Module 10 of 10
Lead Yourself First
The company can only grow as fast as its founder.
10.1Personal SWOTupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a personal development coach conducting a Personal SWOT. My background : [DESCRIBE YOUR EXPERIENCE, SKILLS, TRACK RECORD] My role : [WHAT YOU DO AND WHAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR] External feedback : [ANY FEEDBACK YOU HAVE RECEIVED - GOOD OR BAD] Current goals : [WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS] Build a Personal SWOT: STRENGTHS : What do I consistently do better than most? What do others come to me for? Give 4–5 specific, evidence-backed strengths. WEAKNESSES : Where do I consistently underperform? What do I avoid or procrastinate on? Be honest - what do people notice that I minimise? OPPORTUNITIES : Given my strengths, what external conditions could I leverage that others could not? THREATS : Given my weaknesses, what external conditions specifically threaten my goals? Strategic output : top 2 strengths to build on, top 1 weakness to address immediately. Personal SWOT Quadrant Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Areas you Capabilities you External conditions External conditions consistently Description genuinely have, you can leverage that exploit your underperform or verified by others given your strengths weaknesses avoid PRO TIP The most valuable Personal SWOT input is unsolicited feedback you have dismissed or minimised. The things people have told you repeatedly but that you haven't fully accepted - those are your most accurate weakness data. The reason you dismissed them is usually the reason they are true.
10.290-Day Planningupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a 90-day planning coach. My context : [YOUR ROLE, CURRENT BUSINESS STAGE, KEY PRIORITIES] Longer-term vision : [WHERE YOU ARE TRYING TO GET TO IN 12–18 MONTHS] Current blockers : [WHAT IS SLOWING YOUR PROGRESS MOST] Build my 90-Day Plan: BREAKTHROUGH GOALS : 3 outcomes that would make this quarter genuinely significant not just busy. For each: define what done looks like measurably. WEEKLY MILESTONES : For each goal what should I have achieved by week 4, week 8, and week 12? KEYSTONE HABITS : 2 weekly behaviours that are preconditions for hitting these goals. NOT-TO-DO LIST : 3 things I must stop doing or deprioritise to protect capacity for these goals. WEEKLY CHECK-IN : One question to ask myself every Friday to assess whether I am on track. Achieving Quarterly Goals Unplanned Set Breakthrough Track Quarterly Planned Quarter Goals Milestones Review Quarter No clear Define key Monitor progress Evaluate Clear direction direction objectives weekly performance and progress PRO TIP The Not-To-Do List is as important as the goal list. Every 90-Day Plan assumes you will have capacity you don't currently have. That capacity has to come from somewhere and the only honest place it can come from is stopping or delegating something you currently do. Write the Not-To-Do List before you commit to the goals.
10.3Weekly Review GTD 5-15updated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a personal productivity coach running my Weekly Review. This week's context: What I planned to do : [YOUR GOALS OR INTENTIONS FOR THIS WEEK] What I actually did : [KEY TASKS AND PROJECTS WORKED ON] What is unfinished : [ITEMS CARRIED OVER OR INCOMPLETE] Upcoming commitments : [KEY MEETINGS, DEADLINES NEXT WEEK] Run my Weekly Review: WINS : What 3 things went well this week? What made them possible? GAPS : What did I plan but not do? Was it worth doing? If yes — why didn't it happen? LEARNINGS : What one thing would I do differently? NEXT WEEK PRIORITIES: My top 3 outcomes for next week. Not tasks, outcomes. PROTECT : One block of time to schedule now for my most important strategic work next week. CLEAR: One thing to decide, delegate, or delete today. The 5-15 Weekly Review What Happened What's Next Repeat Weekly 5 min: What Happened 10 min: What's Next Repeat Weekly PRO TIP The single most important output of the Weekly Review is the one block of protected time for Q2 work scheduled in advance. Without scheduling it before the week begins, reactive Q1 and Q3 work will fill every available hour. The calendar must reflect your priorities before the week starts, not after it ends.
10.44 Energy Quadrantsupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a high-performance coach using the 4 Energy Quadrants framework. My current situation: Sleep (hours / quality): [X] Exercise (frequency / type): [X] Emotional state (how you typically feel at work): [X] Focus (how well you concentrate for deep work): [X] Sense of purpose (how aligned your work feels): [X] Main energy drains: [WHAT DEPLETES YOU MOST] Audit my energy across all four dimensions: PHYSICAL : Current state, biggest gap, one recovery ritual EMOTIONAL : Current state, main drain, one stabiliser habit MENTAL : Current state, focus blockers, one protection habit SPIRITUAL : Current alignment, what drains meaning, one anchor Design my Minimum Viable Energy Routine: The smallest set of habits that would most improve my total energy capacity in 30 days. Maximum 4 habits. Each under 20 minutes per day. Four Types of Energy Physical Emotional Mental Spiritual foundation (sleep, stability (resilience, focus (concentration, meaning (purpose, movement, nutrition) positivity) clear thinking) values) PRO TIP The Minimum Viable Energy Routine is designed to be non-negotiable and sustainable not impressive. Most high-performers have complex morning routines they follow for two weeks and abandon. Four small, consistent habits performed daily for 90 days compound into a meaningfully different baseline. Start with sleep, then add one habit at a time.
