You don't need another beautiful planner—you need a plan you can actually execute.

In this final episode of our Mid-Year Reset Series, we're diving into the ACT phase of the Rooted in Reality planning framework. If you've already assessed what's working and aligned your business with your goals for the next six months, now it's time to make those plans real.

We're sharing how to prioritize the projects that will actually move your business forward, break overwhelming initiatives into manageable tasks, and build a project plan that works with your real-life capacity—not against it.

If you've ever written "Launch New Offer" as a single item on your to-do list, felt buried under an endless list of ideas, or wondered why your goals never seem to make it off the page, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why goals need a project plan—not just a to-do list.
• How to prioritize the projects that will move your business forward.
• Breaking big ideas into manageable, actionable tasks.
• Planning around your real capacity with realistic timelines.
• Using project management systems and AI to stay organized and follow through.

Ready for Your Midyear Reset?

The Rooted in Reality Business Planning Process walks you through the exact five-step framework we use to plan each quarter, complete with AI prompts, planning worksheets, and guided exercises to help you create a business plan that fits your life, not the other way around.

Grab your copy and start realigning the rest of your year with confidence: https://buy.stripe.com/eVqaEY0pC9v8cPl9F6d3i00

Meet Your Hosts

Jessica Walther is the founder and CEO of The Launch Collaborative and Sustainable Success Systems. As a launch strategist and systems consultant, Jess is dedicated to helping solo business owners and small-but-mighty teams build businesses that deliver both peace and profit. She specializes in creating sustainable growth strategies that align with her clients' values and lifestyles.

Rachel Lopez is the founder and CEO of Gal Marketing Agency, a boutique email marketing and strategy firm. With over a decade of experience, Rachel helps heart-driven entrepreneurs craft intentional marketing strategies that attract, nurture, and convert leads sustainably. Her human-first approach ensures that marketing efforts feel authentic and effective .

Together, Jess and Rachel blend systems, storytelling, and soulful strategy to help you grow a business that's deeply aligned with your life—not just your revenue goals.

Connect With Us:

• Jess Website
• Rachel's Website

Hang Out & Say Hi!

• Deeply Rooted Business Instagram
• Jess Instagram
• Rachel's Instagram

All right, tell me if this sounds familiar.

2

You've got the plan.

3

You sat there and spent a couple of

hours figuring out every single item

4

that you needed to do to launch this

new initiative or to be able to hit this

5

new goal that you're trying to reach.

6

It's super pretty, except it's

missing a couple of things.

7

Couple of very important things.

8

It doesn't have a date, it doesn't have

who's gonna do these magical tasks.

9

and it's not a full and complete plan.

10

A goal without a plan is

just a wish basically.

11

And for most of my clients, they come

to me and there is some certain aspect

12

of their business, either they're trying

to launch something new, whether it

13

be a new offer, or they're trying to

do a new content thing, it's probably

14

because they didn't take the time to

actually put a project plan around it.

15

So this is how you bring your goals

to life, and is one of my most

16

favoritest things to talk about

because once you learn this skill,

17

you can apply it not only to business,

but also to your personal life.

18

So today we're finishing up

our mid-year reset series.

19

So we already went through our two assess

and align episodes, and then today we're

20

talking about the last step of our Rooted

in Reality planning process, which is act.

21

Putting all these ideas, these

goals into action so that you can

22

move a little bit closer to the

business that you're trying to build.

23

Rachel: Yeah.

24

So welcome back to Growing a

Deeply Rooted Business podcast.

25

I'm Rachel, your marketing ecosystem

strategist, here with Jess, our

26

sustainable systems and growth gal.

27

And like Jess said, we're in part

three here, which means if you've

28

been with us for the last couple

of weeks, and hopefully have done

29

the work, you have assessed what's

worked, what hasn't worked, what's

30

felt good, what doesn't feel good.

31

You've aligned it with the new

direction for the next six months.

32

You hopefully know what's making you

money, what's making you tired, because

33

both of those things are important.

34

And hopefully we understand a little

bit for the next six months what they're

35

supposed to look like and all of that.

36

If you're just joining us, welcome.

37

You can absolutely start here.

