Introduction: The Solitary Path of Truth

In a world seduced by illusion and performance, the honest man—or in this case, the honest solopreneur—carries a burden that appears heavier than most. Alan Watts reminds us that while honesty often incurs social and material costs, it offers a kind of inner lightness no lie can replicate. For creators, especially those operating solo in the online business world, this paradox is both a warning and an invitation.

This post explores the painful cost and profound freedom of choosing honesty in your business, your content, and your creative identity. It connects deeply to my personal journey—from the high-stakes ethical compromises I faced as a banker, to building a GPT ecosystem that thrives on truth and transformation.

1. What Is Honesty, Really?

Honesty is often misunderstood as mere factual correctness or brutal opinion-sharing. But Watts redefines it as alignment—when your outer expression and inner experience are not at war. For the solopreneur, this means creating products, content, and client interactions that reflect your actual values—not what the market demands or what your competitors promise.

From Banker to Builder

In banking, I often faced moments when customers offered incentives to bend rules. The pressure to say yes—to please, to profit, to smooth over obstacles—was immense. Saying no, even quietly, made me an outsider. But every time I chose integrity, I felt more grounded in myself.

Today, that same principle guides my work with IMMachines. No algorithm, no automation is worth sacrificing alignment.

2. The Solopreneur’s Temptation: The Mask of Success

In a noisy digital world, the temptation to exaggerate results, copy trends, or curate a more successful image is enormous. Many creators build their businesses on performance. They sell success they haven’t fully embodied. And this mask, like Watts says, grows heavier with time.

Authenticity vs Performance

Authenticity is not vulnerability porn or being endlessly raw online. It’s a quiet, consistent truth-telling. It’s about:

  • Offering services you can actually deliver.
  • Pricing based on value, not just market averages.
  • Marketing that mirrors your actual process—not an idealised version.

I have created GPT’s that are useful to me in my business and that I actually use. Without them my productivity would be severely limited. By using them, it also helps me to improve them when they fall short of what I want to create.

3. The Cost of Honesty in the Marketplace

Being honest may mean slower growth. Fewer followers. Losing clients who want shortcuts.

But the rewards are:

  • Clients who stay.
  • Offers that don’t need constant tweaking.
  • Peace in your nervous system.

Your honesty acts like a tuning fork—it may repel many, but it deeply resonates with the right few. These are the people who become evangelists, not just customers.

The Long Arc of Integrity

Watts describes how truth may delay success but accelerates sustainability. Lies will inevitably surface and once trust is lost, it cannot easily be regained.

4. The Burden Is the Beacon

Watts beautifully says: “The burden you carry becomes your teacher.” In business, the burden of honesty shapes your positioning, pricing, partnerships, and products.

Every time you:

  • Say no to a shady deal
  • Turn down a misaligned client
  • Write content that feels scary in its transparency
    You are choosing to build on rock, not sand.

This is why honesty feels heavy—it is. But it’s not dead weight; it’s foundational mass. There is also lightness in not having to remember a lie, which can often lead onto more lies.

5. A System for Operating with Honesty

To integrate honesty as a solopreneur, build a personal system. Here’s one:

The L.E.A.D. Framework for Honest Creation

  • L = Listen: Track your physical and emotional signals when making business decisions. Does your body constrict or expand?
  • E = Examine: Ask: Is this aligned with my core truth or my core fear?
  • A = Articulate: Speak your truth in a way that honours others. Honesty is not cruelty.
  • D = Deliver: Act on what you say. Integrity is measured in consistency.

6. Pricing Honesty

You may wonder: Can truth sell? The answer is yes, but not to everyone.

Price your offers in alignment with:

  • The actual transformation delivered
  • Your energetic boundaries
  • Your audience’s readiness—not their fear

People will pay more for what feels deeply real—even if they don’t understand why. Honesty has resonance.

7. Honesty as a Magnet for Manifestation

Watts suggests that truth aligns us with reality, and in doing so, life begins to respond. He’s right.

When you’re honest:

  • Your offers take less effort to explain.
  • Your people find you without constant hustle.
  • Your work builds over time instead of burning you out.

The universe does not reward the loudest voice—it responds to the clearest signal.

8. What Happens When You Choose the Lie?

Choosing dishonesty seems easier. It wins attention, sometimes revenue. But it also:

  • Fragments your sense of self
  • Attracts needy or misaligned clients
  • Requires more energy to maintain

Over time, you lose yourself to the role you’re playing. As I saw in banking, the cost of the lie grows faster than the reward.

One example of this was, after several years of being in the bank, I sat next to a colleague who I had not seen for many years. He had followed a similar career path to me. As we talked about our lives, I realised that, whilst having a similar income to me, he was enjoying a much better lifestyle – yacht, private schools for his children, big house etc. I asked him how he did it and he fobbed me off with an explanation. Several years further on, it turned out that, as a bank manager, he was lending money to himself through fictitious businesses. He went to prison for his dishonesty.

Some time later, I met him again after he was out of prison and he told me that he had taken accounting exams whilst in prison and was now the financial controller of a coach business! True story.

9. Honesty in Relationships: Clients, Collaborators, and Self

True connection grows when you:

  • Share uncomfortable truths with clients (like saying “this won’t work”)
  • Decline opportunities that aren’t soul-aligned
  • Tell yourself the truth about what you want

Honesty builds trust slowly—but it anchors it deeply.

10. Freedom Through Truth

Watts ends with a powerful vision: Honesty transforms burden into wings.

In your business:

  • Let truth lead your copy, not persuasion tricks.
  • Let integrity define your brand, not aesthetics alone.
  • Let authenticity filter your audience, not vanity metrics.

You will be lighter. Freer. Seen—truly seen—by those who matter.

And when you’re no longer playing a part, you finally get to play for real.

In researching about the deep state for the last 10 years or so, I have discovered that when I reveal my research to other people and it challenges their core beliefs, inevitably it creates separation. I have been called ‘dangerous’ and even ‘insane’. However, the truth once seen, cannot be unseen. Disclosure becomes the only path to freedom.

Final Word: Truth Is the Ultimate Brand

To be an honest solopreneur is not a marketing angle—it’s a metaphysical commitment. It shapes everything, from the systems you build to the soul you bring. It may look like a heavier burden, but over time, it is the only one that lightens your path.

So I ask you, as Watts might: Are you ready to carry the truth, not because it’s easy, but because it’s real?

Because if you are—the universe, your business, and your soul will meet you there.

There is a saying ‘ Wherever you go, there you are’. You cannot escape yourself, your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. If you cannot escape yourself, make sure that whoever you are, you can live with yourself without losing sleep. Peace of mind is critically important to enjoying life and money cannot buy it! This is why honesty and integrity are core values that guide me.