Filing Guys vs. Carnies: Understanding Your Identity to Protect Your Treasure

You know the feeling. It is 2:00 AM. You are staring at the ceiling. A phantom email notification pings in the back of your brain. Did you send that contract? Did you follow up with the lead from Tuesday? As a 1099 professional, you are the pilot and the mechanic. You are responsible for every nut and bolt of your business. This autonomy is why we chose this life, but it often comes with a hidden cost: “The Welded Car Door.” You feel trapped in a vehicle that is moving fast, but you cannot get out to check the map.

In the world of Mentally Awake, we call this state being “Mentally Unconscious.” It is the “hamster wheel” where busyness is confused for business. You are working hard. You are exhausted. Yet, your “Treasure” is leaking. Your “Resources” (Pillar 3) are being drained by non-revenue busywork. To fix this, we have to look under the hood at how you are built. We have to identify if you are a “Filing Guy” or a “Carny.”

The Two Identities of the 1099 Pro

Every entrepreneur sits somewhere on a spectrum of cognitive organization. We use the metaphor of “The Filing Guys” and “The Carnies” to explain these defaults.

The Filing Guys are the natural architects. They love a clean CRM. They have color-coded calendars. They find peace in a well-organized spreadsheet. If they were in a traditional office, they would be the ones with the label maker. In the 1099 world, their strength is Pillar 4: Organization. However, their weakness is often “Analysis Paralysis.” They can spend six hours “curating” their task list and zero hours actually doing the work. They mistake the map for the journey.

The Carnies are the natural visionaries. They are high-energy and high-autonomy. They are the ones who can walk into a room and close a deal on a cocktail napkin. Their minds are like a vibrant carnival. There are bright lights, loud music, and fifty things happening at once. While they are great at Process 1: Vision, they often lack the “Second Brain” required to keep the business stable. If a Carny takes a day off, the business often stops moving. They are “chaotic hustlers” who eat what they kill, but they often leave a trail of half-finished projects in their wake.

We must understand that neither is “better.” Both identities are necessary for a successful business. However, if you do not know which one you lean toward, you are likely operating in the dark.

The High Cost of Unconsciousness

When we ignore our natural tendencies, we leak “Resources.” For the 1099 professional, resources are your Time, Talent, and Treasure.

If you are a Carny who refuses to build a “Second Brain,” you are wasting your “Talent” on remembering administrative details. You are using your high-powered creative mind to track invoices. This is a poor use of your most valuable asset. This leads to a lack of Pillar 2: Resilience. When the chaos becomes too much, you burn out. You stop being a business owner and start being a victim of your own success.

If you are a Filing Guy who lacks “Process 3: Focus,” you are leaking “Treasure.” You might spend your most energetic hours on “Organization” tasks that don’t actually bill. You are protecting your calendar, but you aren’t protecting your billable hours. You feel organized, but your bank account tells a different story.

This is the “Mental Unconsciousness” trap. We become so busy being ourselves that we forget to run the business. We forget that the goal is not to be a “perfect filer” or a “prolific carny.” The goal is to reach our “Destinations” (Process 2).

Three Tools for the Mentally Awake Entrepreneur

To move from a “chaotic hustler” to a stable business owner, we need to bridge the gap between these two identities. Here are three specific “Tools” grounded in the Mentally Awake Processes.

Tool 1: The Archery Target (Process 2: Goals) Grab a piece of paper right now. Draw a simple archery target with three rings. In the center, write your “Destination Goal” for the next 90 days. For the Filing Guy, this goal must be revenue-based to pull you out of the spreadsheets. For the Carny, this goal provides the “Direction” (Pillar 1) needed to stop the distractions. If a task does not hit the center of that target, it is non-revenue busywork. Review this target every single morning before you open your email.

Tool 2: The Two-Minute Rule (Process 4: Action) This is the ultimate tool for the Carny. If a task takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. Don’t add it to a list. Don’t “think about it later.” This prevents the “administrative debt” that keeps you up at night. For the Filing Guy, use this rule to stop over-planning. If you can send that invoice in two minutes, do it now instead of scheduling a time to do it later.

Tool 3: Time Blocking for “Deep Work” (Process 3: Focus) Review your calendar for the coming week. Identify your “Peak Energy” hours. For most of us, this is the morning. Block out two hours of “Deep Work” where you turn off all notifications. This is where you do the work that actually generates “Treasure.” For the Carny, this block provides the “Organization” (Pillar 4) you lack. For the Filing Guy, it provides the “Action” (Process 4) you often delay.

Does This Spark Joy?

Take a moment to breathe. Ask yourself: “How will it feel to have a business that doesn’t die when I take a day off?”

The goal of the Mentally Awake system is to give you your life back. We want to move you from the “hamster wheel” to a place of “Achievement” (Process 5). This isn’t about being perfect. As we often say, “done is better than perfect.” It is about being “Mentally Awake.” It is about choosing your actions instead of reacting to your environment.

Zig Ziglar once said that you cannot make progress without a clear goal. We want to help you define that goal and build the “Second Brain” to support it. Whether you have a filing cabinet or a carnival in your head, there is a path to stability.

Your First Step Toward Stability

You cannot fix what you cannot measure. You need to know exactly where your “Resources” are leaking. You need to know if your “Unconsciousness” is costing you time or money.

We have developed a specific assessment to help you identify your gaps in the 5 Pillars and 5 Processes. It will show you exactly where you stand on the path to becoming Mentally Awake.

See your score. Identify your “Identity.” Start building the business you actually want to own. It is time to stop the hustle and start the achievement. We are in this together. Let’s wake up.