How to figure out what to do next in life
Most people already know the basics. What they don't know is where to start, what to prioritize, and how to measure whether they're moving. One KPI. Three dates. Two lists.
College student? The Detailed Analysis is $49 with a .edu email.
Step 1
You don't pick your number — your situation sets it. What you can choose is whether you face it, and whether you've done the one thing every number requires: the 6.
0
Ecstatically happy. Nothing to fix.
5
Need to change — no date. The ceiling.
6
A high-level statement about your plan, with a date. Everything unlocks here.
9
You dread the walk from the parking lot or getting on the video call.
10
Out of work. Still can't move until you've got the 6.
You cannot advance past 5 on your own without a date. No date means no plan; no plan means no weekly activity; no weekly activity means your timeline gets set by somebody else — a boss, a market, a layoff. And a 10 doesn't skip the queue. Being out of work is the most motivated you can possibly be, and you still can't advance the 10 until you get the 6. The 6 is a high-level statement about your plan with a date on it. That is the whole difference between running your career and having it run.
Step 2
Meaningful conversations per month with a person who could actually decide to hire you.
There are seven things people track in a job search. Six of them are activity — and activity is what you do while you're avoiding the seventh.
The rule of three: six good leads become three real opportunities, and two usually reach an offer. Six conversations over six months produces two offers and a choice. One conversation a month is not a low bar — it's a compounding one.
Most people build their next job out of the negative of their current one, and land somewhere merely different instead of better. Write what drives you crazy — then flip each one into the thing you'd run toward. When an opportunity shows up, compare it to the TO list.
Step 3
1
Completely selfish. When do you want to be in the new role? Mandatory if you're out of work.
2
When does the Costco cart change from steak to noodles? You should always know this.
3
When do you borrow against long-term funds — 401(k), family — to make ends meet?
Write them down, then share them with your spouse or partner. Couples working from the same three dates argue about something else — a much better use of the argument.
Step 4
A
Start here
One hundred percent trust. They all return your call. Lower volume, highest quality and ROI — and you have about three times more A's than you think.
B
The majority of your contacts
Trusted and respected, but you need to be on. Inconsistent about calling back — and that's fine, it isn't personal.
C
Don't start here
Job boards, recruiters, badge scans. Most people start here when motivation spikes and quit in frustration six weeks later.
At the end of every conversation, ask: "What can I do for you?" Not as a courtesy. As a mechanism.
AI raises the floor and lowers the ceiling on everything in the job search — except the conversation.
Automate the C list. Spend what it gives back on the A list. Everything else is mechanics:
Want to lean into AI instead of around it?
The hottest job in AI is closer than you think. Meet the Forward-Deploy Business Engineer, or go straight to Fractional C-Sweet.
Homework 34
Or call Joe Griffith. If he can help, he will raise his hand. If not, he will not be your last phone call.