Pick your poison:

1. For the curious and patient.

We research and prepare to prevent failure. As a result, we delay feedback. A much faster, more effective and less stressful way inverts the process:

• Habit - identify the simplest "thing" to start and do it daily until it becomes habitual. For some this takes a week, for others a month. An example is this daily newsletter I write you.
• Volume - once it feels weird NOT to do the "thing," it's time to crank up the volume. Do more of the "thing." Decide the increase in output based on what you can handle. Writing this email takes about 30-60 min/day. Next week, I want to experiment with writing the entire morning, adding ~3 hours.
• Optimize - once you've found a volume that works for you - this may take weeks or months - only THEN is it time to optimize. Volume helps you develop an intuitive sense of how to improve - what comes easy and difficult to you. If you've done the "thing" in public, you'll also have quantitative or qualitative feedback to work with. Use intuition and data to improve your process and optimize your results. Simplify your "thing," eliminate waste, cut the excess.

“Less is more but you have to do more to get to less.” - Rick Rubin, legendary music producer.

2. For the curious and impatient.

Create a Kickoff Document to provide clarity and know what you’re getting yourself into.

• Define winning - set 2 clear, measurable goals. 1 good goal (if I hit this, it's a success) and 1 f*ck yeah goal (you'll be hyped as f*ck if you hit this).
• Anti-goals - define what you do NOT want to happen along the way (example: I'm building my coaching business but don't want it to come at the expense of my relationships with loved ones, or my freedom of time.)
• Back of the envelope - what are a few ways in which you can hit your goal? If the goal is $1 mln, you can sell $1 to 1 million people or $10,000 to 100 people. Identify the scenario that seems easiest to you and brainstorm strategies to hit it.
• 1 hour of momentum - "what can I do in 1 hour to build momentum?" Talk with a customer? Create a prototype? Do some outreach? This isn't about research or planning; this is about action. End your kickoff doing this "1 hour of momentum."

3. For the entrepreneurial- and money-minded.

The quickest way to validate an idea is feedback from prospective clients. We’ll use the Mom Test.

Whatever passion, purpose or idea you want to pursue, who are you doing it for?

Yourself? - where can you find more like-minded souls? A specific person? - where can you find others like him/her?

Before starting, reach out to 3-10 people that fit the bill and ask:

• What is the 1 challenge you want to overcome? (specify this question further based on what you're trying to do)
• What have you tried/done to overcome this?

These two questions tell you:

• Is it a problem?
• Is it a problem they care about enough to take action?
• It is a problem worth pursuing (financially, if that matters to you)?

If you’ve identified a problem the person cares about, end the conversation with a pre-sell: “I’m working on X solution that I want to make available to X number of people, at first, at X (discounted) price. Shall I sign you up?”

This approach either gives you:

• Your first client(s)
• Feedback to rework your idea or pursue another one

And what better day to start then today, a Sunday?
​Best-case, you’ve done something and made progress toward your dream.
​Worst-case, you’ve learnt something and can call me tomorrow to decide your next step.

Jim

P.S. I’ll be writing all day. Got a “finding your purpose” guide to finish. Fingers crossed.