Whispers From the New Year: Why Your Business Needs a GPS
Zach’s Take: We are officially a day or two away from the New Year, and it’s time to stop pretending that "working hard" is a strategy. Michael and I have built enough businesses to know that if you don't know exactly where you are and where you're going, you’re just a guy in a Jeep driving in circles. We’re going to give you the exact GPS framework we use to scale—not just 10% or 20%, but 10x bigger. Put your "daddy pants" on, because we’re moving past the "busy work" and getting into the art of winning.
The "Dead Phone" Navigation Test
Michael tells a story about his son that every business owner should hear. His son was 16, just starting to drive, and Michael decided to test him. He told him: "Your phone is dead. You have no GPS. You’re in the middle of a rough neighborhood. Now, get us home."
His wife was sitting in the back, furious, ready to call an Uber, but Michael wouldn't budge. Why? Because if you don't know how to navigate using your own resources, you are a hostage to your tools.
Most entrepreneurs are "spoiled" by the busyness of their day-to-day. They "print off the MapQuest directions" (the old way of doing things) but they don't actually know the terrain. Like Alice in Wonderland asking the Cheshire Cat which way to go—if you don't know where you're headed, any road will get you there. And "any road" usually leads to a business that stalls out.
📺 Watch the New Year’s Session
We’re dropping the "Wizard of Oz" road trip analogy and the Billionaire-level scaling tools below. Watch the full episode here:
The GPS Framework (Goal, Priorities, Strategy)
In our world, GPS doesn’t stand for Global Positioning System. It stands for the three things that bring clarity to a chaotic business:
The Goal: This sits at the top of the page. It must be Specific, Measurable, and Simple. Don't give me a 12-paragraph mission statement. Give me a number or a target that a fifth-grader could understand.
The 3 Priorities: You don't get 10 priorities. you get three. Priority #1 is the big domino. When you achieve #1, you earn the right to move to #2.
The Strategies: These are the "how." For every priority, you have about five strategies. This is where the work happens—whether it's launching a podcast (Traffic You Earn) or running ads (Traffic You Pay For).
Stop Mistaking "Busy" for "Productive" ✍️
My mentor, Gary Keller, uses this exact GPS system to build empires. It forces you to look at your calendar and be honest.
Michael’s other mentor, Steve Larson, has a "Two Pen Rule" that will change your life:
The Green Pen: Mark every task that is a money-making activity.
The Red Pen: Mark everything else.
If your calendar is full of "red" tasks—like cleaning your office or "organizing files"—you aren't being an entrepreneur; you're being a lazy implementer. Busyness is often just a form of laziness. It’s a way to get a dopamine hit of "accomplishment" without actually moving the needle toward your $100M goal.
It’s Personal: Faith, Family, and Business
As we head into 2026, we’re getting personal. Business is our "sportsball"—it’s the thing that lights us up—but it isn't everything.
Zach’s Goal: Stay faithful to God, love on my wife and my "boatload of children," and live a big, intentional life.
Michael’s Goal: Bring on two new clients a week, get deeper into his prayer life, and repair the relationship with his sons.
If your business isn't serving your life, your priorities are backwards. Use the GPS to order your life so that your relationship with God and your family flows into a successful business, not the other way around.
Stop Driving in Circles
Clarity is power. To be unclear is to be unkind—to yourself and to your team.
Watch the video above to see how we build a GPS from scratch.
Happy New Year!!