38

We do recommend that you go back

and listen to those last two

39

episodes because it is a compounding

effort that we are building here.

40

So before we get into it, we'll

obviously we're gonna do our

41

quick little energy check because

this is my guilt shame bucket.

42

This episode is why I hold so tightly

Jess's friendship in my life because I

43

1,000% was the person with all of the

tasks loaded with no assignment to me,

44

'cause I didn't wanna see them on my

to-do list, 'cause it was overwhelming.

45

And absolutely no to-do

dates because how dare I?

46

You know what I mean?

47

So if you have gotten here and you're

like, "Oh, assessing all of this felt

48

really good," maybe you felt a little

uncomfortable looking at your numbers.

49

It's fine.

50

We're aligned.

51

We feel better about this

because now, we feel a little bit

52

more jolted into the new year.

53

That's amazing.

54

We're gonna hold that energy

because this part, if you're ADHD or

55

neurodivergent, is typically where

things start to fall apart, or where

56

the action tends to fall short.

57

So take a deep breath.

58

Let's jump into this,

and let's get started

59

Jessica: All right.

60

After last week, if you followed us

along, you probably have a list of

61

projects or initiatives that you know

that you need to do either to hit your

62

revenue goals or to bring more ease

into your business or just help you,

63

attract more clients or audiences.

64

What you're gonna do now is start to

make it a reality by planning it out.

65

So you're gonna wanna kinda look at

everything you've got and figure out what

66

your priorities are right now, or where

were the biggest holes when you were doing

67

all of your conversion assessments, where

are those biggest holes, and plug it.

68

Because creating a new offer

doesn't really make any sense

69

if you don't have any traffic

going to it in the first place.

70

Rachel: Yeah.

71

Jessica: Or if you've got offers

that are working, that are validated,

72

you know that they are selling, and

you just need more eyeballs on them,

73

then you know to focus there as well.

74

Or maybe you've got a ton of traffic,

but nobody's buying anything, or they're

75

opting for your lead magnet but then not

converting, then you know "Oh, the project

76

about going in and looking at my email

follow-up sequence is gonna be the key."

77

So you're gonna first prioritize, and then

you're gonna wanna kinda go through and

78

assign, one or two initiatives because

you are also serving clients unless you

79

have a team that is doing that for you.

80

One or two initiatives per month

that you are going to tackle.

81

And then you're probably, if you're like

most people, gonna have more than will

82

fit into your quarter, and then those

are the things that go into your ideal

83

parking lot that you can revisit later.

84

Rachel: Yeah, I think that we need to

emphasize this because I am also guilty.

85

Jess and I, we still do this.

86

It is like a constant

87

Jessica: lady.

88

My ideas parking lot is

what a parking garage now.

89

Rachel: Yeah.

90

Jessica: going

91

Rachel: But if we're looking at

let's just use us for an example,

92

like the Deeply Rooted business.

93

We were like, "We're doing

this, this, this, this."

94

this."

95

We over-committed in a

energetic way, right?

96

Because we were so excited about all

of the things that we have, and we

97

immediately, because Jess and I's

busy seasons tend to overlap, we

98

immediately were like, "Whoa, hold on,"

because the value in our business is

99

both of us having the time to support

each other, not being like, "Oh,

100

Jess, I don't have Q1 capabilities.

101

Jess maybe has a little

bit more than here.

102

That still doesn't work, and so that's

one of those gaps that we're like, we

103

still have to fill that kind of thing.

104

So we always overestimate all of

the things that we can get done.

105

So if you take one thing away

from this episode, let it be

106

to be honest with our capacity.

107

Let it be real that we do one, maybe one

and a half big projects per month, and not

108

try to overload it, because then we start

to feel that shame and disappointment

109

when things don't come to life.

110

So just re-emphasizing that.

111

Jessica: Yeah, and if that

sounds scary for you, then

112

it's probably a priority issue.

113

You really just need to identify

the things that are gonna really

114

help move the needle further.

115

What is that first domino

that has to get knocked down?

116

One of my favorite books

about prioritization in

117

projects is The One Thing.

118

And he says asking the focusing question.

119

So when you're trying to determine

where you should focus, you say,

120

"What was the one thing that I can

do now that will make everything else

121

on my list easier or unnecessary?"

