One Culprit: Finding Your Authentic Enemy

Understand It

Develop It

The Step-by-Step Process to Identify What Your Tribe Unites Against

Your culprit isn’t something you strategically select – it’s something you emotionally recognize. It’s what already makes you angry, frustrated, or disappointed about your industry or the world.

The process is about identifying and articulating the authentic enemy you’re already fighting, then building your world around that shared opposition.

Step 1: The Rage Audit

Start with what genuinely pisses you off about your industry, your market, or the conventional approaches in your space.

The Frustration Mapping Exercise

For one week, track every time you feel frustrated, angry, or disappointed by something you encounter in your professional world:

Industry Frustrations: What do you see others in your field doing that makes you angry?
Client Frustrations: What approaches or beliefs do potential clients bring that you have to constantly fight against?
Cultural Frustrations: What messages does society send that make your work harder?
Personal Frustrations: What beliefs or systems have personally limited or hurt you?

AI Prompt for Rage Analysis:

Here's what genuinely frustrates or angers me about my industry and the conventional approaches:

INDUSTRY IRRITATIONS: [Specific things others in your field do that make you angry]
CLIENT LIMITING BELIEFS: [Assumptions clients bring that you constantly have to overcome]
CULTURAL MESSAGES: [Societal beliefs that make your work harder]
PERSONAL WOUNDS: [Systems or beliefs that have personally hurt or limited you]

Help me identify:
1. What underlying philosophy or system connects these different frustrations?
2. What enemy or culprit is responsible for creating these problems?
3. How might this enemy be actively harming my ideal character type?
4. What would be a clear, memorable way to name this enemy?

Step 2: The Personal Wound Analysis

Your most powerful culprit often emerges from your own transformation story. What enemy did you have to overcome to become who you are today?

The Enemy Evolution Mapping

Past Enemy: What belief, system, or approach was holding you back before your transformation?
Battle Stories: What specific instances can you remember where this enemy harmed you or others you cared about?
Victory Moments: When did you first realize you could fight back against this enemy? What changed?
Ongoing Fight: How do you continue to encounter and fight this enemy today?

AI Prompt for Personal Enemy Analysis:

Here's my transformation story through the lens of enemies I've fought:

PAST LIMITATIONS: [What beliefs or systems were holding me back before]
SPECIFIC HARM: [Concrete examples of how this enemy hurt me or others]
BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS: [When I realized I could fight back]
CURRENT BATTLES: [How I still encounter this enemy today]

Help me identify:
1. What is the core enemy that my personal transformation was really about overcoming?
2. How does this personal enemy connect to what my character type is fighting?
3. What makes this enemy particularly insidious or harmful?
4. How might my victory over this enemy position me to help others fight the same battle?

Step 3: The Character Defense Analysis

Look at your One Character and identify what threatens them most. What enemy would your character naturally unite against?

The Threat Assessment Exercise

Based on your character’s identity, values, and aspirations:

Identity Threats: What attacks or undermines who they are?
Value Violations: What systems or approaches violate what they care about most?
Aspiration Barriers: What prevents them from becoming who they want to be?
Daily Encounters: What enemy do they face regularly in their current situation?

AI Prompt for Character Defense Analysis

My One Character is: [Your character definition]

Based on this character's identity, values, and situation:

IDENTITY THREATS: [What attacks who they are]
VALUE VIOLATIONS: [What goes against what they care about]
ASPIRATION BARRIERS: [What prevents them from becoming who they want to be]
DAILY ENEMY ENCOUNTERS: [What they fight against regularly]

Help me identify:
1. What enemy would this character type naturally unite against?
2. What threat does this enemy pose to what my character values most?
3. How does this enemy make my character's life harder or less fulfilling?
4. What would my character call this enemy, and how would they describe its harm?

Step 4: The Industry Shadow Analysis

Every industry has a “shadow” – accepted practices or beliefs that actually harm the people they claim to serve. Identifying your industry’s shadow often reveals your culprit.

The Shadow Mapping Exercise

Industry Standards: What does everyone in your field accept as “just how things work”?
Accepted Harm: What damage does your industry regularly cause that everyone ignores?
False Promises: What does your industry promise that it consistently fails to deliver?
Systemic Problems: What broken systems keep recreating the same problems?

AI Prompt for Industry Shadow Analysis

Looking at my industry's accepted practices and standard approaches:

INDUSTRY NORMS: [What everyone accepts as "normal" in your field]
REGULAR HARM: [Damage the industry causes that gets ignored]
EMPTY PROMISES: [What the industry claims but doesn't deliver]
SYSTEMIC FAILURES: [Broken systems that perpetuate problems]

Help me identify:
1. What is the shadow enemy that my industry enables or protects?
2. How does this enemy harm the people our industry claims to serve?
3. What would it mean to take a stand against this accepted harm?
4. How might fighting this enemy differentiate me from others in my field?

Step 5: The Origin Story Enemy

Look at your origin story – the reason you started doing this work. What enemy were you originally trying to fight?

