foundationPick Daily Highlight
Select only one success-defining activity and write it on a monitor sticky note.
⏱ 5m⚡ Low
The Pilot
Protocol
Feeling Good Is the Strategy.
The productivity system that treats joy as fuel, not reward—and scales without burning you out.
Does this sound familiar?
- Constant context-switching leaves you mentally exhausted by noon.
- You're making the same decisions over and over—what to work on, when, how.
- Your brain can't tell the difference between 'busy' and 'productive'.
- You power through on willpower, but the tank is always near empty.
- Uncompleted tasks loop in your head, even when you're 'off'.
Myth
Common Myth
Productivity requires discipline, grit, and pushing through resistance.
"The most effective people I know are often the calmest. The frantic ones are prone to error.
Why Joy Comes First
This isn't soft thinking—it's neuroscience. Barbara Fredrickson's Broaden-and-Build Theory shows that positive emotions literally expand your cognitive capacity. You see more options, make better connections, and build lasting resources.
Negative emotions do the opposite: they narrow your focus to survival mode. You can't strategize while stressed. You can't create while anxious. Joy isn't the reward for good work. It's the precondition.
Mechanism
The Pilot, Plane & Engineer
Click a system to explore its habits
The Pilot
Sets the course before you start. Picks ONE daily highlight and closes open loops. Takes 10% of your time so the other 90% has direction.
The Plane
Executes without rethinking. Forbidden from strategy—just follows the Pilot's orders. This is where flow happens.
The Engineer
Improves the system, not the work itself. Creates templates, automates friction, clears attention residue. 5% of time, massive ROI.
Glossary
01
Daily Highlight
The ONE thing that, if completed, would make your day feel successful. Set by the Pilot each morning.
02
Attention Residue
The mental drag from unclosed tasks. Your brain keeps processing them in the background, draining capacity.
03
High-Leverage Housekeeping
Engineer-mode work: organizing files, creating templates, building automations. Low urgency, high compound returns.
04
Energy Investment Portfolio
Weekly review of where your energy is going. The Pilot's tool for course correction.
Progression
Habit Tiers
Tier 1
Foundation
Learn to separate Pilot and Plane. Set daily highlights. Close open loops before they drain you.
Tier 2
Growth
Activate the Engineer. Build templates and automations that make the Plane fly faster tomorrow.
Tier 3
Mastery
Run experiments on your own system. Track what creates energy vs. what drains it. Optimize ruthlessly.
Tier 4Peak
Titan
Deploy media and code leverage. Build assets that scale beyond your personal time.
Start Here
Step01
Become the Pilot First
Spend 10 minutes each morning choosing your Daily Highlight. No execution until the course is set.
Step02
Let the Plane Fly
Once the Pilot decides, execute without second-guessing. Strategy time is over.
Step03
Build Your Foundation
Start with Foundation-tier habits to establish the Pilot/Plane separation as a daily practice.
Step04
Explore All Systems
Once the core separation clicks, explore the full habit stack.
Check Your Fuel
If resistance is your default state, the system isn't working. Joy should be the fuel, not discipline.
When you sit down to work, do you feel pulled toward it or resistant?
Are you constantly re-deciding what to work on throughout the day?
Do unfinished tasks nag at you even when you're trying to rest?
Does your productivity depend on willpower you don't always have?
Vibe Compatibility Lock
PROFIT ARCHITECT
Protocol Playbooks
Curated sequences of habits designed to be practiced together. Click a playbook to see its cards in the deck below.
3 cards
Morning Pilot Briefing
Set the course before the world screams for your attention.
Pick Daily Highlight
Schedule Pilot Time
Practice Calm Execution
6 cards
Strategic Deep Work
Execute high-intensity creative output with zero context switching.
Apply Five-Minute Rule
Clear Digital Workspace
Gamify Repetitive Tasks
+3 more habits
6 cards
System Optimization
Refine the machine to decrease friction and increase leverage.
Template Recurring Workflows
Execute High-Leverage Housekeeping
Automate Housekeeping Tasks
+3 more habits
8 cards
Asset Construction Protocol
Build high-margin products that generate revenue while you sleep.
Record Every Idea
Draft Asset Blueprints
Repackage Existing Assets
+5 more habits
Quests
Challenges to accelerate your transformation. Click a quest to see its target cards.
Initiation
The Sovereign Start
Stabilize your workday by completing 6 Foundation habits.
"The Plane cannot fly if the Pilot hasn't set the course."
