Day 30: The 6-Hour Planning Session That Changed Everything

94 days to get it turning

I've just finished my 90-day planning session. Six to eight hours of my life that I'll never get back, but probably the most important hours I've spent in this business so far.

Here's the thing about planning: it's absolutely critical, and it's absolutely difficult. You can't measure its value in real-time, and doing it consistently feels like pushing water uphill. But after 30 days of scattered efforts and half-finished initiatives, I knew something had to change.

The Problem with Picking Everything

The biggest trap I keep falling into is picking too many things. You know how it goes — you see five different opportunities, convince yourself you can handle them all, and end up with five things half-done instead of one thing that actually moves the needle.

So this time, I forced myself to start with one clear objective. One SMART goal that everything else would ladder up to:

Secure $20,000 in confirmed AI and automation projects by October 31st, 2025.

Confirmed means signed agreement and deposit received. No wishy-washy "interested" or "thinking about it." Real money, real commitment.

That gives me 94 days. The clock is ticking.

Breaking Down the Elephant

Everyone knows the cliché about eating an elephant one bite at a time. But here's what I learned: you actually need a system for deciding which bites to take and in what order.

I'm using something that looks like OKRs — Objectives and Key Results. Think of it as layered SMART goals that build on each other, like a brick wall. Each layer supports the one above it.

Under my main $20,000 objective, I've got four key results:

• Deliver 5 free AI and automation mini-projects to external businesses
• Get at least 25 qualified second-stage calls with business owners
• Build a lead nurture sequence and contact every person in my network
• Create 24 core pieces of content over the next 94 days

Each of these becomes an objective in its own right, with its own key results underneath. The beauty is that every single task I'm working on ladders up to something measurable.

The Hard Numbers Reality

Now for the part that keeps me awake at night.

To generate 25 qualified second-stage calls, I need to invest in lead generation. That means spending $8,000 on ads across Lead Service, Bark Meta, and Google.

Let me be honest — spending $8,000 on ads when you're building from scratch feels terrifying. But that's what it takes to get enough qualified leads in the door.

The content creation feels overwhelming too. Twenty-four pieces in 94 days means I'm basically publishing every four days. But again, it all connects to the bigger picture — building a personal brand that generates trust and inbound interest.

Get It Turning

I've coined this quarter "Get It Turning" — borrowed from Jim Collins' flywheel concept. The flywheel is heavy and hard to move at first, but once you get momentum, it becomes easier to keep pushing.

This quarter isn't about massive breakthroughs. It's about showing up, ticking off tasks, and compounding small efforts. The first few pushes on a flywheel that eventually needs to spin fast enough to generate $1 million in revenue.

Is it overwhelming? Absolutely. But here's what I've learned: being overwhelmed by a clear plan beats being overwhelmed by chaos every single time.

The direction we're pointing the ship needs to be purposeful. Those six hours weren't just about creating a plan — they were about forcing myself to be honest about what actually moves the business forward and what just feels like work.

Ninety-four days to get it turning. Let's see what happens when scattered effort becomes systematic execution.