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Key Takeaways
- Every quarter, I spend one hour writing down what truly matters — a simple reset that keeps me focused.
- That one-page ritual guides my decisions, protects my priorities and prevents burnout.
Most founders don’t burn out because they work too hard. They burn out because they never stop to decide what actually matters.
When you’re running a company, urgency becomes your operating system. There’s always another hire to make, product to ship, fire to put out or metric to improve. If you’re not careful, you wake up one day successful — but not necessarily building the life you intended.
For nearly 10 years running Luxury Presence, I’ve relied on a simple quarterly ritual to prevent that drift. It takes one hour. One sheet of paper. And it’s been the single most stabilizing habit in my career.
I call it the “One-Page Plan.”
What goes on the page
The structure is simple:
- Purpose: Why you do what you do
- Values: What matters most
- BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal): Your long-term moonshot
- Five-year vision: Who you want to become across five themes (health, relationships, career, learning, contribution)
- One-year goals: The habits and outcomes that move you forward
- Quarterly goals: The specific commitments for the next 90 days
Most of the document doesn’t change much. Your purpose shouldn’t shift every quarter. Your five-year direction might evolve slightly, but it remains steady.
The quarterly section is where reality meets ambition. That’s where big ideas turn into measurable commitments.
Why most founders skip this — and why that’s a mistake
Many founders resist this kind of planning because they equate structure with rigidity. They want to stay opportunistic. Flexible. Open.
But here’s the problem: if you don’t decide what matters in advance, the market decides for you.
Without intentionality, you default to:
- What’s loudest
- What’s newest
- What feels urgent
- What boosts short-term metrics
That’s how founders drift — not from lack of ambition, but from lack of alignment.
Why the one-page plan works
This exercise does three things most founders never make time for.
It forces reflection
Founders are wired to chase what’s next. Very few stop to recognize progress. Writing this plan every quarter forces me to look back before I look forward. It creates space to acknowledge wins instead of constantly moving the goalpost.
That alone reduces burnout.
It creates honest accountability
It’s easy to say something is important. It’s harder to write it down and review it 90 days later.
Every quarter, I pull out the previous plan and confront the truth: Did I prioritize what I said mattered? Or did I let the urgent crowd out the important?
The paper doesn’t lie.
It protects balance
Business is one category on my page. It doesn’t come first.
Family and friends do.
There have been quarters where I exceeded revenue targets but ignored personal commitments. The review process exposes that imbalance early — before success in one area silently erodes another.
Without this system, I wouldn’t notice the tradeoffs until they were costly.
What this looks like in practice
One of the identities in my five-year vision is simple: become a writer.
Not “write occasionally.” Not “post when inspired.” Become a writer.
To support that, my one-year goal is to publish consistently on LinkedIn and launch a personal newsletter. My quarterly goal for Q4 2025 is straightforward: write and send the first three editions.
That’s the commitment.
If January arrives and those newsletters aren’t sent, I don’t get to blame busyness. I get clarity. I chose other priorities.
That awareness is powerful.
The real benefit: deciding in advance
The biggest benefit of the One-Page Plan isn’t productivity. It’s pre-decision.
You define success before you’re tired, reactive or overwhelmed.
You choose your priorities before the quarter begins.
That way, when opportunities show up — new partnerships, new initiatives, new distractions — you can evaluate them against something stable.
Does this move me toward what I said matters? Or is it just exciting?
That filter alone has saved me from misaligned growth more than once.
How to start
At the end of this quarter, block one uninterrupted hour.
Turn off your phone. Close your laptop. Grab a blank sheet of paper.
Start big:
- Why do you do what you do?
- What kind of person are you trying to become?
- What does five years from now look like across health, relationships, career and contribution?
Then narrow:
- Three to five goals for the next year
- Concrete commitments for the next 90 days
When the quarter ends, review it honestly. Celebrate what you achieved. Learn from what you didn’t. Then write the next one.
Final thought
Running a company is hard. Running one while staying healthy, grounded and connected to the people you care about is harder.
The One-Page Plan won’t eliminate chaos. It won’t prevent hard quarters, layoffs or market corrections.
But it will make sure you’re building on purpose.
And in a world where everything is urgent, that clarity might be the highest-leverage hour you invest all quarter.
Key Takeaways
- Every quarter, I spend one hour writing down what truly matters — a simple reset that keeps me focused.
- That one-page ritual guides my decisions, protects my priorities and prevents burnout.
Most founders don’t burn out because they work too hard. They burn out because they never stop to decide what actually matters.
When you’re running a company, urgency becomes your operating system. There’s always another hire to make, product to ship, fire to put out or metric to improve. If you’re not careful, you wake up one day successful — but not necessarily building the life you intended.
