Like A Ladder

It's January and everyone's setting their big 2026 goals hyping themselves up for how they’re gonna crush the year. Or finally try a Hyrox.

My business goal: hit $25k/month by the end of the year.

That's audacious, and it should be. Because if I even get to half of that, that's a big win. One problem. Now what? I kept staring at that number and had absolutely no idea what to do today to get there.

I felt like Jack looking up the beanstalk thinking that goal is painfully out of reach.

The problem wasn't that $25k/month is too big or unrealistic. It was I couldn't visualize a path from where I am now (let's be honest, pretty much $0) to there. $25k/month feels out of reach. Impossible to get to. Like staring at the top of a ladder from the ground and just... freezes me.

So I'd either not start at all, or I'd start and stop because I had no way to measure if I was actually making progress. I'd tell people "this is what I'm building" and then avoid them for weeks because I had nothing to show for it.

I talked to a couple of my friends about how I was feeling painfully stuck. My friend Natalia put it best. I need to stop asking myself "how do I build a $25k/month business" and instead ask "how do I make $150 this week."

@nat.lucyy

lemme know if u have questions on how u can apply this to ur life to hit ur goals 🤍 #entrepreneur #business #femalefounder #businessmotiv... See more

^She made a tiktok series about it too^

Something I could do right now to get me one rung further up the ladder. Then $300 next week. Then $600 the week after. Just keep doubling it. Build momentum. Momentum takes you a long way.

This applies to more than just revenue, too. Same thing with building an audience - I wasn't going to wake up with 100k YouTube subscribers and Instagram followers.

But I could post every day this week and try to get 50 new ones. Then aim for 100 next. Building a newsletter? Not 10k subscribers overnight. But I could get 25 signups this week. Then 50 next week.

Each rung builds on the last and I'm one step closer to the monthly revenue goal, the subscriber count, the follower number - they all become inevitable instead of impossible. I build momentum and I'm one step closer. It's cliche but true. It changes a lot.

Goal one: make $150 this week.

So I just started sharing what I'm building with people. No fancy pitch. Just "hey, I'm working on this thing. Are you or anyone you know interested?" Surprise. They were interested. Like, genuinely interested.

I made $150. Nice.

So now I look for the next rung: $300 this week. And the one after that, $600 the week after.

The $25k/month goal hasn't changed. It's still exactly where I want to be. But now I feel like I have the momentum and path to get there instead of just a post-it I slapped up on my computer.

Try it Out

Here's what I did (and you can too):

1. Keep the ambitious goal for yourself (or the year) - don't lower your sights

2. Identify the weekly rung - what's the smallest thing you can do this week to get you one step closer

3. Climb it - actually do the thing

4. Next week, double it - build momentum, do it again

5. Repeat

The monthly goal becomes a byproduct of weekly rungs. Not something you stare at hoping it magically happens. I'm on like rung 3 right now. Not rung 20. Definitely not at the top. But I can see the next one. And that's what matters.

The ambitious goal is more attainable than you think. You just need to take the steps (and build the momentum) to get there

Start there.

You’re Awesome,

Jared

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Things Worth Clicking

A few gems I found on the internet this week - no digging required

• How WisprFlow just took their incredible product to the moon with a cracked 19 year old.

• Natalia’s video series about momentum.

@nat.lucyy

lemme know if u have questions on how u can apply this to ur life to hit ur goals 🤍 #entrepreneur #business #femalefounder #businessmotiv... See more

• Tyler Denk on how he built a the wildly successful Morning Brew referral program

I Dig So You Don’t Have To

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