Let me ask you a question I ask a lot of my clients… What is it you’re actually trying to accomplish? Like, seriously.

And you can’t give me the vague “I want to grow my business” or “I want to make more money” stuff. I mean, what exactly does that success looks like for you? What does “done” actually mean in your world?

After 20+ years working with everyone solopreneurs to top level executives I realize, most people are working incredibly hard to reach a finish line they’ve never actually defined.

You can’t get to Dallas if you don’t know where Dallas is.

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The Question That Changes Everything  

When I start with a new client (doesn’t matter if they are private, govt agency, or non-profit) one of the first questions I ask is, “What does success look like for you?”

Not what the latest business guru said it should be. No what do I as their consultant believe it should be. But what does your success look like?

And you know what? Nine times out of ten, there’s a pause. A long one. Because they’ve been so busy executing, pushing, and putting out fires, that they’ve never stopped to actually define where they’re going.

They know they want to go “far.” They know they want to make “money.” They know they want to “grow.”

But how far? How much money? By when? What does growth actually mean for their unique business or even their personal lives?

These aren’t just philosophical questions. They’re the difference between intentional progress and simple busyness.

 

Differing Goals, Means Completely Different Paths  

Clarity on your finish line matters so much because the destination you choose completely determines the path you need to take.

Think about it. If you’re trying to build a lifestyle business that gives you freedom and flexibility, you’re going to make completely different decisions than if you’re building something you plan to scale and sell. Your hiring approach will be different. Your systems will be different. Your marketing will be different. Your entire operational philosophy will be different.

Or… if your primary goal is to become known as the go-to expert in your field, your priorities look nothing like someone whose goal is to quietly serve a select group of premium clients. One person needs visibility, platform building, and thought leadership. The other needs depth of relationship, referral systems, and white-glove service delivery.

Same level of ambition and capability. Completely different strategies.

Where most entrepreneurs get stuck is they try to do both. They want the visibility and the intimacy. They want to scale and maintain complete control. They want rapid growth and work-life balance.

Look, I’m not saying you can’t eventually have multiple things. But if you’re trying to prioritize everything, you’ve actually prioritized nothing. And that’s when the wheels fall off.

You’ll be pulled in every direction, saying yes to opportunities that don’t align, investing energy in activities that don’t move you forward, and wondering why you’re exhausted and still unfulfilled.

The Hidden Cost of Unclear Priorities  

You start with an idea. Someone asks, “What do I do first?” And you jump straight into tactics without strategy. You build the website before you know who it’s for. You create the product before you understand the problem it solves. You launch the campaign before you’ve clarified the message.

It’s like showing up to the airport ready to travel but having no idea which gate to go to. Sure, you’re doing something. But are you going where you actually want to go?

The truth is, you can’t establish the right priorities if you don’t know what you’re prioritizing toward.

 

Working Backwards From Your Vision  

Let me show you how this works in practice.

First we define our finish line. Let’s say you want to generate an additional $100,000 in revenue next month. Now we know specifically what we want to do and by when. Then, you can work backwards:

• $100,000 ÷ $350 per sale = 286 sales needed

• 286 sales ÷ 4 weeks = approximately 72 sales per week

• 72 sales ÷ 5 business days = roughly 14-15 sales per day

Now we can establish priorities.

If you need 15 sales per day and your current conversion rate is, say, 10%, that means you need 150 qualified leads coming through your pipeline every single day.

See how quickly this clarifies what you actually need to focus on? You’re not just “trying to make more money.” You have a specific lead generation target. You have a conversion rate you need to either maintain or improve. You have daily benchmarks that tell you whether you’re on track or falling behind.

And there’s another critical question… Where are those 150 daily leads going to come from?

Because each lead source requires completely different priorities and strategies. Organic social media? You need a content machine. Paid ads? You need budget and optimization systems. Referrals? You need a structured partner program. Networking? You need to be having multiple high-quality conversations every single day.

This is where most entrepreneurs get stuck. They set a revenue goal, maybe even break it down into sales numbers, but they never work all the way back to the actual activities required. And without that clarity, they can’t establish the right priorities to get there.

 

When Your Finish Line Reveals Your Priorities  

Now that we’ve worked backwards and know we need 150 qualified leads per day to hit that $100K revenue goal, we can finally establish real priorities. Not the “everything is important” kind that leaves you spinning. Actual strategic priorities that build on each other.

Here’s how this breaks down. Let’s get a little technical.

Priority #1: Lead Generation Systems

This isn’t even a question. If you need 150 leads per day and you’re currently getting 20, nothing else matters until you solve this problem. Not your website redesign. Not your new product launch. Not optimizing your email sequences. You need volume, and you need it now.

This means your primary focus becomes: What lead generation channel can we scale fastest to hit our daily target? Maybe it’s paid ads if you have budget. Maybe it’s strategic partnerships if you have relationships. Maybe it’s a content blitz if you have the capacity. But everything else takes a back seat until you’ve got a reliable pipeline pumping out the volume you need.

 

Priority #2: Conversion Infrastructure

Once you’ve got leads flowing, or even while you’re building that system out, you need to make sure you can actually convert them at the rate you’re banking on. If your current conversion rate is 10% and you need to maintain that across 150 daily leads, you need infrastructure that can handle that volume without your conversion rate tanking.

This means: Do you have enough sales calls scheduled? Can your team handle the volume? Are your follow-up systems automated enough to keep leads from slipping through the cracks? Is your sales process documented and repeatable?

If you’re planning to personally handle all 150 conversations a day, we’ve got a problem. Your priority shifts to building a sales team or implementing systems that pre-qualify leads so you’re only talking to the most ready-to-buy prospects.

 

Priority #3: Capacity and Delivery

Here’s the priority too many forget. You have to figure out if you can actually deliver on 286 new sales next month without breaking your business.

If your service requires personal delivery and you’re already maxed out, generating more sales just creates a fulfillment nightmare. Your priority might actually need to be hiring and training delivery team members before you ramp up lead generation.

Or, maybe you need to shift some clients to a group model to free up capacity. It’s even possible you’ll need to streamline your delivery process so each client takes less time.

Point is, there’s no reason to generate leads you can’t serve well. Doing that will create a reputation problem instead of a revenue win.

 

Get Clear Now

So here’s what I want you to do right now, not later, not when you have more time, but right now!

Define your finish line.

What does success look like for you in the next year? The next month? Or the next week? Not in vague, inspirational terms. In specific, concrete, “someone else will be able to see this and know it happened” terms. Is it a revenue number? Write down the exact amount and the date you’ll achieve it. Is it an impact goal? Define precisely what impact means and how many people you want to reach. Is it a transformation for yourself? Your business? Your team? Your community? Describe what that transformation looks like in detail you can measure.

Is it a lifestyle change? Map out what your ideal week looks like and what needs to be true for that to happen.

Once you have that clarity, once you can see your finish line, you can establish priorities that actually matter. You can start making strategic choices. You can build systems and structures that move you consistently toward what you’ve defined as success.

 

 

What’s Your Finish Line?  

Now go tell somebody! Everybody!!

There’s power in declaring your finish line, it makes it real, makes you accountable, makes it something you’re committed to rather than just thinking about. This building in private and behind the scenes crap is for losers who don’t want accountability for their failures.

Define what done looks like.

Then say it out loud to as many people as you can.

Then go get it done!