headspace is 80%

🔥Moving forward

Here’s a recap of the latest Foundation Office Hours, with some takeaways, and cool tools I’ve come across. Pay special attention to the prompting suggestion below - its become a game changer in how I work with LLMs.

💡 Key Takeaways

1. Procrastination’s Kryptonite:
   A member’s hot seat revealed the power of gamification in tackling procrastination. By attaching clear risks or rewards to tasks (e.g., no wine until that email is sent!), you can make even the most daunting frogs edible. .weird? w/e you get it…

2. Big Opportunities, Bigger Questions:
   A member faced the challenge of moving from small clients to tackling a major corporate deal. The group emphasized the importance of aligning decisions with long-term vision (you have this right??), embracing discomfort, and letting values guide the way. Otherwise you will slowly creep away from what drew you to start your business to begin with.

   

   IYKYK ;)

3. Stories Sell (Internally Too):
   A member shared the transformative power of storytelling in business and life, referencing the book Vivid Vision. A clear, emotional narrative can align your team, life & family and clarify your mission better than any spreadsheet. It serves as a solid gut check when reflecting on your path.

🚀 Quick Wins to Try Now

• Tame the To-Do List: Consolidate tasks with tools like Hoop.app, which integrates with Slack, Gmail, and project managers like Trello, Asana or Monday.com.

• Gamify Your Productivity: Assign risks and rewards to key tasks & take control of your triggers. Read “Atomic Habits” by James Clear for tips on building habits through immediate incentives. (yes, I’ve read it, and yeah, most is pretty solid)

• Sharpen Your Vision: Write a vivid, emotional “day-in-the-life” narrative for your business, inspired by Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold.

• Procrastination Hack: Use AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT to draft resumes, emails, content, or support in solving problems. Either start with a simple prompt like “Write a resume for a cybersecurity engineer focusing on X skills.” Or drive your skills deeper by doing the following within an LLM:

1. Set the Context:
   Briefly describe the current situation, including relevant details and what has already been tried. Keep it concise but comprehensive to provide clarity.

2. Define the Role:
   Clearly outline the role you expect the recipient to take (e.g., advisor, strategist, problem-solver). If unsure, describe the situation and ask which role would provide the best support.

3. Structure the Interaction:
   Request the recipient to interview you with 1-3 specific questions to better understand the issue and guide the solution process.

4. Outline the Goal:
   Clearly state the task or challenge you want help with and specify the desired outcome (e.g., "Come up with 5 non-obvious strategies or solutions").

5. Request Submission:
   End with a clear call to action, such as “Please review and submit your recommendations.”

Example:

1. Context:
   I am struggling to gain traction with my SaaS product despite trying targeted ads and partnerships. Conversion rates remain low.

2. Role:
   Act as a strategist with deep expertise in SaaS marketing and growth.

3. Interview Structure:
   Please ask up to 3 targeted questions to clarify the challenge before offering solutions.

4. Goal:
   Develop 5 non-obvious strategies to improve conversion rates within the next quarter.

5. Call to Action:
   Submit your recommendations in a list format for review.

🧐 Food for Thought

1. What’s the biggest risk you’d take this year if success was guaranteed?

2. How clear is your personal or professional “North Star”? Could you explain it in one sentence?

3. When you reflect on your goals, are they driven by genuine passion or external pressure?

📅 What’s Next?

Our next Office Hours are February 7, 2025 we look forward to seeing you. We’re here for you & your growth - really that’s it.
📆GCal Link | 📅iCal Link 
(add the calendar to your platform of choice so as to never miss out.)

We’ve booked & scheduled Red Bird for February 11th, see you there!

👉 Join the discussion: What’s your #1 takeaway or piece of feedback from/for this newsletter? Your thoughts and input are so very much appreciated - we want you to look forward to this every week.

Community is the future, stay, grow with us, and you will move beyond the success you ever imagined for yourself.

"Clarity is the starting point of success." – Brian Tracy

Here’s to a year of growth, connection, and momentum.

Stay gritty,

– The Foundation Team | a FOP product
thefdn.org

cool tools

• Primary.vc’s interesting read on how “First Team” principles are core to every type of leader’s success.

• Emoticon Hub - Tired of your old emoticons in texts? Here is a way to come up with some news ones. Yes, there is a website for everything.

• OpenAI just launched Operator, an AI agent that can independently navigate web browsers to complete everyday tasks.

• How expensive was that? Check out this meeting cost calculator and try it with your next all hands or staff meeting… did the cost match the value delivered?