The Level #112

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Welcome back to The Level —  where the year doesn’t change because you planned harder.

It changes because you finally paused long enough to see clearly.

Right now, everyone is shouting about goals, resolutions, and what you should add in January.

I want to talk about the work that actually determines whether next year feels different.

Expert Insight of the Week

“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience."
- John Dewey

Experienced founders already have plenty of data. Wins. Misses. Near misses.
What most of us skip is the discipline of reflection. And without it, even a meaningful year collapses into a blur.

Reflection isn’t indulgent. It’s how capable people stop repeating the same problems with better branding.

This Week’s Shift: Reflect Before You Plan

Before I thought about 2026, I asked myself a quieter question in my journal:

What actually happened this year, and where did the time go?

I wrote everything down.
The good. The hard. The moments I wouldn’t volunteer to repeat.

Instead of brushing past the tough parts, I treated them as proof points. Evidence that I can show up, adapt, and survive complexity. Reflection is how I make sure I don’t make the same mistake twice.

From there, I made a second list.

Things I do not want to repeat.
And how I’m going to make sure I don’t.

Only after that did it make sense to ask what I want next.

Here’s what keeps surprising me, year after year.
The biggest gains rarely come from adding more.

They come from removal.

Most of the friction in my life and business isn’t because I’m incapable. It’s because I’ve stacked too many priorities at once. Too many “reasonable” commitments. Too many things that dilute focus instead of compounding it.

As I look toward the next decade, that math matters more than ever.

Lately, I’ve been meeting challenges with one simple filter:

Is this something I should force?
Or something I should let flow?

That question alone has saved me from unnecessary effort and self-created pressure.

→ Your Next Move

Take 10 to 15 quiet minutes this week. No apps. No planning tools.

Answer these on paper or in your head:

1. What actually happened this year?

2. What do I not want to repeat?

3. What needs to be removed before anything new is added?

4. Where am I forcing when flow might serve me better?

Finish this sentence honestly:

This next year won’t feel different unless I stop ______.

Sit with that answer longer than is comfortable.

Why This Matters

If you’re like most experienced founders, the problem isn’t that you lack ambition or discipline.
It’s that your attention is fragmented by too many obligations that once made sense, but no longer do.

The cost of not addressing this is subtle but expensive.
Lost momentum. Decision fatigue. Another year that looks productive on paper but feels strangely heavy.

This isn’t a personal failing. It’s a structural gap.
Without intentional reflection and removal, capable people keep building on top of unstable foundations. And eventually, the weight shows up everywhere.

You don’t need to try harder.
You need fewer things competing for the same energy.

The Invitation

Inside our work, we don’t start with more goals.
We start by creating structure that makes clarity sustainable.

If you’re done solving the same problems in isolation and ready for continuity instead of one-off fixes, this is exactly the kind of work we do together. Not hustle. Not pressure. Just clear decisions that compound.

When structure replaces accumulation, effort finally starts to feel proportional again.

To building what actually fits the life you’re designing,

 - Amanda

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