As a leader, there are times when your plate is so full and your to-do lists are so long that the mere thought of stepping away feels impossible. But what if pressing pause is exactly what you need to gain the clarity and motivation to take your mission to the next level?
Josh Forti is no stranger to the demands of leadership, but he’s learned the power of strategic disengagement. In this thought-provoking episode of The Beacon Show, he shares his journey of unlearning hustle culture, embracing simplicity, and keeping his priorities aligned with God’s calling.
Josh Forti is an entrepreneur podcast host and online marketing expert who has generated over $20 million in revenue, run an audience of over 10 million on Instagram, and whose podcast has had over 1.5 million downloads.
But beyond the impressive numbers, Josh is a man who has walked through the refining fire of adversity. From losing his brother in a tragic accident to watching his business crumble beneath him, Josh has faced his share of dark nights of the soul.
In those moments, Josh had to confront the parts of his identity that were wrapped up in external accomplishments and learn to ground his worth in Christ alone.
Through inner work and wise counsel, he emerged with a renewed focus and faith, ready to rebuild in alignment with God’s calling on his life. Now, Josh uses his platform to help equip other entrepreneurs to pursue God-given success without losing themselves in the process. With vulnerability and conviction, he shares lessons learned about the power of a strong identity, the freedom found in simplicity, and the importance of making room for rest and reflection.
In this honest conversation, Josh pulls back the curtain on his own journey of unlearning hustle culture, creating healthy rhythms, and keeping the main thing the main thing. Whether you’re feeling the weight of leadership battling burnout, or simply sensing God inviting you to step back and reevaluate, Josh’s story will embolden you to embrace the power of pause.
Get ready for a perspective-shifting dialogue on what it means to build a life and business that honor your truest priorities, even if that means doing less to ultimately achieve more.
Watch or listen to Josh’s full interview on YouTube and Apple Podcasts!
Life Before Christ: Choosing Monetary Gain Over Faith
Today, Josh Forti is passionate about making Jesus known in everything he does. But that wasn’t always the case. Rather, Josh says he — like many Christians today — grew up understanding “a skewed version of who Jesus really is.”
Josh’s childhood experience of religion in a small town in Indiana was characterized by strict rules and a leadership that discouraged asking questions. After graduating high school, Josh left in search of something more — and, for a time, that meant walking away from the faith he had been taught.
“I never said, ‘oh, God isn’t real,’ or ‘I don’t believe in Him,’” Josh explains. “I simply put Him on the back burner, because I didn’t understand who He was. I didn’t have a real relationship with Him.”
Lured by the glimmer of earthly success and financial freedom, Josh devoted himself entirely to entrepreneurship. And Josh was very successful — until it all came crashing down.
The Refining Fires of Tragedy, Confusion, and Lack of Identity
By earthly definitions, Josh had built an amazing career. He had a huge social media following with high engagement levels, and his agency was generating tens of thousands of dollars in revenue every month.
But despite those external accomplishments, Josh felt hollow and unfulfilled. Entrepreneurship had become all-consuming to him, trapping him in a constant cycle of hustling and grinding to achieve more and fuel his sense of self-worth.
But when Josh’s brother was killed in a tragic accident, Josh’s perspective shifted. “The whole identity of wanting to be an entrepreneur, to have a $100 million company and be famous, meant nothing,” he realized.
That realization set Josh on a journey in search of clarity, peace, and the true meaning of success.
He sold his company and left to travel the world with his wife, but a sudden health crisis cut the trip short and drained his savings account. In just under a year, he had gone from seemingly having it all to having almost nothing.
“How did I end up here?”
Lost and confused, Josh hired a coach, who asked him one simple but profound question: “Who are you?”
“That was probably the most powerful question that I’ve ever been asked,” Josh says in retrospect.
Josh’s journey had only just begun, but now he had a sense of direction: he needed to uncover his true identity.
Finding Freedom and Purpose in Christ
The journey to rebuild Josh’s identity took several months of laser-focused work. “Nothing else in the world mattered except for figuring out the answer to the question of ‘who am I?’” Josh recalls.
By the end of that focused period, Josh had not only come to a better understanding of himself and regained a sense of normalcy, but he had also taken the first steps back into faith and a belief that God had a purpose for his life.
However, something was still missing: an understanding of what his purpose was, and a direct relationship with Jesus.
