Dear Creative,

It’s my favorite time of year: marketing chaos season!

But no, really, I do love end-of-year planning for next year and the weird ways it collides with your work in progress, tbh.

It's when you plan how you're spending your precious time, energy, and money moving forward. You're in the driver's seat, deciding how you're gonna show up in front of your ideal customer.

While also publishing that thing you poured your heart into 3-6 months ago, and everybody finally gets to say how cool it looks.

("Thanks! I’m already stressed about the next thing!" many seasoned marketers grumble under a tired smile)

Over the last 12 months, I've gone a bit minimal with my tools – back to a simple notes app (UpNote), note cards, notebooks, and of course Google Cal. (Though I've got a paper monthly planner for 2026 on my desk, so we’ll give that a go next year.)

Personally, I found the more digital tools I added (I think I’ve tried Notion for the last time, lol), the more it kept pulling me away from my most creative moments, and I was losing time, energy, and ultimately forward progress. Apple Watch notifications started stressing me out, not reminding me to take a breath.

Just me??

UpNote has been the catch-all I needed for planning and basic to-dos (without reminders).

For me? Way more productive and less stressful!

On that note...

🚦 Coach’s Seat 🚖 ​Join Protect Your Spark on December 1st. 🏁✨

My Goal-Setting System: Like a Traffic Light

If I were to describe my way of goal-setting and planning for next year, it takes about a month in total and looks like a traffic light. 🚦

Think of your goals at three different levels, like a traffic light:

• 🔴 RED: Long-Term Goals (think 5–10 years into the future and write down your dream vision)
  • This should make you STOP. Is that big expense worth it? Does that action move you closer to or further from your ultimate goal? This should be something that excites you, maybe even scares you a little. Allocate a small portion of resources here (let's say 10%).
• 🟡 YELLOW: Medium-Term Goals (3–12 months from now, where will you be?)
  • This should make you THINK. Don’t spend too much time here, but get after it if it’s important to you. Some days you can work on these goals, others you can't. But if you chip away long enough, the bigger goal becomes a series of greenlights. Allocate a strategic portion of resources here (~30% of your focus).
• 🟢 GREEN: Short-Term Goals (what's most important in the next 30–90 days?)
  • This should be your primary focus – where you GO each week. Some greenlights (not all) should be easy wins. Celebrate. Feel good about yourself, but also get shit done. Allocate the largest portion of resources here (~60%).

The key is to allocate your time, energy, and money across these levels in a mix that feels right to you, ensuring you're always making a little bit of progress.

Then, check yourself each week: do your daily actions match your goals?

🚏 Next Stop: Last Call for the Protect Your Spark Workshop Early Rider Discount ✨

If you’re ready to align your actions with your goals and build something new with us, hop in – like rn.

We're closing the doors on the best price ever for Protect Your Spark – a little over 12 hours to secure your seat for only $9. We'd love your active participation and constructive feedback as we build tools for purpose-driven creatives:

This 30-minute creative jam session will teach you the simple practice for building boundaries around those three essential assets we just talked about: Time, Energy, and Money. We'll also connect you with a purpose-driven creative for the road ahead.

🏁✨ Secure Your Seat Before Tomorrow:

​https://www.creative.taxi/workshop​

🟢 If you're waiting for a green light to stop leaking creative juices and create like you mean it!! 🟢

🌈 Creative Fuel ⛽

What do you love to talk about even when you aren't paid for it?

Peace,
​Andy​
Founder & CEO, Creative Taxi Ltd. 🚕🫧
​Move your ideas forward.
​​
​Hop in: Creative Taxi Workshop ◼️ Threads ◼️ Instagram ◼️ LinkedIn​

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” – Alan Kay