Hey Reader,

I was 18, doing my own laundry for the first time in my life.

Sounds ridiculous, right? But that's the reality. I had spent my entire life at home where everything was handed to me. Then I went abroad for a year and suddenly I'm figuring out how to buy groceries, cook meals, and not destroy my clothes in the washing machine.

But here's what actually mattered about that year.

For the first time ever, I had space to slow down. And in that space, I asked myself a question I had somehow avoided my entire life:
What do I actually want?
And am I doing anything right now that's going to get me there?

The answer was brutal. I wasn't even close.

So I changed. Pretty drastically.
And when I came back home, everyone noticed. "Wow, you're like a different person, I don't even recognize you".

All because I finally learned how to do something most people never figure out: predict my future.

Now, before you roll your eyes, hear me out. I'm not talking about crystal balls or some hocus pocus nonsense. I'm talking about a system. One that's made me a lot of money, helped me build multiple businesses, and honestly, kept me sane when things got chaotic.

Companies literally pay me tens of thousands of dollars to help them see what the future could look like. To present a vision to their board. To help investors understand where things are headed so they can make better decisions.

And today, I want to share that same framework with you.

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The past is dead. Something difficult happens, even something painful, and somehow you move on. Faster than you'd expect, usually.

But the future? That's a different animal.

The fear of the future is what keeps people up at night. The idea that something bad is coming. That you won't be able to handle it. That you're going to mess up. This is the stuff at the heart of most anxiety.

But if you don't know where you want to go, you shouldn't be surprised if you don't get there. So here is how I think about my relationship to the future:

Define where you want to go. Imagine your own eulogy. What do you want people to say about you? Work backwards from there.

Understand where you are right now. Get honest. What actions are you actually taking today that move you toward that future?

Build the roadmap. The skills to develop. The habits to break. The milestones that tell you if you're on track.

Track whether you're hitting your goals. Regular reflection. Are you on track? What needs to change?

This works well with personal growth, but what about your professional ambitions? Well...it's not too different.

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You want to know why FP&A professionals make so much more than traditional accountants?

Because they can tell the future. And they can do it in a credible way.

There's actually a funny joke about this. FP&A is one of the very few jobs where you can be completely wrong about what you share and still get promoted 😂.

And honestly? There's truth in that. People will pay a premium for a compelling story about what could happen.

I do the exact same thing with my clients that I do in my personal life. Same system.

Define where the business wants to go.

When I meet with a CEO, this is always where I start. Are they trying to fundraise? Hit a specific revenue target? Reach a cash flow milestone?

You can't build a forecast without knowing the destination.

Understand where the business is right now.

I dig into the numbers. I get to know the business. How does the machine actually work? What's driving results today?

You can't chart a path forward if you don't know your starting point.

Build the roadmap.

This is where I help them understand the actions they need to take.

What levers can they pull? How much should they invest in sales and marketing? What hires do they need to make? How do they optimize cash collections? This is where the forecast lives.

Track whether they're hitting their goals.

Budget vs. actuals. Month after month. So they always know exactly where they stand and what needs to shift.

Same system. Personal or professional. It works.

There are a few sayings here that I want to end with...

If you tell people your dreams and they aren't laughing, you aren't dreaming big enough. Make em laugh, dream big

To me, most people who don't achieve greatness don't fail because they cant. They fail because they aren't dreaming big enough...which leads me to this:

The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you aim at it

Ironically enough, I got this last quote from a fortune cookie. I guess these fortune cookies really do know how to tell your fortune 🤔.

Now I want to hear from you - how do you plan for the future? Where do you see yourself next year? in 5 years? in 30 years?

Hit reply, I'd love to hear it.

Have a great weekend.
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Josh
Your CFO Guy