6 Foundation tier habits in 7 days
View Quest Cards
System Mastery
Master the Strategy Pilot
Take full control of your strategic direction.
"Stop reacting. Start directing."
4 The Pilot system habits
View Quest Cards
Titan Trial
Infinite Leverage Trial
Deploy your first major media asset for one-to-many scale.
"Move the world with a long enough lever."
Complete Titan tier
2 cards
View Quest Cards
The Full Deck
26 habits across 4 core systems
Systems:
Playbooks:
foundation
foundationSchedule Pilot Time
Always reserve the first ten minutes for strategy before opening any email or Slack.
⏱ 10m⚡ Low
The Pilot
growthAudit Energy Portfolio
Never ignore energy levels; categorize every current project as an investment, drain, or neutral.
⏱ 30m⚡ Medium
The Pilot
foundationApply Five-Minute Rule
Commit only to the first five minutes of work to bypass initial procrastination resistance.
⏱ 5m⚡ Low
The Plane
foundationClear Digital Workspace
Always close every browser tab and application not directly required for your current task.
⏱ 2m⚡ Low
The Plane
growthGamify Repetitive Tasks
Only execute administrative chores by turning them into a timed quest or competitive challenge.
⏱ 15m⚡ Medium
The Plane
foundationTemplate Recurring Workflows
Always create a checklist or template the moment you perform a task for the second time.
⏱ 10m⚡ Medium
The Engineer
growthAutomate Housekeeping Tasks
Never manually handle data entry; use Zapier or AI to bridge gaps between your tools.
⏱ 1h⚡ High
The Engineer
foundationRecord Every Idea
Always capture lightning-bolt insights immediately into a single, trusted digital inbox.
⏱ 30s⚡ Low
The Architect
growthDraft Asset Blueprints
Only begin creation by mapping out the value equation and potential leverage of the asset.
⏱ 20m⚡ Medium
The Architect
masteryConstruct High-Margin Offers
Always optimize for the Value Equation: maximize outcome and minimize time and effort for users.
⏱ 2h⚡ High
The Architect
growthDeploy AI Accelerators
Only perform creative or administrative work with an AI partner for ideation and outlining.
⏱ 15m⚡ Medium
The Engineer
masteryEliminate Context Switching
Never switch between creative and administrative tasks; batch entire days for specific Plane modes.
⏱ N/A⚡ High
The Plane
masteryConduct Behavioral Experiments
Only commit to major life changes after running a data-backed 20-minute emotional audit.
⏱ 1h⚡ Medium
The Pilot
masteryBuild Passive Inboxes
Always set up automated filters to prevent non-urgent information from reaching your primary Pilot view.
⏱ 30m⚡ Medium
The Engineer
titanScale Media Leverage
Never perform one-to-one labor when a one-to-many asset can solve the same problem.
⏱ N/A⚡ High
The Architect
foundationPractice Calm Execution
Always maintain a slow heart rate and deliberate movements during high-pressure work blocks.
⏱ N/A⚡ Low
The Pilot
growthPerform 20-Minute Joy Audit
Only continue projects that consistently score high on intrinsic fuel during periodic time-interval checks.
⏱ 5m⚡ Medium
The Pilot
growthAdopt Playful Design
Always reframe your most difficult task as a creative game with specific win conditions.
⏱ 2m⚡ Low
The Plane
masteryClose Attention Residue
Never move to a new task without a 'Reset' protocol to clear cognitive baggage.
⏱ 5m⚡ Medium
The Plane
foundationExecute High-Leverage Housekeeping
Always spend the final 15 minutes of your workday organizing inputs for tomorrow's Pilot.
⏱ 15m⚡ Medium
The Engineer
masteryAudit Second Brain
Only store information that is actionable or contributes to a long-term asset blueprint.
⏱ 30m⚡ Medium
The Engineer
growthRepackage Existing Assets
Always transform one high-performing piece of content into multiple formats for different platforms.
⏱ 1h⚡ Medium
The Architect
masteryEngineer Conversion Funnels
Only launch assets after building an automated email sequence to nurture and convert leads.
⏱ 3h⚡ High
The Architect
titanDeploy One-to-Many Systems
Never provision a service manually; build an automated system or course to deliver the outcome.
⏱ N/A⚡ High
The Architect
masteryRefine Offer Physics
Always audit your offers to ensure they maximize dream outcomes and minimize user effort.
⏱ 1h⚡ High
The Architect
Sources & References
External reading that informed this stack.
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