115 min
Make the more/less list, today. Two columns: what you want more of in your work, and less of. Problems, people, scope, recognition. Be concrete, using script 1. "More growth" doesn't count; "more work that involves [X]" does.
Week 2 of 13Phase 1: Get clear
Sharpen your target
The read (3 minutes)
On day one you wrote a target. This week you make it sharp, because a vague target is the most common reason these 90 days stall. "Get promoted" or "be more visible" can't be aimed at. "I want [name] to see me as the obvious owner of [scope] by day 90" can. The difference is whether you can name the person who decides and the specific thing you want them to see, know, or consider.
Sharpening is not dreaming bigger. Usually the block is the opposite: too many half-formed options and no way to choose between them. So you narrow. What do you want more of and less of in your work, and what is the one next step from where you actually stand? A target that fits on a card beats a five-year vision you never look at again.
Here is the quiet reason this matters beyond your own head. A target you can say out loud is the thing that lets other people help you reach it. Nobody can advocate for a goal you have never named. Everything in phases 2 and 3, the visibility moves, the relationships, the case, points at the sentence you finish this week.
This week's moves
220 min
Put your target to the test. Take the sentence you wrote on day one. Run the "so that" check in script 3, then rewrite it as a sharp target with script 2: name the person who decides and the specific thing.
310 min
Say the target to one person. Tell one trusted person what you're aiming at, using script 4. Saying it out loud makes it real and starts the advocacy early. No safe person to tell? Rehearse it once out loud; that counts.
Script bank
Word for word, ready to use. Edit any script to make it yours, then copy it.
1.The more/less line
"More: [specific]. Less: [specific]." Force the specifics. Not "more leadership," but "more owning a project end to end."
2.The sharp-target line
"By day 90, I want [the person who decides] to [see, know, or consider] me for [specific role, scope, or conversation]." It names a person and a specific thing, not a title you're owed.
3.The "so that" check
Add "so that..." to your target and try to finish it: "I want [target] so that [what it gives you]." If you can't finish it, the target isn't clear yet, and that's useful to know in week 2 instead of week 12.
4.The spoken target
"I'm focused on [the target, in plain words]. I wanted you to know, in case you ever spot something that could help me get there." Say it once, then stop.
Friday debrief prompts
Your Friday email carries the reply template. These are the prompts inside it.
- What surprised you in the "less" column?
- Your sharp target, in one sentence: write it here.
- Could you finish the "so that"? If not, what's missing?
Re-entry note
Missed week 1? Don't go back. Do this week's move 1 and move 2, then borrow week 1's inventory over the weekend; you'll want it for week 3.