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The Weekend App
I had a great idea for an app this past week.
I didn’t need to validate it because there are already multiple versions in the market. The demand is there.
Almost without thinking I began designing it and thought, I could have a version of this ready over the weekend. With tools like Claude and ChatGPT, that is no longer a ridiculous statement. You can build an app that fast if you know what you’re doing.
About five words into typing the design prompt into Claude I stopped myself.
“What am I doing?” Bright Shiny Object Syndrome strikes again.
If I had to name one root cause behind why many of my ventures — and my clients’ — have struggled or failed, it would be a lack of focus. Conversely, the most successful ones were the result of relentless focus.
Focus is an action. Lack of focus results from lack of clarity.
Gain clarity and focus easily follows.
Without clarity, focus is difficult and most will struggle to enact and maintain it.
I closed Claude and went about my day because of clarity. Sure, it would be fun to build the app. I was mostly solving a problem for myself but maybe it would be successful. Who knows?
It doesn’t matter because it doesn’t align with my current goal of scaling my service offerings to help owners build their companies.
If you’re struggling to focus, first find clarity.
Below I cover five areas where clarity is lost and provide questions to help you rediscover it.
Where Clarity is Lost
Identity Confusion
Identity confusion is lacking awareness about who you are, your current capabilities and where you are on your journey.
I work with clients who haven’t solidified their product market fit (PMF) and wonder why they struggle to scale.
Conversely, I’ve worked with clients who have a confirmed customer avatar with PMF, yet waste energy and resources expanding into other areas instead of doubling down on what works.
Clarity begins when you accurately assess your capabilities, identify who you’re serving, and locate where you are in regards to fulfilling the purpose of both.
Clarity Questions:
Have I clearly defined who I am, who I serve, and what I’m building?
Are my current actions aligned with my answers to
Question 1?
What are my greatest pain points and are they legitimate growing pains or struggle due to misalignment?
Poor Problem Framing
Every problem is novel when you have no structure for thinking.
If you’re solving the wrong problem, the right solution doesn’t matter.
I regularly encounter poor or limited financial reporting when I begin working with clients. Their explanation is often tied to poor systems. “If only we had used [X] software.”
I’ve learned to frame the problem differently.
People→Processes→Data→Systems→Information
When organizations lack information they are often frustrated with the systems that produce their information. But what about the input data the system is receiving? What process is producing the data and who is running the process?
This simple frame helps identify the root cause and correctly frame the problem to be solved.
Clarity Questions:
Have I written out in detail the problem I am encountering?
Have I performed a root cause analysis such as the Five Whys?
What assumptions am I making about the cause of this issue?
Too Many Options
Optionality feels like freedom but is usually a prison of possibility.
Clarity implies commitment. And commitment means risk.
Keeping our options open is often rooted in our fear of failure.
This is also known as the Bright Shiny Object Syndrome (see above) and I observe it with all of my clients and suffer from it myself more than I like to admit.
Clarity often comes with a cost. Clarity arises from what is removed, not added.
You have to kill your darlings in whichever form they exist.
Clarity Questions:
If I could only pursue one thing (idea, project, customer, etc.) for the next 90 days, which would I choose and why?
If I had to kill one option today, which would it be? If you have multiple options, repeat this exercise until you’re down to one.
What am I avoiding by keeping my options open?
No Feedback Loops
Often clarity is achieved a few steps down the path. Taking action is required but what determines the action’s worth or signals us to take further steps in a similar direction?
When discussing past growth initiatives, client’s will say “We did that and it didn’t work.”
“How did you know?”, I’ll respond.
“Well, we tried it for a few weeks but it didn’t get any sales.”
Was the campaign long enough? Did they A/B test different ad copy, images, etc.?
Good feedback loops are time frame appropriate, measurable and tied to real outcomes (revenue instead of likes for example).
Without well designed feedback loops in place, you’re essentially flying blind.
Clarity depends on closing the loop between effort and insight.
Clarity Questions:
Where in my business am I acting without any feedback mechanism in place?
Have I designed my feedback loops considering time frames, variables and intent?
If I could only track one thing to understand my business what would it be?
Validation Seeking
We all get caught up in vanity metrics.
Followers and likes on social media.
Customers who we should fire but keep because their revenue props up our numbers.
Projects our investors or board are pushing that feel distracting but we do them anyway because saying no feels risky.
Validation feels like progress. It’s comforting. It buys applause.
But it rarely creates alignment.
The more you chase validation, the more your decisions drift away from your real priorities and toward other people’s scorecards.
Clarity Questions:
If no one saw this decision but me, would I still make it?
If this choice cost me likes, followers, or short-term revenue but moved me closer to my long-term goal, would I still do it?
Am I acting from conviction or trying to avoid disapproval?
The Next Step
Clarity isn’t something you stumble into, it’s something you shape. Through reflection. Through subtraction. Through asking better questions.
If you’re feeling stuck, scattered, or unfocused, it’s likely not a discipline issue. It’s a clarity issue in disguise.
Not all five areas may need attention. Focus on ones that resonate the most. Answer the questions honestly and let them guide what’s next.
Clarity doesn’t just help you focus, it helps you move forward with conviction.
And that’s how momentum is built.
My goal with The Leap is to provide you each Saturday with the knowledge, tools and lessons learned to help you get started and keep going toward building your future.
Whether you are making the leap to startups, solo-entrepreneurship, freelancing, side hustles or other creative ventures, the tools and strategies to succeed in each are similar.