122

And usually by asking that question,

you're gonna find it's probably something

123

that you've been avoiding of the time.

124

But you just gotta do that because

that's part of working for yourself.

125

It's probably the one main thing that

I would say give anybody as business

126

advice is you gotta get really

comfortable being uncomfortable and

127

doing those one things that's gonna

make everything easier instead of

128

trying to dance your way around it.

129

So example is, as much as I do not…

130

i'm gonna learn to love content.

131

I do not learn to love content, but I

know that having a big audience will make

132

everything else easier or unnecessary

that I'm trying to do, so that is my

133

one focus for the next couple of months.

134

Rachel: Yeah.

135

So now that you have your one focus and

you have it slotted into, we're truly

136

working with two quarters here, right?

137

So we're sorting into our quarters.

138

We have the additional layers that we've

established in the first two parts where

139

it's our capacity, our life rhythms,

our busy seasons, and all of that.

140

Now that everything's placed in their

quarter or in their month, then what?

141

Jessica: All right, so then

we're gonna wanna start to break

142

those projects down into tasks.

143

If you haven't done it already, you're

gonna kinda wanna like, "Oh okay,

144

so I wanna launch a new lead magnet.

145

What is that gonna look like?

146

I've gotta write the lead magnet copy.

147

I've gotta get it designed.

148

I've gotta set up the

tech and the forms for it.

149

You're probably gonna definitely wanna

have an email follow-up sequence for it.

150

You're gonna need to load those into it.

151

Those are the ones that I can

just think of off my head.

152

But you're gonna write them all

down, and then you're gonna kinda

153

figure out sequentially what needs

to happen first to move it down.

154

And what I typically follow for project

planning is strategy first, obviously.

155

You gotta get that nailed down.

156

And then I move into copy, and then I

move into building the thing, whether

157

it be the website or the actual asset

itself, and then we move into tech

158

set up and testing, and then launch.

159

And pretty much that will

work out for almost any single

160

project that you're taking.

161

And then you want to figure out

when do you wanna do this by, and

162

then work backwards from there.

163

And then you're gonna look at it

again and say, "That means I would

164

have to work 80 hours this week."

165

And then you're gonna give yourself

166

permission

167

to push that launch date a little bit

back and maybe deprioritize a project.

168

This isn't wasting time, because

if you do this for every single

169

one of those quarterly projects, I

recommend just doing Q3, even though

170

we have Q4 planned, go into Q3 first

'cause a lot can change in 90 days.

171

Do it all, and then this might

show you, "Oh, i've still got

172

so many projects on my plate."

173

That wasn't time wasting breaking that

off, because now you've already done that

174

part for Q4 when you decide to do it.

175

But you'll be able to really see what

your capacity is for working on a project

176

and being really honest about what it is.

177

Or if you do have the luxury of having

a budget to bring on people to help

178

you, you can identify "Oh, I could

get this launched if I outsourced

179

it to this person instead," or these

pieces of it to this person instead.

180

You're gonna go back to that project

management triangle that I talk

181

about, that you're gonna either

need more people or more time.

182

And that's how you're gonna get done.

183

And what I am realizing right now is

that I need to listen to myself, because

184

Rachel and I signed up for a challenge

where we are going to post content

185

every day, and nowhere in my planning

did I block off the time to do that.

186

That is my homework this week.

187

And guess what?

188

I posted one video this

week, and I'm sure Rachel…

189

She just told me when her time block is,

so she is planned, and she is actually

190

executing, and I am not planned, and

that's why I am having trouble executing.

191

Rachel: Yeah.

192

Let me go back four steps here, because

I think the reality of probably 70%

193

of business owners who are not good

project planners for themselves is

194

that they do take that launch this.

195

Launch new offer, and

that's their one line item.

196

And I know for me, I used to operate

like that, too, and not only does

197

that affect, one, if you have that

mental load issue where you're

198

like, " I don't know where to start."

199

"What do I tackle now?"

200

"What do you mean launch this?"

201

But it also works into delegation, too.

202

If we're looking back at that kind of

role play that we all have to do in our

203

business of employee and founder, CEO,

204

do you then say, "Okay

I can knock this out"?

