Day 31: You've Done the Planning — Now Learn to Eat the Shit

We're at day 31 of building a new business from Zero -> $1m, which leaves us 93 days to deliver on the clear goal of $20,000 in committed projects by October 31st.

I spent the earlier part of this week working through objectives and key results, cascading everything down properly. And now I'm staring at a heap of tasks.

This is the moment where all that beautiful planning crashes into reality.

The Planning Trap

Here's what I've learned about myself: I can get sucked into planning procrastination faster than I'd like to admit. You know the feeling — you're spinning the wheels, thinking about the work, organising the work, but you're not actually doing the work.

Don't get stuck there. To continue yesterday's metaphor: you've got to put down that foundation, lay that first brick, and keep building on it. Each brick you place makes the next one easier to position. But none of that matters until you pick up that first brick.

But when you're looking at that mountain of tasks, where do you actually start?

The Two-Minute Priority Matrix

I do this quick matrix in my head when I'm overwhelmed. It works for any situation where you need to allocate resources, and it's dead simple:

How long will it take? (Score 1-5: Quick tasks get a 5, long tasks get a 1)
What's the impact? (Score 1-5: High impact gets a 5)

Then you look for the tens.

That task that won't take long but will make a big impact? That's where you start.

The beauty is you don't even need to sit down and write it out. Just think: "Okay, that's not going to take a long time and that will make a big impact. That's where I'll start."

Two or three minutes on that mental exercise, and you know your next move.

The Real Truth About Getting Started

But here's the most important bit: you've just got to start. There's no avoiding it.

The KISS methodology applies here — Keep It Simple, Stupid. Just start. It doesn't matter where, really. I'd rather you pick the wrong task and begin than spend another hour thinking about the right task.

That's become clearer and clearer, even with my experience. Unless you do the work or somebody is doing the work, nothing moves forward. Full stop.

You've done the planning. Now you've got to do the work.

Learning to Show Up

I'll be blunt here: you've just got to learn to eat the shit. You've got to turn up and learn to do the work every day.

I don't love the word "grind" — it makes it sound like punishment. But the reality is simpler than that: you just have to learn to turn up every day and do the work.

The tasks aren't going anywhere. The goal isn't moving. The only variable is whether you show up or not.

Day 31 down. 93 to go.

Time to lay that first brick. The foundation won't build itself, and neither will the business on top of it.