Today’s Perspective Shift

From: setting annual goals
To: reverse-engineering the founder you’re becoming

Theme for the Quarter: Intelligent Innovation
Theme for the Week: Cast the 2026 Vision

✨ In Today’s Episode:

• Set vision from your future self

• Backcast from 2026 to architect your next 12 months

• Anchor your year in identity, not just goals

Cast the 2026 Vision

Design the year backward from who you’re becoming

🧠 ONE Smart Idea

Most founders plan from where they are.

The leverage comes from planning from where you’re going.

Today’s tip introduces a method called Identity Backcasting …a future-first way of setting direction.

It’s not about setting bigger goals.
It’s about setting goals from a bigger self.

The 2026 version of you already exists…in your decisions.
Now’s the time to design a year that installs that version.

📖 Story Spark

A few years ago, I mapped out the entire year in a Notion doc.
Deadlines, metrics, projects… it looked strong on paper.

But by March, I was reacting.
Not executing from clarity—just keeping up.

The reason?
I had designed a calendar, not a container.
No gravity. No pull from a larger vision.

So I scrapped the plan and did one thing:
I wrote a short memo from my 2026 self.

In it, I described:

• How I worked

• What I valued

• How I made decisions

• What my business looked and felt like

I used it as a filter—not a fantasy.

And when I backcasted from that identity,
The strategy practically wrote itself.

⚙️ Tactical Application: Identity Backcasting

This exercise is built to upgrade your planning lens:

Step 1: Visualize Your 2026 Identity

Spend 10 minutes journaling as if it’s December 2026.
Write in first person. Start with:

Let the clarity surface.

Step 2: Extract 3 Operating Traits

From your writing, circle 3 traits that stand out.
Examples:

• Protects deep work windows

• Makes grounded decisions

• Builds systems that reflect values

These are your 2025 installation priorities.

Step 3: Define What Must Be True This Year

Now ask:

This becomes your strategy map.

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Learn more.

🧭 Intelligent Elevation

You’ve spent this year building clarity.
Now it’s time to design from it.

2026 isn’t just another year to fill with goals. It’s a container to grow the version of you that the year requires.

This week is about more than planning.

It’s about architecting the identity that makes your vision executable, and aligning your systems to support it.

Don’t just set goals.
Build the gravity that pulls them into place.

This is the upgrade:
From reacting to the year
To installing the founder who can lead it.

💬 Closing Insight

Planning from the present builds momentum.
Planning from the future builds gravity.

Before you go: Here are 2 ways I can help you scale smarter with AI

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✍️

AiScaleTips is your founder clarity compass.
Most scale with chaos. You scale by design.

— Justin Glover