205

This is my Tuesday morning brain kind

of not required type tasks that I

206

can just put on there kind of thing.

207

Those are the things that you have

to have awareness on, and when you

208

have it as a single line item in

your project management system, hurts

209

you from a delegation standpoint,

whether you're delegating to a

210

team or delegating to yourself.

211

It also hurts you just from a capacity

because, like Jess said, when you

212

take one, just a lead magnet, right?

213

When I'm helping somebody with

a lead magnet in their business,

214

there's probably 20 hours that go

into developing and executing that.

215

So it may look like a simple task

to just say, "Oh, launch this," but

216

design, writing, or reverse in that

order, writing, design, implementing

217

into your platform, those are all

things that I personally have struggled

218

with breaking down an individual task.

219

And it wasn't until Jess gave me

this genius AI skill that I could

220

literally take this and it gives me

all of the things that I just kinda

221

categorized in my brain unknowingly.

222

So just wanna name that reality because

it is so real for people to think it's a

223

single line item when it's actually 20.

224

Jessica: And then for the next step,

you're gonna wanna load it into some

225

sort of project management tool.

226

So obviously, my tool of choice

is Notion, but I've used Asana,

227

I've used ClickUp before.

228

You could do a paper planner.

229

why I am against paper planners

is because the project is probably

230

not going to shake out exactly on

the days you think it is going to

231

Rachel: happen

232

Jessica: So these digital project

management tools allow you to shift dates

233

when they're inevitably going to need

to get shifted around because things

234

come up, a kid gets sick, something

takes longer than you thought it was

235

than you estimated it was gonna take.

236

But yeah.

237

So my favorite thing right now is to

load it into Notion on the date that I

238

want to do it, and then when I'm doing

my weekly planning sessions now, Notion

239

actually has Notion Calendar, which

you can bring in your task, you can

240

connect your task to it, and it'll show

you at the top of your calendar all the

241

tasks you're supposed to do that day.

242

And then you can drag those down and

actually start time blocking them into

243

the actual day when you want to do them.

244

That has really started to help me a lot

because I have a lot of client meetings

245

and other meetings to work around to

really see oh, okay, I can slot something

246

here, and then slot something there.

247

So that's my favorite way right

now to plan it is, and I do that

248

in the beginning of the week.

249

Rachel: Yeah, and I'm gonna give a

plug for time tracking here, because

250

let's say you are a solopreneur

or a small team kinda thing.

251

When you're recreating all of

these different workflows and

252

creating you're not only ever gonna

create one lead magnet, right?

253

You're probably gonna have a few

in your lifetime of your business.

254

So if you do this where you have it

set up and you say, "Okay, I'm gonna

255

conceptualize my lead magnet, 30 minutes.

256

I'm gonna then write my lead magnet,"

and you're truly time tracking this,

257

the next time you go and do it, and

you go and drop those tasks in, when

258

you put a 20-minute task on your

to-do list or on your calendar in

259

between two client call meetings,

you start to understand if that's a

260

reality or if that's just a dream.

261

Is that actually gonna happen in that 20

minutes, or does it need to get bumped?

262

So just being, super honest with yourself.

263

I have had to time track to break

myself of this everything takes

264

30 minutes illusion I was in.

265

Delusion, what we should call it.

266

And it has actually helped me be way

more controlled in how I assign tasks

267

to myself because if I'm like, "Oh,

I need to get this done," I know that

268

right now, recording a video is more

on the 30, 40-minute efforts right

269

now if I'm in this YAP challenge.

270

To edit and record and script it and

all of that, I can't just do it while

271

Henry's watching something over here.

272

So just putting this out there that

if time tracking has always been like,

273

"Ugh, it's so useless," it's actually

super useful for your future self, 100%.

274

Jessica: I know during our Notion

setups, one of the columns that I do

275

have is an estimate that I think each

task will take, and then I can look

276

at my day and be like, "Oh, got 13

hours worth of tasks scheduled today.

277

That's not gonna work."

278

So move that.

279

Or we also have integrated a time tracking

into our Notion where we can see a roll-up

280

of how long the task actually did take,

and then that is great for informing

281

for the next time, like Rachel said.

