Unrefined: Find Your Purpose <— THIS ONE SOUNDS RIGHT UP MY MOTIVATIONAL ALLEY, MY BOOK FRIENDS!!! And I’m thrilled the author is today’s newsletter sponsor!!
“I spent eleven years chasing a promotion. When I got it, I woke up the next day and felt nothing.”
Artem Gonchakov spent years doing everything right — university, immigration, Wall Street career, starting a company, becoming a CEO. On paper it looked like the American Dream. On the inside, every milestone felt like checking someone else’s box.
UNREFINED: Find Your Purpose is what happened when he stopped following the script. It started as handwritten notes and messy self-reflection during long solo walks around New York City — and turned into a book that explores why so many of us end up stuck. Chasing goals we never chose. Carrying pressure we never agreed to. Following mindsets we inherited without questioning them.
The book walks through four stages — Awareness, Life Purpose, Personal Maturity, and Transformation — drawing on Artem’s own story, psychology, philosophy, and practical frameworks. It’s written for anyone who checked all the boxes but still feels like something’s missing.
“I kept achieving things and feeling like they belonged to someone else’s story.”
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I’m Artem Gonchakov, and I spent years doing everything ‘right’ only to realize I was building a life that didn’t feel like mine. Over time, I’ve collected a substantial set of handwritten notes and stories. At some point, I realized they might offer value to others. I never imagined I’d be capable of writing a book, especially on a topic like this. So In my book, I share a clear, hands-on approach to building a meaningful life by learning how to understand, shape, and improve the systems that guide your everyday choices.
In Unrefined: Find Your Purpose, I share a personal transformation journey for anyone who:
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Has “made it” on paper – they’ve checked the boxes (career, money, status, stability), but underneath it all they feel empty, restless, or like the meaning never showed up.
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Is chasing a goal but keeps hesitating – they’re working hard, but something feels off, like they might be pursuing someone else’s dream and they can’t tell what they truly want.
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Feels overwhelmed and doesn’t know where to start – they want a clearer direction, but they’re stuck in overthinking, unsure what the first real step should be.
The book explores three forces that quietly derail purpose: the follower’s mindset (living by default instead of by design), borrowed success (pursuing goals that weren’t truly yours), and social debt (the invisible pressure to keep proving yourself to others).
Through four connected stages (Awareness, Life Purpose, Personal Maturity, and Transformation) you’ll learn to spot the patterns running your life, get brutally clear on what you actually want, and redesign the systems behind your decisions so your purpose can evolve as you do. Instead of just a hype-you-up motivation book, this is a clarity-first approach that helps you build a path that’s honest, sustainable, and truly your own.
“Nobody asks what you actually want. Society gives you five elements — job, hobby, family, friendship, ideology — and expects you to make it work.”
FIVE FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR
1. I grew up in a small city in 90s Ukraine. My father grilled kebabs at a street stall. My mother sold fish in freezing winters. Nobody in my world talked about life purpose — survival came first.
2. I moved countries twice and ended up on Wall Street. I closed multimillion-dollar deals, became a CEO, and spent most of that time feeling like I was living someone else’s life.
3. My search started at 17 when I found books about the subconscious mind by a Ukrainian author. I didn’t understand most of it, but it consumed me. That was the first crack in the script I’d been following.
4. The book started as handwritten notes during weekend walks around New York, where I’d deliberately get lost hoping I’d bump into purpose on a random block.
5. I’m a tech CEO who builds AI products. I build systems for everything — apparently even for figuring out the meaning of life. That’s basically what this book is.
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“A special life doesn’t come with instructions. A traditional one has a clear blueprint. That’s why so few people take the extraordinary route.”
AN EXCERPT:
When I reflect on my personal story and how things have turned out, I find it amusing that life has always provided me with opportunities to create something special.
I’ve used those chances to go from being a clueless kid in a small Ukrainian city to building a successful career in the United States, working on Wall Street, living in Manhattan, making billions for my clients, running global initiatives alongside influential people, starting my own business, becoming a CEO, earning my first million, buying a few houses, and traveling the globe.
What you ultimately choose to do might not feel unique to other people, but for you, it definitely will. And the bigger the struggle, the more rewarding the outcome. The moment you recognize and appreciate this, your personal journey will become far richer and more meaningful.
This book is my attempt to make a small difference in the world. I’ve documented my own turning points and sprinkled in stories of famous people for reflection. I love creating systems for almost everything, and most people appreciate concrete steps to reach their goals, so this should be a win–win. The world is an endless source of learning, and I’m fascinated by the kind of knowledge that truly guides us. I want to share it all with you, so you can transition into a more meaningful existence.
Up to the age of seventeen, nothing in my life felt special. I went to a normal kindergarten and struggled through public school like everyone else. Homework was a burden, and I was always looking for ways to avoid it. Once, I challenged my history teacher to a video game match for a grade because I thought it would save me from a month of studying. He agreed, but little did I know that he was an expert at that specific strategy game, called Cossacks: European Wars. His deep knowledge of history was practically a cheat code. My miscalculation cost me more work and extra assignments in the end. Surprisingly, he liked me because no one had ever challenged him like that before. He later became my history professor at university, which made my life easier there.
I had no friends until the eighth grade, so I overcompensated for my lack of personal connections by poking fun at others. Any opportunity to make a silly comment felt good, as if I were announcing to the world that I existed. I also looked for ways to show resistance to any form of systemic control at school – no matter how small or big. When my school introduced a uniform with specific designs and colors, I convinced my parents to create a different style just for me.
Unrefined: Find Your Purpose
