My Master Plan For The New Year

2023 is Jordan Year

Author

Matt Gray
December 31, 2022

I’m obsessed with being the best version of myself.

My purpose is to live life to the fullest and inspire others.

This past year has been an incredible opportunity to dominate my niche, grow a massive online audience, and achieve greatness with fellow legends.

We live in the most exciting time ever:

  • Attention is the new oil

  • AI is expanding exponentially

  • And 4 of the largest companies in the world are media companies

The next generation of companies will be built on attention.

First, there was the internet.

Then there was social.

Now it’s building a brand through content and community.

And the time to level up is now.

As I promised last week, in today's newsletter I'm going to be sharing with you:

  • My reflection on the past year

  • My goals for the upcoming year

  • Useful insights I think are good to write down and reflect on every 30 days

👉 I'll also give away my 2023 Master Plan template (read until the end to get it).

This email will be a bit longer than most, but it will serve as a massive source of inspiration and encouragement as you create your Master Plan for 2023.

Before we dive in...

Many people are posting their New Year's resolutions online, but the sad reality is only 9% of people end up achieving their resolutions.

However, there is a way to increase the odds of achieving your goals by up to 95%.

Accountability.

In the Founder OS Program, I’ve made accountability a core component of the curriculum.

And it's helping founders just like you achieve incredible things:

“The results I've gotten from taking the Founder OS Program have been nothing short of incredible. 2-months after taking Founder OS and I've already grown 15,600 followers across Twitter and Linkedin, gotten more than 100 leads for my business, and closed more than $100k in new contracts. It's all from using the strategies I learned from Matt in this program! Couldn't recommend the Founder OS Program more.” - Rob Hoffman | CEO and Co-Founder of Contact Studios

Could you benefit from the accountability that comes with Founder OS?

If so, I highly recommend you join ASAP.

Partly because the earlier you join, the faster you can begin implementing and taking advantage of everything the program has to offer...

…but also because the price of the Founder OS Program goes up on March 1st.

Meaning it’s highly likely you won’t ever be able to join Founder OS for this price again.

Make 2023 the year you accomplish big things.

Now, on to my 2023 Master Plan 🪂

My 2022 In Review

2022 was full of amazing experiences. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Yosemite and Big Sur with my brother Nick - Transformed my thinking and opened my eyes to new opportunities, and led to a ton of momentum and breakthroughs.

  • Puerto Escondido - Amazing time with friends and the ability to be creative and productive in the beautiful weather.

  • Growing my audience - Has led to an amazing community and lifelong connections like Justin Welsh, Codie Sanchez, Sam Ovens, Ben Meer, Sahil Bloom, Austin Belcak, Steve Gatena, JCron (to name a few), and so many insane opportunities.

  • Starting YouTube - Leaning into expressing myself creatively has been a fun experience.

  • Leveling Up Mastermind - Able to learn from legends like Sam Ovens, Eric Siu, Steve Gatena, Codie Sanchez, and Alex Hormozi.

  • Launching Founder OS - I get a ton of joy from inspiring founders to be the best versions of themselves and accomplish their dreams through proven systems.

  • Launching Audience OS - Helping founders go from unknown to an audience of 1 million.

  • Brooklyn with Ryan Begelman - Always a blast hanging with Begelman and so many legendary convos and experiences that changed my outlook on life.

  • Montauk - Fun times with hilarious people.

  • Sedona - Amazing hikes, great friends, and lots of creative time.

2022 Highlights

Personal

  1. Extraordinary People - Johnny Paterson, Nick, my family, Francesco Gatti, Steve Gatena, Sam Ovens, Alex Lieberman, Justin Welsh, Ben Meer, Michael Novotny, Codie Sanchez, Brennan, Love, Sierra, Ryan Begelman, Nima, Greg Isenberg, Sieva, Val, Barrett, Austin Rief, Joe Speiser, Robbie Bent, Dan Go, Rich Antoniello, there are too many people to list here…

  2. Amazing Places

    1. Puerto Escondido

    2. Sedona

    3. Othership

    4. Brooklyn

    5. Montauk

    6. Big Sur

    7. Yosemite

  3. Habits - Meditate, yoga, lifting, daily writing, daily publishing on Twitter and LinkedIn, weekly YouTube videos, helping others, giving back, hiking, morning runs, and Audible books.

