Just listened to Dan Martell’s episode: “9 AI Skills You MUST Have to Get Ahead of 99% of People.” It was solid. Not hype. Not “AI is taking over.” Just practical insight on how to actually use AI better as an operator. A few things it reinforced for me: • Most people are using AI at surface level • Prompting is structured thinking • Context changes everything • AI amplifies operators — it doesn’t replace them • Speed of iteration is the real advantage Nothing groundbreaking… but definitely sharpening. It validated some things we’re already doing and tightened how I’m thinking about AI inside content, systems, and decision-making. If you’re actively using AI in your business, I think you’ll get value from it. I’ll start sharing more podcasts, tools, and resources in here that I genuinely think are high signal and worth your time. If you listen to it, drop your biggest takeaway below.

You Don’t Have a Funnel You Have a Form. Most operators say: “We run ads. They fill out a form. We call them.” That’s not a funnel. That’s a contact sheet. Here’s the exact journey we run at The Institute Corona — and the mechanics behind each stage. Numbers first: • $5–$15 cost per lead • 70% contact rate • 90% show rate • 40% close rate after attendance • 20% take 48-hour promo immediately • <5% monthly churn • 3–4 payment cycles minimum Now the sequencing. Stage 1: Traffic (Controlled Input) Paid + Organic. • $800/month paid • 4–5 organic posts per day • Scheduled 30 days out Distribution is systemized. You can’t optimize conversion on inconsistent traffic. Stage 2: Lead Capture (Single Promise) VSL (video sales letter) funnel → Free 2-week training. One clear promise. One CTA. No confusion. Stage 3: Thank You Page (Momentum Engineering) Most operators waste this page. They say: “Thanks, we’ll reach out.” We do three things instead: 1. Video explaining what happens next. 2. Clear expectation: “You’ll receive a text + email.” 3. Immediate booking button. Why this matters: • Expectation lowers resistance when we text. • Booking button captures hot leads instantly. • Momentum is preserved while emotional temperature is high. This page alone increases booking rate. Stage 4: CRM Routing + Stage-Based Automation This is where most people fall apart. Lead hits Follow Up Boss (our CRM). Immediately: • Email sequence triggers (Welcome + Next Steps). • Text goes out 1 minute later. • We call same day. If no response: Shield-drop text: “Oh just want to confirm Alex is 9 years old, right?” This creates micro-engagement. Now here’s the important part: Every stage in CRM triggers an attached email sequence. Not random emails. Stage-based reinforcement. Examples: Stage: New Lead Sequence: • Welcome email • Origin story (soap opera style) • Social proof • Booking CTA reinforcement This keeps warming them even if they ignore texts.

I didn’t join to feel motivated. I joined to sharpen my thinking. There’s a difference. I’ve been running The Institute Corona for 8 years. I co-run a BDR division within our mortgage company. I’m building Institute Social as a long-term equity engine. I already understood systems. But being in that room changed how seriously I implement and execute within them. Here’s what actually shifted for me. 1. I Belong In That Room For years I wanted to be around "top players" in the game. Then one day I realized… I’m in that room now. And I belong there. There are people way ahead of me. There are people behind me. That doesn’t place me in the middle. It just means I’m in the right environment. That shift alone changed how I show up. Less hesitation. More ownership. 2. Life-Changing Money Is Math, Not Emotion Strip the emotion out and it’s simple: Inputs → Outputs. Traffic. Conversion. LTV. Churn. Offer strength. Retention. That’s it. When you look at it that way, money becomes operational — not mystical. That reframing changed how I make decisions. 3. I Bet On It Before It Paid Me Back I didn’t join comfortably. I put the community fee on a credit card. For perspective it was 3k a month for 6 months. Not because I was reckless. Because I wanted to preserve cash. And in my head I kept thinking: “There’s no way I don’t make more than this costs me.” Not hype. Math. If I implement even a few things correctly, this pays for itself. And it did. Not because revenue exploded overnight. But because: • We tightened retention • We simplified offers • We saw constraints faster • We stopped guessing • We made cleaner decisions We’re not where we want to be yet. But we’re further than we were. That gap now isn’t capability. It’s execution time. 4. What Most People Miss Inside Communities Most people consume. They take notes. They screenshot slides. They talk about ideas. Operators install. I stopped watching and started implementing immediately.

Here is a great productivity exercise for yourself to actually get work done for the week or if you have a team from Leila Hormozi [INTERNAL MEMO] Hey team, We are bleeding time. PERIOD. Even though we're mostly in person, distractions and "one-offs" are still killing our productivity. And during this time of change, I need to make sure nobody is drowning while others have capacity we're not using. So we're implementing something that sounds counterintuitive: You're going to spend one hour planning to save 10-12 hours executing. It's called Monday Hour One. Starting now, every Monday morning (or Sunday night if you prefer), you will block out your entire week. Not some of it. All of it. By Monday morning, your supervisor should be able to look at your calendar and see exactly where every hour is going. This is mandatory. The Executive Team will be checking. Why? Because when I can see everyone's time allocation, I can properly distribute work and actually hit our project deadlines. No more wondering who's overloaded. No more hidden capacity. Just transparency. Here’s exactly how to do Monday Hour One: 1. Brain dump everything(20 minutes) 2. Prioritize ruthlessly (5 minutes) 3. Block your breaks FIRST (5 minutes) 4. Schedule your actual work (20 minutes) 5. Add overflow time (5 minutes) 6. Color code everything (5 minutes) Your calendar should look like Tetris. Every slot filled. Every hour accounted for. Examples of Monday Hour One Calendars Once you have completed the above, your calendar may look similar to the one below: I know this level of planning feels constraining. But constraints create freedom. When you give yourself too much time, work expands to fill it. When you create boundaries, you get shit done. This also means your calendar needs to be visible to your supervisor, HR, and Executive Team. No exceptions. Try this for one week. I guarantee you'll find hours you didn't know you had. But if you block time and don't do what you said you'd do, you're lying to yourself. The calendar is a commitment and that little friction at the beginning of the week leads to freedom the rest of it.

Just wanted to take a moment to wish you and your family a truly great Christmas. This time of year is a good reminder that while we’re all here to build, scale, and move forward — none of it matters if we forget to be present with the people we’re doing it for. If you’re feeling: - Grateful → lean into it - Behind → give yourself some grace - Motivated → jot the idea down, don’t act on it yet There’s a season for execution — and there’s a season for rest. Today gets to be both, lightly. If you want one simple reflection today: 👉 What do I want my life to feel like next Christmas — and what kind of operator do I need to become to support that? No homework. No pressure. Just perspective. Appreciate every one of you for being here, contributing, and choosing to build intentionally. Enjoy the day. Be present. We’ll get back to work soon enough.