“Once things slow down, I’ll get back on track.”
“Once this client signs, I’ll focus.”
“Once I fill that role, I’ll finally have time.”
That was me years ago, running an agency that looked fine from the outside but was drifting on the inside. Revenue stalled. Energy dropped. And my integrity was slipping.
Not in big, dramatic ways. In small ways.
I wasn’t doing what I said I would do—and that was happening almost every day. I was lying to myself.
When running my mastermind, I tracked accountability across a group of agency owners using a simple weekly goal tracker. Nothing fancy. You either did what you said you would do, or you didn’t. That meant you either won the week, or you didn’t.
When I analyzed the data, the result was clear.
On average, these agency owners only did what they said they would do 50 percent of the time. A 50 percent win rate. When reminded of the goal they set the previous week and asked whether they accomplished it, the response was too often something like, “kinda.” Or an excuse.
These same agency owners were also struggling. They were struggling when we started the mastermind, they struggled the entire time, and they struggled on their way out.
Although I showed them how we achieved success at our agencies—and they said they’d do the same—they only followed through about half the time. The other 50 percent of the time, they ignored the problem.
Not doing what you told yourself you’d do is an integrity problem.
You do not win the day by trying harder. If you don’t win the day, you cannot win the week. You win the week by winning the day. You win the month by winning the weeks. And you win overall by winning the years.
This is simple.
Figure out the two to five things you need to do today to win the day. Then do them. Nothing more is required. No other system. No hack. No AI. Nothing heroic. Just do the next thing until today’s list is done.
The agency owners who are stalled are not lazy. They are distracted. They keep rewriting the plan instead of following it.
When you do not win your day, you slowly lose confidence in yourself. That is where momentum dies. This isn’t about hustle culture or grinding longer hours. It’s about keeping the promises you make to yourself.
If you said you’d do outreach, do it. If you said you’d ship a proposal, ship it. Don’t negotiate with yourself.
I used to be the guy with inconsistent days. Now I’m the guy who wins most days—and that compounded into a 60-person agency doing $8M per year.
Focus on today. Protect your integrity. The rest compounds faster than you think.
If you want to learn how to run a profitable agency, reclaim your time, and build systems that actually scale instead of draining you, subscribe to this newsletter at businessofagency.com.
I hope this helps and gives you something to think about.
~ Erik