The Level #105

< 5 min

Welcome back to The Level — your weekly system upgrade for building a business that runs with clarity, capacity, and control.

You do not need more goals.
You need a system that turns your vision into measurable, sustainable progress.

This is where most founders drift.
They plan in bursts of inspiration instead of rhythm.
They measure activity instead of impact.

Four years ago, my wall looked like this:

Messy handwriting. Half-formed ideas.
But those scribbles held the first real questions that shaped everything that came next.

What are people actually trying to accomplish?
How do I help them get there faster, with less friction?
What does clarity look like when you are still building from conviction instead of proof?

That whiteboard became the seed of the rhythm I still use today, a way to connect big vision to predictable, meaningful progress.

Expert Insight of the Week

“There are so many people working so hard, and achieving so little."
- Andy Grove | Intel Co-Founder, Creator of OKRs

OKRs are the bridge between those two worlds.

They connect who you are becoming with what you are building.

They are not corporate spreadsheets. They are clarity tools for founders.

This Week’s Shift: From Vision to Rhythm

Annual and quarterly planning should not feel like starting over.
It should feel like alignment, a return to what you said matters most.

Here is how to build your planning rhythm using OKRs as your clarity anchor.

1. Start with Vision
   Your annual plan begins with direction, not data.
   
   Write your 12-month end state in present tense:
   “It is December next year, and my business feels calm, structured, and growing on purpose.”

2. Define 3 Core Priorities
   These are your anchors for the year.
   Every goal, project, and decision must support one of them.
   If it doesn’t, it’s noise.

3. Translate Vision into OKRs
   Each annual priority becomes an Objective: qualitative and inspiring.
   Then define Key Results: the measurable proof that you are on track.
   
   Example:
   Objective:
   Build a business that delivers consistent results without me.
   
   Key Results:

   • 90% client NPS

   • 25% reduction in delivery hours

   • Two core processes fully systemized

4. Break the Year into Quarterly Experiments
   Each quarter, choose one primary objective and its related key results.
   
   You are not rebuilding every 90 days. You are refining the next layer of clarity.

5. Review and Recalibrate
   At the end of each quarter, ask:

   • What worked?

   • What needs simplifying?

   • What stays the same next quarter?

The goal is not perfection. It is awareness and adjustment.

When you plan this way, your year becomes a living rhythm, one that connects long-term vision to daily decisions with clarity and intention.

→ Your Next Move

Run your own Planning Reset this week.

1. Define your 12-month end state.

2. Choose your 3 core priorities.

3. Write one Objective and 3–5 Key Results for Q1.

4. Schedule your quarterly review before things get busy.

If you want a simple way to apply this, I made a one-page Quarterly Planning Cheat Sheet to help you map your vision, priorities, and OKRs in under 20 minutes.

[ Download the Cheat Sheet →]

To building systems that make clarity measurable,

 - Amanda

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