The Founding Motivation Analysis

Original Problem: What first motivated you to start your business or develop your expertise?
Personal Mission: What change did you want to create in the world?
Justice Motivation: What injustice or unfairness did you want to correct?
Legacy Drive: What enemy did you want to defeat so future generations wouldn’t face the same struggles?

AI Prompt for Origin Enemy Analysis

Here's why I originally started this work:

FOUNDING MOTIVATION: [What originally drove you to start this business/develop this expertise]
CHANGE MISSION: [What you wanted to change in the world]
JUSTICE DRIVE: [What unfairness you wanted to correct]
LEGACY PURPOSE: [What you wanted future generations not to have to face]

Help me identify:
1. What enemy was I originally trying to fight when I started this work?
2. How has this enemy evolved or revealed itself more clearly over time?
3. What makes this enemy worth dedicating my professional life to fighting?
4. How does this founding enemy connect to the problems my character faces today?

Step 6: The Culprit Specificity Test

Take your potential culprit and make it specific enough to create clear tribal identity without being so narrow it limits growth.

The Specificity Framework

Too Broad: “Bad business advice” (everyone agrees this is bad)
Too Narrow: “Facebook ads that use red buttons” (too tactical)
Just Right: “Manipulative marketing that treats people like wallets with legs” (specific philosophy, broad application)

Culprit Specificity Questions

Clear Enemy Test: Would someone know exactly what you’re fighting against?
Polarization Test: Would some people defend what you’re fighting against?
Application Test: Could this enemy show up in multiple contexts and industries?
Recognition Test: Would your character immediately recognize this enemy in their experience?
Action Test: Does fighting this enemy suggest clear, actionable alternatives?

AI Prompt for Culprit Refinement

My current culprit definition: [Your rough enemy description]

Help me refine this to make it:
1. Specific enough that people know exactly what I'm fighting
2. Broad enough to apply across multiple contexts
3. Polarizing enough that some people would disagree
4. Recognizable enough that my character sees it in their daily experience
5. Actionable enough that fighting it suggests clear alternatives

Provide 3-5 refined versions that capture the same core enemy with different levels of specificity and emphasis.

Step 7: The Enemy Naming Process

Your culprit needs a memorable name that immediately communicates what you’re fighting against.

Naming Framework Options

The [Negative] [Container]: “The Conformity Trap”, “The Perfection Prison”, “The Hustle Culture Cage”
The [False] [Promise]: “The Overnight Success Myth”, “The Passive Income Fantasy”, “The Work-Life Balance Lie”
[Harmful] [System/Culture]: “Manipulative Marketing”, “Toxic Productivity Culture”, “Template-Based Business Advice”

Naming Effectiveness Tests

Clarity Test: Does the name immediately communicate what you’re fighting?
Memorability Test: Could someone repeat the name accurately after hearing it once?
Emotional Test: Does the name create an emotional response in your character?
Sharing Test: Would your character naturally use this name when describing their frustrations?

AI Prompt for Enemy Naming

My culprit definition: [Your refined enemy description]

Help me create 5-10 potential names for this enemy using these frameworks:
- The [Negative] [Container] format
- The [False] [Promise] format  
- [Harmful] [System/Culture] format
- Any other memorable naming approaches

The name should:
- Immediately communicate what I'm fighting
- Create emotional resonance with my character
- Be memorable and easy to repeat
- Feel authentic to my voice and experience

Step 8: The Culprit Validation Process

Test your culprit against reality to ensure it creates the tribal bonding you need.

The Real-World Testing Framework

Content Testing: Create content that calls out your culprit. Does it generate stronger engagement than generic content?
Language Testing: Use your culprit name in conversations with your character type. Do they immediately recognize and relate to it?
Story Collection: Ask your audience about their experiences with this enemy. Do you get passionate responses and detailed stories?
Alliance Building: Mention your fight against this culprit to others in your field. Do some people immediately align with you while others defend the enemy?

Validation Questions

Emotional Response Check: Does mentioning this culprit create immediate emotional response in your character?
Story Generation Check: Do people naturally share stories about how this enemy has affected them?
Tribal Identity Check: Do people who hate this enemy start to see each other as allies?
Content Flow Check: Does fighting this enemy give you endless content ideas?
Authentic Energy Check: Do you feel energized rather than drained when talking about this fight?

Step 9: The Enemy Ecosystem Mapping

Map out how your culprit shows up in different contexts to understand its full scope and develop comprehensive content strategies.

The Manifestation Matrix

In Business: How does your culprit appear in business contexts?
In Marketing: How does it show up in marketing and sales?
In Personal Development: How does it affect personal growth?
In Relationships: How does it damage human connections?
In Culture: How does it shape societal expectations?

AI Prompt for Ecosystem Mapping

My culprit: [Your named enemy]

Help me map how this enemy manifests across different contexts:

BUSINESS MANIFESTATIONS: [How it shows up in business practices]
MARKETING MANIFESTATIONS: [How it appears in marketing and sales]
PERSONAL MANIFESTATIONS: [How it affects personal development]
RELATIONSHIP