10.5Three Horizons Visionupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a strategic planning advisor using McKinsey's Three Horizons framework. My business : [DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT CORE BUSINESS] Stage : [REVENUE RANGE AND GROWTH RATE] Current strategic priorities : [WHAT YOU ARE FOCUSED ON NOW] Map my Three Horizons: HORIZON 1 (This year) : What is the core business I must protect and optimise? Key metrics to defend. Main threats to manage. HORIZON 2 (1–3 years) : What 2–3 adjacent opportunities should I be developing? What experiments should I be running now? What would need to be true for each to become H1? HORIZON 3 (3–5 years) : What options should I be creating - even if uncertain? What bets cost little today but matter greatly later? BALANCE AUDIT : What % of my time/energy goes to each horizon now? What is the right allocation given my stage? What would I need to stop doing in H1 to fund H2? PRO TIP The most common Three Horizons failure is treating H3 as a vision exercise and H1 as the only real work. H3 options are built through small, cheap bets made consistently over time. Amazon's AWS was an H3 bet in 2003 when their core H1 business was books. The value of H3 is not in the vision — it is in the options it creates.
10.6Atomic Habits Stackupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a habit design coach using James Clear's Atomic Habits framework. My goal : [THE OUTCOME I WANT, E.G. BETTER FOCUS, EXERCISE, READING] My current morning routine : [WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DO EACH MORNING] My current evening routine : [WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DO EACH EVENING] Past habit failures : [WHAT YOU HAVE TRIED AND ABANDONED] Design my Atomic Habits Stack: Step 1 : Identify 3 strong existing habits as anchors. Step 2 : For each new habit I want to build, apply the 4 Laws: OBVIOUS : What is the cue? Where will I see it? ATTRACTIVE : How do I make it appealing? EASY : What is the 2-minute version? SATISFYING : What is the immediate reward? Step 3 : Write my Habit Stack as if/when-then statements: After I [ANCHOR HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]. Step 4 : Design one environment change that makes the most important habit easier without willpower. Step 5 : What is the one habit that, if built, makes all the others easier? Habit stacking progresses from awareness to reward. Cue triggers current Link new habit to Reduce friction for Reinforce new habit habit positive feelings new habit with reward PRO TIP The keystone habit, the one that makes all others easier is almost always sleep. Every other habit in your stack performs better on sufficient sleep and degrades on insufficient sleep. If your habit stack has any room for only one new behaviour, make it a consistent sleep and wake time. Build everything else on that foundation.
10.7Socratic Self-Questioningupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a Socratic questioner. Your role is to rigorously examine my thinking through probing questions — not to agree or validate. Push back on weak logic. Belief or decision to examine: [STATE THE BELIEF, PLAN, OR DECISION YOU WANT TO TEST] Apply the six categories of Socratic questions: CLARIFICATION : What exactly do I mean by this? Can I give a concrete example? ASSUMPTIONS : What am I taking for granted here? What would have to be true for this to hold? EVIDENCE : What is my evidence for this belief? How strong is it — anecdote or data? PERSPECTIVE : How would a sceptic view this? What is the strongest opposing argument? IMPLICATIONS : If this is true, what else must be true? What are the consequences if I am wrong? QUESTIONING THE QUESTION: Is this the right question? What is the deeper question underneath it? End with: the one assumption I should validate before committing to this belief. Socratic Self-Questioning Step 1 2 3 4 Question the Steelman the What would prove Action Confident belief assumption opposite this wrong? PRO TIP The most important Socratic question is "What would have to be true for me to be wrong?" This forces you to define the falsifiability of your belief - the conditions under which you would update your view. A belief that cannot be proven wrong isn't a belief, it's a story you've decided not to test.
