Core to exit planning and the Value Acceleration Methodology™ is the Three Legs of the Stool concept, which calls on the business owner and the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) to align business, financial, and personal goals. Each leg of the stool signifies an area of success that contributes to the “Master Plan” as coined by Exit Planning Institute® (EPI) founder Peter Christman. Business planning and financial planning are self-explanatory, calling on the owner and CEPA to consider the goals for the business and the goals for their financials. Each leg has various models, such as the Wealth Gap, but they are all equally as important and all equally feed into a significant exit.
So, why does it often feel like the personal leg of the stool takes a backseat for business owners? If an owner spends much of their time entrenched in the business and financials, the personal aspect can not only feel less relevant, but also vague. What does personal planning actually mean?
According to EPI CEO Christopher Snider in Walking to Destiny, personal planning is powered by S.T.E.P.
That’s a great starting point to finding your center and engaging in truly holistic personal planning. As CEPA and founder of Exit to Excellence Jerome Myers puts it, personal planning looks forward rather than back.
“Personal planning is really the only opportunity that the founder has to look into the future and then make decisions today that are going to drive toward that future,” Jerome says. “I encourage people to come up with what they want to exit to, using the business and financial legs of the stool to support them in achieving their personal plan.”
Because the Three Legs of the Stool are so dependent on each other, even if the financial stool is strong on exit, if the personal plan isn’t there, there is potential for those financials to be squandered, and for that Wealth Gap (the difference between what the owner’s current wealth is and where it needs to be to achieve what they want) to widen.
“When founders don’t have a plan, they drift and, in that drift, they get on the Hedonic Treadmill, or Hedonic Adaptation, which is what causes them to burn through the capital that they were able to extract from the company when they exit,” Jerome explains. “This is the new norm for them. So, they get to a place where it feels like they’re in absolute abundance.”
However, just like on a treadmill, even if it feels like they’re getting somewhere with all this abundance, they are left without a purpose or personal plan. They return to the state of happiness, or unhappiness, they were in, despite their capital gains.
“They’ve lost their identity,” Jerome says.
Building on the S.T.E.P. model, Jerome introduces what he calls the Six Centers of Doubt. These are the areas where exiting founders most often feel lost, stuck, or uncertain as they navigate life after business ownership. These include:
If owners consider each of these six domains in their personal plan, accompanied with the insights and guidance of a CEPA and their dedicated exit planning team, they can more confidently achieve the life they want after their exit. Jerome’s approach helps founders neutralize these doubts and align their next chapter with purpose, rather than drifting into what he calls the Founder’s Exit Paradox.
“People often regret exiting their business because they exit from something without knowing what they’re exiting to,” Jerome says. “That’s the essence of the Founder’s Exit Paradox—the emotional and psychological disorientation that occurs when an owner achieves a financial win but feels personally lost.”
He continues, “This is why we focus on resolving the Six Centers of Doubt before the exit. When founders have clarity on who they are, how they want to live, and the legacy they’re building, the exit becomes a confident step forward instead of a painful unraveling of their identity. That’s the power of doing the personal work first.”
Despite knowing that each leg of the stool is equally important, there may still be some reluctance among owners to embrace a full personal plan. They might believe there is enough money to solve any problem, or they might not feel that another person can provide insight into their own personal goals.
According to Jerome, this is not uncommon. But it is an issue.
“It’s very difficult to read the label when you’re in the jar,” he says. “So, we think it’s best that you have an outside observer to help you understand the experience that you had and point out some of the beliefs that may be limiting you from stepping into the space that you’re supposed to be in.”
Overcoming this do-it-yourself belief can be challenging, but the reward pays off in more than money. With a strong personal plan, coupled together with financial and business plans, a business owner can be confident that they have aligned their Three Legs of the Stool, and taken the first steps toward creating a significant company.