Before you plan the work, name the outcome.
Last month, we emptied your head.
The ideas.
The pressure.
The “what ifs.”
That was step one.
But before you organize the work…
before you build systems…
before you map the next 90 days…
You need to decide what it’s all for.
Not the task.
Not the quarter.
The direction.
Because without direction, productivity becomes distraction in disguise.
1. What does 3–5 years from now actually look like?
Not the polished LinkedIn version.
The real one.
What does your revenue look like?
Your calendar?
Your energy?
What does a “good day” actually include?
You don’t need precision.
You need orientation.
Without direction, you’ll build momentum toward whatever feels urgent.
And urgent is rarely strategic.
2. What milestones tell you you’re on track?
You cannot reverse engineer a moving target.
Name the markers.
Revenue range.
Team structure.
Lifestyle shift.
Partnership you want to land.
Body of work you want completed.
Ballpark is fine.
Clarity beats perfection.
3. What kind of life is this meant to support?
This is where it got real for me.
I’m a mother.
I run 1988.
I consult.
I teach.
There were moments I was building as if none of that mattered.
As if I had endless time.
As if exhaustion wasn’t real.
As if ambition alone could override reality.
It can’t.
Ambition without context creates burnout.
Ambition with context creates longevity.
Your timeline must reflect:
Your actual bandwidth.
Your real responsibilities.
The life you’re living — not the one you imagine on a perfectly optimized day.
4. What impact are you actually building toward?
I had to ask myself something uncomfortable:
Am I building 1988 to sell product…
or am I building something that changes how women see access, ownership, and themselves?
Those are not the same mission.
One requires marketing.
The other requires conviction.
Your impact determines:
What you tolerate.
What you reject.
What you keep building even when it’s inconvenient.
Why This Comes Before Planning
The brain dump clears the noise.
This sets the compass.
If a task does not move you toward the life, impact, and milestones you named — it doesn’t belong in your plan.
That’s not harsh.
That’s alignment.
I don’t have every answer yet.
But I know what I’m building toward.
And that changes everything.
