Today’s Perspective Shift

From: tracking what you launched
To: realizing what you designed

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

✨ In Today’s Episode:

• Reframing how you measure a year

• Extracting the systems, standards, and self-concept you built

• Running the 3L Reflection: Lessons, Leverage, Let Go

You Built More Than You Shipped

You didn’t just make progress. You became the person who makes progress.

🧠 ONE Smart Idea

If you only measure the year in outcomes, you miss the bigger prize:

The system you became.

• You made decisions with less friction.

• You built structure from clarity, not chaos.

• You said no faster.

• You created boundaries that used to scare you.

That’s not just output.
That’s infrastructure—at the internal level.

Founders get stuck at the end of the year because they’re only looking for what launched.
But what you launched is just a reflection of what you learned.
And what you learned?
Is often buried inside the way you now move through the week.

📖 Story Spark

A founder I coach told me:

We ran the tape.

He’d:

• Said no to 2 projects that would’ve distracted him last year

• Rebuilt his entire sales pipeline into 1 clean async flow

• Hired a COO without overfunctioning through the process

• Started designing his role instead of reacting inside it

None of those were launches.
All of those were leverage.

That’s when it hit him:

That’s what you’re tracking this week.

⚙️ Tactical Application: The 3L Year-End Review

Grab a journal or drop this into a voice note.
Answer freely—don’t edit.

1. Lessons

Ask:

• What patterns did I notice in myself this year?

• Where did I make the same decision better than before?

• What truths did I start living instead of just learning?

2. Leverage

Ask:

• What new systems, filters, or beliefs gave me energy?

• What do I want to double down on next year—not because it “works,” but because it’s aligned?

• What inner or outer upgrade changed the way I operate?

3. Let Go

Ask:

• What am I still carrying that I no longer want to design around?

• What mental models need to expire?

• What version of me did this year help retire?

Pro tip: write it like a letter to your future self.
That version of you is already downloading this clarity.

🎁 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

If you don’t honor what changed, you carry it forward unconsciously.

You’ve spent 51 weeks building.
But it’s this week—
The pause,
The witnessing,
The realization—
that turns work into wisdom.

This isn’t just a look back.
It’s a re-coding of what you’re taking with you.

You didn’t just build a business.
You built a way of being.

🧵 What’s Happening in AI

ReflectAI launches “Founder Yearbook” prompt set: A GPT-4 prompt library that helps extract personal, emotional, and business reflections from the past year.

Notion adds “End-of-Year Integration Journal” Template: Includes reflection prompts based on Jungian archetypes and business performance metrics.

Readwise adds 2024 Clarity Capsule: Automatically compiles most-highlighted ideas from the year and generates reflection prompts around them.

💬 Closing Insight

You didn’t just make it through.
You made yourself.

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