Then, while watching a televised worship service one night, Josh encountered Jesus in an earth-shattering moment of clarity and surrender. In that moment, Josh felt the presence of Jesus and understood that it was time to turn over his life — all of it — to Jesus Himself.
“That’s when my life changed,” Josh says. “I woke up the next day and was like, ‘I know what to do now.’ For the first time, I felt like I had purpose and I had identity. Who is Josh Forti? I am a child of God saved by Him. I’m loved by Jesus.”
Filled with renewed hope and purpose, Josh rebuilt his life and career. Now, he strives to point other Christians to the hope and freedom that can only come through a relationship with Jesus.
“My entire life has been driven by freedom,” Josh reflects. “I just wanted to be free. And I did not find freedom until I found Christ. And the paradox of freedom is that you cannot have freedom without full surrender.”
Keys to a Successful, God-Centered Business
Josh’s journey has led him from the heights of prosperity to the depths of despair and back into the light of freedom. Through it all, he has learned valuable lessons about building a truly successful, God-centered business.
Step Away to Gain Clarity
Without clarity on who you are and what you are called to do, it is difficult to lead others. So instead of continuing to muddy the waters by keeping his nose to the grindstone, Josh has learned to step away and seek God’s guidance when he finds himself uncertain about how to move forward.
For many leaders, the idea of taking time off is anxiety-inducing. Many people fear that if they step away from their business, they will fall behind and will never be able to catch up.
But sometimes, taking time off is the only way to gain the clarity we need to simplify our to-do lists and focus on what truly matters. Because the key to earning and achieving more with our time isn’t about doing more — it’s actually about doing less.
“If you just knew the two or three things that yielded 80-90% of all your results, you’d be able to quit 80% of what you do,” Josh says.
Focus on Your Identity
When it comes to managing time effectively and growing a profitable business without compromising your personal life, Josh says it all comes back to identity.
“Most entrepreneurs do not want to build a business,” Josh says. “Most entrepreneurs want to build a life. And they want to find a skill set and a business that allows them to go and build that life.”
Building that desired life and business requires us to reframe how we think about the process of change. Instead of focusing on what you need to cut out, think about who you need to become and the kind of life you want to design for yourself.
For example, if you want to prioritize fitness, ask yourself: what does a person who prioritizes fitness do? What habits do they practice? What aspects of your identity and daily life will you need to change in order to become that type of person?
Choose the Right Team
A core element of effective leadership is the ability to choose the right people to support your efforts. Without a capable team — and without investing the funds to compensate them for the value they provide — your business will struggle to reach its full potential.
“A good assistant fundamentally changed my life,” Josh says. Not only does having a high-quality team of specialists free him from time-consuming tasks, but it also allows him to benefit from others’ expertise instead of relying on his own limited knowledge.
Building such a team requires trust, delegation skills, and — of course — money, but it’s well worth the investment.
Cultivating a Healthy Mindset About Money and Ministry
Many Christian leaders and entrepreneurs hesitate to charge for their services, fearful that doing so will mean they are elevating a love for money over their love for God.
While this is a valid concern, it doesn’t have to prevent us from building a God-honoring business and achieving financial freedom.
For Josh, cultivating a healthy relationship with money began with reframing his understanding of what money really is. “I don’t believe money is good and I don’t believe money is bad,” he says now. “I believe it is. It’s just a reflection of value that was created.”
It’s a matter of perspective, of shifting your ultimate goal from making money to providing genuine value to the world and exchanging that value for money.
The reality is that we need money to survive, and that people are more than willing to pay for something that solves real problems they are facing. And when we achieve financial success through honest work, we are better able to use the money we have earned to create opportunities for others as well as for ourselves.
“The best way to impact the lives of other people is to be a living, breathing example of what is possible because of who you are,” Josh says in closing. “I want people to know that no matter where you’re at right now, no matter what you’re going through or what you’re struggling with, you can create freedom in your life if you’re willing to surrender and do the work.”
About Josh Forti
Josh Forti is an entrepreneur and podcast host. He has generated 20 million+ in revenue, grown 10 million+ followers on Instagram, and has generated 1.5 million+ downloads on his podcast. He is the founder of the Golden Mic Method, a revolutionary way to get high ticket clients from a podcast.
Visit Josh’s website here. Connect with Josh on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
