Going Pro monthly review

Use one monthly project to keep professional growth grounded in visible action, weekly review, and saved tool progress.

Showing 7 of 7 monthly projects.

Month 1 / Q1 / Going Pro

Professional identity

Define what kind of professional the attorney is choosing to be and what outcomes they are willing to own.

Open project resource

Core question

What kind of professional are you choosing to be?

Required artifacts

  • Professional Commitment Statement
  • What I am willing to be responsible for
  • What I will no longer excuse
  • What the firm can expect from me this year

Review prompts

  • What outcome am I willing to own without being chased?
  • What excuse did I retire this week?
  • Where did my behavior match my stated standard?
  • Where did it not match yet?

Weekly review connection

  • Use Weekly Pro Review to compare stated identity against visible behavior.

Dashboard handoff

  • Save the commitment statement as a Going Pro dashboard note, then review one behavior weekly.

Recommended tools

  • Going Pro Dashboard
  • Hard Things Navigator

Green signal

Specific, grounded ownership submitted on time.

Yellow signal

Vague, aspirational, or mildly defensive commitment language.

Red signal

Missed deadline, blame shifting, or refusal to engage.

Month 2 / Q1 / Going Pro

Time and discipline

Turn professional identity into calendar evidence: deep work, business development, planning, and buffer time protected on purpose.

Open project resource

Core question

Are you operating your calendar, or is your calendar operating you?

Required artifacts

  • Four-week calendar audit
  • Non-negotiable weekly template
  • Stop-doing commitment

Review prompts

  • What did my calendar prove about my priorities?
  • Which commitment was honored without drama?
  • What did I stop doing or defer on purpose?
  • Where did reactive work still control the week?

Weekly review connection

  • Review time discipline weekly for four weeks before treating the calendar as stable.

Dashboard handoff

  • Use Weekly Pro Review to record the protected blocks kept, missed, and adjusted.

Recommended tools

  • Going Pro Dashboard
  • Hard Things Navigator

Green signal

Protected blocks are scheduled, honored, and reviewed.

Yellow signal

Blocks exist but are frequently renegotiated by urgency or mood.

Red signal

Calendar remains reactive and unreviewed.

Month 3 / Q1 / Systems & Delivery

Client trust

Make trust visible through proactive communication, follow-through reliability, and one removed client friction point.

Open project resource

Core question

Do clients experience you as dependable and clear without having to chase you?

Required artifacts

  • Trust Standard
  • Proactive update protocol for two real matters
  • Client friction fix

Review prompts

  • Where did a client not have to wonder this week?
  • What next step did I make visible?
  • What friction did I remove?
  • What silence could become a story if I leave it alone?

Weekly review connection

  • Use Weekly Pro Review to record one proactive update and one friction point per week.

Dashboard handoff

  • Run Template-to-System on one repeatable update or handoff workflow and save the trust standard.

Recommended tools

  • Going Pro Dashboard
  • Template-to-System Mapper

Green signal

Clients can see status, next step, owner, and next update date.

Yellow signal

Updates happen, but depend on memory or are inconsistent.

Red signal

Clients still need to chase for basic clarity.

Month 4 / Q2 / Systems & Delivery

Working the system

Prove that a matter or workflow can be understood, advanced, and handed off without relying on personal memory.

Open project resource

Core question

Can you operate inside the system in a way that scales?

Required artifacts

  • Clean File Standard for one active matter
  • One Best Way workflow proof for two workflows
  • System friction fix

Review prompts

  • What can another person understand without asking me?
  • Where did I create less chaos this week?
  • What recurring friction did I name?
  • What system did I improve rather than work around?

Weekly review connection

  • Use Weekly Pro Review to track one system improvement each week.

Dashboard handoff

  • Run Template-to-System on a recurring workflow and save the ownership/review model.

Recommended tools

  • Going Pro Dashboard
  • Template-to-System Mapper

Green signal

The file or workflow can be handed off with minimal explanation.

Yellow signal

Some standards exist, but ownership or naming is inconsistent.

Red signal

The workflow still depends on memory, rescue, or personal preference.

Month 5 / Q2 / Systems & Delivery

Matters as projects

Convert active matters from a series of reactions into managed projects with definition of done, milestones, owners, risks, and update cadence.

Open project resource

Core question

Can you move a matter forward predictably without memory, urgency, or chasing?

Required artifacts

  • Matter plans for two active matters
  • No-chase tasking proof
  • Matter post-mortem

Review prompts

  • What does done look like on this matter?
  • What are the next three milestones?
  • Who owns the next five actions?
  • What risk or friction should be visible now?

Weekly review connection

  • Review the same two matters weekly until progress no longer depends on chasing.

Dashboard handoff

  • Save the matter-plan pattern as a dashboard action and use Weekly Pro Review to check movement.

Recommended tools

  • Going Pro Dashboard
  • Template-to-System Mapper

Green signal

Matter status, next milestones, owners, deadlines, and client cadence are visible.

Yellow signal

Plan exists, but follow-through still requires reminders or rescue.

Red signal

Matter advancement depends on memory, urgency, or repeated chasing.

Going Pro monthly project / Anytime / Going Pro

Do the hard thing

Pick one avoided action that would materially improve professional control and move it into a weekly review cadence.

Open project resource

Core question

What necessary action am I avoiding, and what would a clean five-minute start make visible?

Required artifacts

  • Avoidance diagnosis
  • Five-minute starting action
  • If/then plan

Review prompts

  • What did I avoid this week?
  • What did the avoidance protect?
  • What five-minute start created evidence?
  • What will be visible by next Friday?

Weekly review connection

  • Use the same avoided action for four weekly reviews so the pattern becomes visible instead of reset each week.

Dashboard handoff

  • Run Hard Things Navigator, save the result, then review the next clean move in Weekly Pro Review.

Recommended tools

  • Going Pro Dashboard
  • Hard Things Navigator

Going Pro monthly project / Anytime / Market Science

Verify one market claim

Choose one market or client claim the firm repeats often and improve it with a real source, calculation, or client/referral interview.

Open project resource

Core question

What market belief are we treating as true, and what evidence would make it stronger or weaker?

Required artifacts

  • Named market claim
  • Evidence source
  • Decision affected by the claim

Review prompts

  • What claim are we treating as true?
  • What evidence do we already have?
  • What source or conversation would improve the claim?
  • What decision depends on this claim?

Weekly review connection

  • Use Weekly Pro Review to track whether the claim is becoming more factual or merely more familiar.

Dashboard handoff

  • Run Legal Market Sizer or Viable Client Profile and save the assumptions to the dashboard.

Recommended tools

  • Legal Market Sizer
  • Viable Client Profile Builder