10.8Personal Brand Flywheelupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a personal brand strategist. My expertise : [WHAT I KNOW DEEPLY — SPECIFIC TOPIC] My target audience : [WHO I WANT TO REACH — ROLE AND INDUSTRY] My goal : [WHAT I WANT THE BRAND TO GENERATE — LEADS, HIRES, SPEAKING, INVESTMENT, COMMUNITY] Current platform : [LINKEDIN / X / NEWSLETTER / PODCAST / NONE] Design my Personal Brand Flywheel: DISTINCTIVE ANGLE : What is my specific point of view that others in my space don't have? CONTENT SYSTEM : What format do I own? What cadence? What is my signature series or post type? AUDIENCE GROWTH : What 2 channels will I focus on? What growth tactic fits my style? CREDIBILITY SIGNALS : What proof points build trust? What should I be saying publicly? FLYWHEEL SPIN : What is the first rotation? What does the flywheel look like at 12 months? FIRST 30 DAYS: The 3 actions that start the flywheel. PRO TIP The Personal Brand Flywheel does not require a large audience to generate value. Fifty deeply engaged people in your exact target market outperform five thousand passive followers in terms of business outcomes. Build depth before scale, the flywheel accelerates faster with a small, engaged audience than with a large, indifferent one.
10.9Ikigaiupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a reflective purpose coach using the Ikigai framework. My background : [DESCRIBE YOUR EXPERIENCE, CAREER PATH, KEY LIFE EXPERIENCES] Current work : [WHAT YOU DO NOW AND HOW FULFILLED YOU FEEL] Guide me through the Ikigai exercise: WHAT I LOVE : What work makes me lose track of time? What would I do even without payment? What topics do I read about without being asked? WHAT I'M GOOD AT : What do I do better than most people? What do others consistently come to me for? What has evidence, not just belief - proven? WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS : What problem genuinely needs solving? Who suffers without what I could provide? What gap do I see that others seem to miss? WHAT I CAN BE PAID FOR : What will people pay for that sits in my other three circles? IKIGAI SYNTHESIS : Where do all four overlap? If no clear overlap: what small experiment in the next 90 days could test whether one exists? Ikigai: The Intersection of Passion, Vocation, Profession, and Mission Delight Excellence What You What You Are Love Good At Passion Vocation Ikigai Success Fulfillment What The What You Can World Needs Be Paid For Mission Profession PRO TIP The most important Ikigai question is not 'what is my Ikigai?' it is 'what small experiment would test whether my hypothesis about my Ikigai is correct?' Purpose is discovered through action, not reflection alone. Design a 90-day experiment that puts you in the overlap zone and see how it feels. The body knows before the mind does.
10.10Hansei - Reflective Practiceupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a Hansei reflective practice facilitator. Event or period to reflect on: [DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED A PROJECT, DECISION, QUARTER, OR RELATIONSHIP YOU WANT TO EXAMINE HONESTLY] Outcome: [WHAT RESULTED] Guide me through a Hansei reflection: HONEST ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: What actually happened? No minimising, no excusing. Describe the outcome as it was not as you wish it had been. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY: What was my specific contribution to this outcome? What did I do, or not do that mattered? What did I know and ignore? What did I avoid seeing? LEARNING: What does this tell me about how I think or operate? What pattern, if any, does this repeat? COMMITMENT: What one specific behaviour will I change? How will I know in 30 days whether I have changed it? GRATITUDE: What, despite the difficulty, am I grateful for? PRO TIP Hansei is uncomfortable because it requires taking personal responsibility before assigning external causes. The Western tendency is to explain external causes first and assign personal responsibility last, if at all. Hansei inverts this. The founder who practices it consistently builds a quality of self-awareness that no coaching, therapy, or feedback can replicate because it is chosen and honest.
10.11Wabi-Sabi - Imperfect Progressupdated Sep 18, 2026
Act as a Wabi-Sabi philosophical advisor helping me move from perfectionism to purposeful imperfect action. What I am delaying : [DESCRIBE WHAT YOU HAVE NOT SHIPPED, PUBLISHED, LAUNCHED, OR SHARED AND FOR HOW LONG] Why I am delaying : [YOUR REASON BE HONEST] What 'ready' looks like in my head : [THE STANDARD YOU ARE TRYING TO MEET BEFORE SHIPPING] Apply Wabi-Sabi: HONEST DIAGNOSIS : Is this perfectionism or legitimate quality concern? How do I tell the difference? IMPERFECT VERSION : What is the version I could ship this week — flawed but honest and real? COST OF WAITING : What am I not learning by not shipping? What feedback am I denying myself? BEAUTY IN PROCESS : What is genuinely good — even beautiful — about this unfinished, imperfect thing? COMMITMENT : What will I ship, post, or share by [DATE]? What does 'done enough' look like? PRO TIP The most honest question Wabi-Sabi asks is: 'Who am I protecting by not shipping?' The answer is almost never the customer, it is yourself. From criticism, from comparison, from the discomfort of being judged on real work rather than potential work. Wabi-Sabi teaches that the courage to show imperfect work is itself a form of beauty. Ship it.