Today’s Perspective Shift

From: collecting data
To: collecting self-awareness

Theme for the Quarter: Intelligent Innovation
Theme for the Week: The Year in Review – What You Designed

✨ In Today’s Episode:

• Why founders need a year-in-review process that feels human

• How to run a Narrative Review (instead of a numerical one)

• A 3-step system to extract your growth story and install it

Rewatch the Game Tape

You didn’t just move through the year. You authored it.

🧠 ONE Smart Idea

Your growth doesn’t show up in KPIs.
It shows up in how you handle moments.

• The opportunity you didn’t chase

• The email you didn’t spiral over

• The tough convo you had instead of avoiding

None of that fits in a spreadsheet.
But all of that shaped you.

The point of a year-end review isn’t to tally effort.
It’s to notice evolution.
And then to narrate it—so it becomes part of how you move forward.

Because if you don’t narrate your own transformation, you’ll miss it.
And if you miss it, you’ll doubt you’ve changed.

Pro athletes study film.
Pro founders study patterns.

📖 Story Spark

Your growth doesn’t show up in KPIs.
It shows up in how you handle moments.

• The opportunity you didn’t chase

• The email you didn’t spiral over

• The tough convo you had instead of avoiding

None of that fits in a spreadsheet.
But all of that shaped you.

The point of a year-end review isn’t to tally effort.
It’s to notice evolution.
And then to narrate it—so it becomes part of how you move forward.

Because if you don’t narrate your own transformation, you’ll miss it.
And if you miss it, you’ll doubt you’ve changed.

🎙️ Founder Flashback

Last December, I did my first Narrative Review.
And I caught something I would’ve missed.

I realized I had stopped outsourcing clarity.
I was no longer chasing someone else's plan or waiting for a better prompt.
I had started building from my own rhythm—and that one shift changed the entire trajectory of my decisions.

That’s what surfaced when I rewatched the year.
Not metrics.
Markers of embodiment.

That’s what today’s reflection is for.

⚙️ Tactical Application: Run a Narrative Review

Step 1: Timeline Walk
Set a timer for 20 minutes.
Walk yourself through the year, month-by-month.
Ask:

• What did I feel during that season?

• What shifted internally or externally?

• What stands out as pivotal, even if it wasn’t visible?

Use calendar events, photos, journaling apps—whatever jogs memory.

Step 2: Spot the Loops
Look for recurring moments.
Patterns.
Loops that closed or still feel open.

Ask:

• What were the invisible themes of my year?

• What did I learn multiple times, in deeper layers?

• What patterns were trying to teach me something?

This is where your emotional ROI hides.

Step 3: Write Your 2024 Story in 1 Paragraph
This is the install step.
Summarize your year as if you were explaining your growth to your future self.
Not a to-do list.
Not a launch calendar.
A founder identity evolution.

Keep it raw. Keep it real.
Print it. Pin it. Carry it.

🎁 Today’s Sponsor:

Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays

Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.

Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.

Learn more.

🧭 Intelligent Elevation

The best systems are built from self-clarity.
Not metrics.
Not pressure.
Not other people’s frameworks.

This review practice helps you bring that clarity into your own narrative.
So you walk into the next season rooted, not rushing.
And the next layer of growth builds on a stable inner OS.

💬 Closing Insight

This wasn’t just a year of action.
It was a year of becoming.

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

1. Free Case Study – How we made $94k in 11 weeks from an AI newsletter

2. Ai Scale Stack – Use AI to grow your email list by 100+ leads per day

✍️

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

— Justin Glover