On this 300th episode of the Take Flight Weekly Podcast, I want to teach you one of the simplest, most effective habits for running your business like a professional: the weekly planning session. If you’ve ever wondered how elite-level entrepreneurs and advisors stay focused, consistent, and calm in the middle of chaos, it’s not luck, it comes down to elite level planning and staying in a rhythm of consistency. Their weeks are built by design.
The weekly planning session is your reset button, your opportunity to move from week to week proactively. It sets up each week to ensure that what you’re doing each day aligns with your quarterly goals, annual goals and your 3 Year Vision. Done right, it’s the single most important 60 to 90 minutes of your week.
Before we dive in, let me remind you of my purpose: to help you, the full-service, full-fee advisor and entrepreneur, become more productive and more fulfilled. Why? Because happy advisors and entrepreneurs produce more. Listen as if we’re sitting together one-on-one. This is your coaching session.
When you run a high-performance business, you can’t wing it. No one is that good. A weekly planning session ensures you’re grounded, focused, and prepared in moving seamlessly from week to week. Think of it as your gateway between daily execution and quarterly success; the bridge that keeps you connected to your goals. Without it, you drift into reactive mode, chasing what’s urgent instead of what’s important. With it, you gain control of your calendar, energy, and your outcomes.
The best in the world, whether it be athletes, CEOs, or elite real estate advisors, run on systems and processes not relying on winning streaks. They don’t rely on motivation; they rely on structure. The goal isn’t to pack more into your calendar. It’s to align your actions with your vision, eliminate unnecessary noise, and make sure that every day moves you closer to where you want to be.
If you’re serious about creating predictability and sustainability in your business, it starts with your weekly planning session. Let’s break it down.
Best Practices for a Weekly Planning Session
- Create a recurring calendar invite. Choose the same time every week. Sunday or Monday mornings work best for most. Allow 60–90 minutes. Protect this block like a client meeting.
- Review all correspondence from the previous week. Go through texts, DMs, voicemails, and emails. Ask yourself: Did I miss an opportunity? Did someone reach out who deserves a follow-up?
- Review your previous week’s calendar. Look for missed opportunities and commitments. Identify what worked, what didn’t, and what needs follow-up or system improvement.
- Review your upcoming week. What events, showings, or meetings need preparation? Anticipate your schedule so you’re never surprised or scrambling.
- Review your CRM. Identify your “Next 10”; the retention and conversion process described in Episode #249: The Next 10.
- Identify one project that aligns with your quarterly goal. Every week should include progress toward a key initiative that supports your quarterly goals.
- Review your 3 Year Vision. See it. Feel it. Experience it in advance. Does it still resonate? Will you celebrate when you achieve your 3 Year Vision?
BONUS: I review and schedule my personal to-do's during this timeframe as well.
When you treat your weekly planning session as a weekly non-negotiable, you’ll find yourself more grounded, better prepared, and with far fewer missed opportunities. You’ll walk into Monday playing on offense without the anxiety of not being prepared.
If you still aren't sold, I want you to calculate the monetary value of the missed opportunities with your clients and prospects just in the last year. What's that number? $1M, 5M, 15M in production? Take that times your average fee side percentage and your personal split. What did you leave on the table?
This is why you schedule in a weekly planning session. It's another one of those "basic" execution strategies that proves repeatedly to be effective. Get out your calendar right now while you're listening to this and schedule a recurring appointment with yourself for 60-90 minutes each week.
