's it going?”

“Can't complain. And you? How's business treating you? Staying busy?”

“Yeah, finishing up an addition this week. If you hear of anything, though, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know.”

“Will do, Eric,” Joe replied. It was a courtesy his company sometimes extended. After all, the company was working on a big project, one that would take months to complete. They didn't have the time to mess with smaller jobs and were happy to pass them on to smaller businesses like Eric's that weren't a threat to their customer base.

After stirring his coffee, Eric walked to the counter and paid for it. Deciding not to splurge on breakfast, he thanked the cashier and walked out the door.

“Hey, Eric!”

Seeing Joe standing next to his truck, Eric walked over.

“I almost forgot—some of the fellas and I are going to stop at Smitty's Wednesday night to watch the game. You're welcome to join us if you'd like.”

“Wednesday? Sure, I'll try to make it. Thanks for asking me,” Eric replied.

“All right. See ya then!” Joe said before climbing into his truck and taking off.

Thinking that it would be nice to get out of the house and hang out with the guys for a change, Eric drove to the job site. The shingles were strategically placed across the roof, ready to begin. Suddenly, Eric was glad he had lined up a couple of helpers—roofing was hard work, especially when the afternoon sun was beating down. Sure, their wages would dip into his profits, but this was one time when it was worth it.

Inside, he busied himself with mudding the drywall, hoping to make some headway before his workers came. They were two brothers, neither of whom had a full‐time job. However, they were happy with side jobs—whenever they needed a few bucks, they got the word out that they were looking for work. Eric had worked with them before and liked them. They did good work; they just lacked ambition.

Thinking about that reminded him of the token, which at the last minute this morning he had slipped into his pocket. Illuminate. He really wished he knew what that meant—he didn't have a clue what Carl and his buddies were referring to. Pulling out the token, he looked at it quickly before climbing up the ladder. Maybe it will just come to me, he thought.

The day passed quickly, just as it always does when you're busy. His helpers actually had to point out to him that it was quitting time. Looking at his phone, he saw that it was five o'clock on the dot. They are punctual, yes—ambitious, no, Eric thought with a smile.

“Thanks a lot, guys,” he said. “We're just about done, so I can take it from here. I'll stop by and pay you after I run to the bank.”

Packing his tools, he secured the job site and headed to the nearest bank branch to cash a check. He was feeling productive and proud of a good honest day's work, until he saw the balance in his checkbook—a reminder that even taking pride in doing a good job was sometimes not enough.

I need to get serious about figuring out how to boost my business. Maybe Carl and Grandpa's business gurus can help, if I put my mind to it.

The token in his pocket was nagging at him. Illuminate. Maybe that meant he needed to advertise and promote his business better, kind of like Joe's company with their big white trucks and bright red logos. Anyone who drove past them could identify who they worked for.

But Eric knew that was a catch‐22. He couldn't afford those trucks and that kind of marketing until he started getting more work and bringing in more money. Again, he let the thought slide, hoping he'd somehow figure out this business tip and how it applied to him.

* * *

Eric spent the next two days sanding the drywall and finishing the roof. On Thursday, he'd clean up and make his final inspection, ensuring that no detail had been overlooked. Standing back, he admired his work, knowing that the homeowner would be happy with it, too.

At the last minute, he almost decided not to join Joe and the guys at Smitty's but then figured it might be a good idea. They all talked shop when they got together, and it might be a good way for him to pick up some leads on work. His calendar was wide open starting Friday.

Showered and changed, he walked into the neighborhood sports bar, where he spotted Joe and a few others sitting at a table and surrounded by wall‐to‐wall televisions.

“Hey, guys,” he said, reaching out to shake hands.

“Glad you made it, Eric. Sit down,” one of them said, pulling a chair out.

The group joked with the table next to them while watching the game for a while before talk turned to work.

“You got anything lined up yet, Eric?” Joe asked.

“No, not yet. I just wish I could figure out how to keep the work flowing without breaks. Don't get me wrong; something will come up—it always does. It would be nice to keep it steady, though. How do you guys always manage to have work?”

“Hey don't look at me—I don't get the jobs. I just do them. The guy you need to talk to is—hey, Saul, come here, will you?” he yelled across to the next table. “Eric here has something to ask you.”

“Oh no, that's not necessary,” Eric said, but his argument was futile. Joe's boss, Saul, was already headed to their table.

“‘Talk to Saul—he loves to talk business. I swear that's what he'd do 24/7 if he could,” Joe laughed. “Here, he can have my seat—I'm going to go grab a sandwich.”

“Hello, Eric. Joe said you have a question. How can I help you?”

“Well, it's really nothing. I was just talking to Joe and complaining about not having work lined up. I didn't mean for him to bother you,” Eric said.

“It's not a bother at all. So what's the problem?”

“I don't know, really. I try to do my best, and my customers say they're very happy with my work. But it's a struggle to get the next job lined up. And then I usually have to reduce my costs or fees to be the low bid. I don't get it—my customers are happy. I always try to meet every deadline, and I do good work. I thought if you worked hard, took pride in your work, and aimed to please, the business would come. But after eight years, nothing has changed.”

“Hmmm, well, Eric, I think you're on to something,” Saul said.

“I am? Good! Tell me what it is, please.”

“You're telling me everything that you're doing right. And that's all good. But there are a lot of construction companies, and I hope most of them are doing things right, too. That means that you're no different than them … and you still haven't figured out what the problem is.”

“Bingo. How can I do that?”

“Listen to what I said. You haven't figured out what the problem is. Eric, you're focusing on everything that you're doing right, but if you want to find out why your business isn't growing, you should be doing the opposite—focusing on what you're not doing right.”

“Huh? I don't get it,” Eric said, confused.

“You know what you're doing right, son. That part is easy. But if you want to grow your business, you have to figure out why you're not getting the business. You already know why people want to hire you. Now you have to figure out why they aren't. Shine some light on that and you'll have your answer.”

It was an aha moment. Like a light bulb going on in his head, Eric got it. Illuminate! Carl and his rich friends weren't talking about billboards or neon signs—they were referring to something mental. He'd been so worried about making sure everything was “right” with his work that he hadn't even entertained the idea that anything could be wrong. If he could discover what things were wrong, he would then be able to fix them.

“Do you have any idea what some of these problems might be?” he asked the older, wiser businessman.

“I've heard great things about your work, Eric. My guess is the problem doesn't have anything at all to do with what you do or how you do it. No, I'm willing to bet that the problem isn't in your talent or your skill. It's in your head. If you want your business to grow, you have to have the mind‐set that allows it to happen. It's all about focusing on what you don't know, learning about it, and eliminating your obstacles.”

“Illuminate,” Eric said. “It means that I cannot grow until I figure out what's holding me back and addressing that first. It's kind of like the saying ‘what you don't know can't hurt you,’ but in reality, what you don't know can hurt you!”

Excited, Eric quickly threw a tip on the table, shook Saul's hand and thanked him profusely, and waved goodbye to Joe. He was in a hurry to get home and do some research on his laptop.

It was time to shed some light and focus on what was holding him back. Only then would he be able to move past it and build a business his grandfather would have been proud of.

And when he was done, he had an email to write to his friend, Carl Vaughn.