282

So having the system that kind

of all connects and everything

283

is

284

beautiful.

285

It's also great for delegation too,

if you're trying to manage somebody.

286

This skill of project planning and

especially launch planning, I can

287

do in my sleep pretty much right

now, and I definitely have all

288

the hacks for making this faster.

289

So what I've done actually

is trained a project manager.

290

We have Project Manager Paula

and she lives inside the lab.

291

She's one of your assistants that you

get within the first couple of weeks.

292

And what she will basically help you

do is either giving her a strategy

293

doc or a loose list of tasks that

you're going to accomplish, and from

294

there, she's gonna help you break

it out into tasks, like I said.

295

'Cause every task, especially if you're

working with a team, even writing

296

copy, writing an email, it's like

write the email, get the approval, load

297

it up, test the links, all of this.

298

She'll really help you get into

those granular aspects of the task.

299

And then that way if you have a target

launch date, she will help you out

300

those tasks if you have team members

to delegate, who you're delegating

301

to and all of that, so that you walk

away with a pretty project plan.

302

And then the most amazing thing

that I love about using this within

303

Claude is that you can connect your

Notion, and then from there you can

304

say, "Okay, great, these look great.

305

Now take all of these tasks and put

them into my Notion database and connect

306

it to this project via relation."

307

And it just automatically puts

everything in there, and it makes

308

my life so much easier as a project

planning person, and it's beautiful.

309

And I don't know what I did

without AI and Paula before.

310

Rachel: Yeah, and I think one of

the things that maybe nobody really

311

considers is the fact that, when

you're setting up your business brain,

312

you've established your weekly rhythm,

your capacities, your hours that you

313

wanna work, and all of those things.

314

And so when eager beaver you sits

down and says, "I have four priorities

315

I wanna get done in August," your

business brain will check you, 'cause

316

I've done this already, where they go,

"Oh, actually this doesn't quite work.

317

You wanna launch this, but actually

your windows of opportunity are pretty

318

limited, and we have this, and this."

319

So it's one of those things that if

you've done step one and step two of

320

this three-part series of assessing and

aligning, all of these layers come into

321

play when you're then project planning.

322

And then when you have, Project

Planner Paula holding you accountable

323

for this, it's super valuable.

324

Jessica: Let's recap the

steps of our ACT session.

325

Like we said, if you haven't listened

to the past two episodes, we definitely

326

go recommend you to go listen to those.

327

But for this step in particularly,

you're going to wanna sort your

328

projects by priority and map out one

or two that you wanna do each month.

329

And then from there, you're gonna start

to break your projects down into tasks

330

with owners, because it's not gonna get

done if you don't assign it anybody.

331

And then you're gonna put it in

your project manager and assign it

332

a date, because if it's not on my

calendar, I'm definitely not doing it.

333

and then you wanna make sure that

it's, all loaded into whatever

334

project management or task

management system that you are using.

335

Rachel: yeah.

336

And make sure you're who it's assign it to

because that is my biggest thing, and then

337

it never shows up on my to-do list, so.

338

all right.

339

These three audits, which If you

listened to all three episodes,

340

this is the whole process of annual

planning, mid-year planning, and

341

holding you all together, right?

342

The three audits, your clients,

your offers, your marketing

343

traffic, the assessing and

aligning all of this stuff forward.

344

This is how it all comes into a

sustainable life first business system

345

that helps you, one, not burn out, one,

not feel guilty for not getting all of

346

the things done, and get your goals into

off of your planner and into reality.

347

So that's the whole process.

348

We do recommend that you

check in on this quarterly.

349

Have your little business

meetings with yourself.

350

Don't push them away

'cause they are important.

351

Jessica: We

352

hope you enjoyed this series.

353

back next week because we're gonna

be moving into a launch series.

354

This is one of me and Rachel's and

one of our most favorite and exciting

355

things to do because we're both moving

into launch season, which usually

356

happens around that September, October.

357

It's a really great time to launch.

358

And I know I've got a

couple of clients launching.

359

I'm sure Rachel does as well.

360

So next week we're gonna be

talking about how AI changing the

361

launch landscape, so I'm super

362

excited about that.

363

And until next week

364

Rachel: We're rooting for you