  4. Sobriety - Giving up weed and alcohol has been the best thing for my drive, energy, and health.

  5. Optimizing my Testosterone - This has been a game-changer.

  6. Community - Sense of belonging amongst all the founders in Founder OS I’ve met the past year.

Business

  1. Team and growth at Herb - Grew 70% year-over-year

  2. Team and growth at Founder OS - Went from idea to serving over 250 founders, 35K subscribers, and an audience of 300K in 6 months

  3. Hit $400K monthly revenue Herb - Shoutout to the entire team at Herb for their determination, tenacity, and dedication to the customer experience

  4. Launched Founder OS Program, Audience OS, Founder OS community

  5. Newsletter to 35K subscribers

  6. 6 successful workshops

  7. Audience growth - 130K LinkedIn, 155K Twitter, 25K Instagram, 300 YouTube

  8. Personal Board of Advisors is dialed in - Sam Ovens, Ben Meer, Justin Welsh, Cole Gordon, Rich Antoniello, Alex Lieberman, Codie Sanchez, Greg Isenberg, Ryan Begelman, Jenna, and John Paterson.

  9. Plan for Henso Mastermind - Applications are now open and gearing up for the most epic collaboration, growth, and experiences with elite founders.

  10. Launched YouTube channel - Excited to provide incredible value to founders via long-form video.

Top Learnings From 2022

  1. Prioritize nature - Nature is your greatest mentor. Get outside daily, take your shoes off, ground yourself, and explore the best of what the planet has to offer.

  2. Remove negative people - Surround yourself with amazing people and remove people that drain your energy.

  3. Make decisions based on a Whole Body Yes - It’s either a “Hell Yes” or a “No.”

  4. Being in beautiful places fuels creativity - Keep exploring, creating, building, and sharing.

  5. Attention is the new oil - Grow your audience and fuel your surface area for luck, community, connections, and clients.

  6. Learn aggressively - Continually upgrade your skills (copywriting, video, storytelling, sales systems, mindset, leadership, and funnels).

  7. Storytelling is a vehicle for transformation - Learn into crafting amazing stories.

  8. Build leverage daily - Hire great people, build products, prioritize profits, and set your audience on fire.

  9. Vulnerability wins - Be real and open your heart.

  10. Get 1% better every day - Compounding is pure magic.

  11. Community is your superpower - Continue to lean in.

  12. Apply the 80/20 rule to everything - Focus on the 20% of things that bring 80% of the results.

Areas To Improve In The New Year

  1. Mindset - Continue to think bigger. What you think you become.

  2. Sales systems - Learn from Cole Gordon and aggressively upgrade the organization.

  3. Mindfulness - Ability to stay cool and calm under pressure - run every morning and burn off steam.

  4. Vulnerability - Be real, open, and vulnerable.

Favorite Books From 2022

My Plan For 2023

2023 is Jordan Year.

It’s a year of mastery. Dominance. The ruthless pursuit of excellence.

Jordan made those around him better.

He was a leader.

The hardest worker in the room.

And someone that inspired the world.

I’m determined this year to pursue greatness in entrepreneurship like Jordan pursued it in basketball.

Next-level determination, work ethic, and energy to uplift those around me and inspire founders.

"You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them." - Michael Jordan

In 2023 I will hit $10M in revenue.

The Future of Entrepreneurship

This is where I see entrepreneurship heading 👇

In 2023 I plan to make every decision with these thoughts in mind:

  1. Brands are founder-led → Founders lead with storytelling

  2. Every brand is a media company → Founders grow fans through organic content

  3. Niche communities are dominant → Innovative distribution strategies across social, newsletters, and YouTube will be used to win peoples’ hearts and minds

People

"There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." - Michael Jordan

In 2023 I am committed to being the absolute best that I can.

However, I know that alone I can only go so far.

That's why in the year to come I'll be prioritizing my relationships with:

  • The entire Herb team

  • The entire Founder OS crew

  • Alex Lieberman

  • Steve Gatena

  • Codie Sanchez

  • Justin Welsh

  • Francesco Gatti

  • Sam Ovens

  • Ben Meer

  • Cole Gordon

2023 Vision

Herb Vision

Leverage Herb’s community of 14 million to serve cannabis brands and dispensaries better than anyone else in the world.

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Founder OS Vision

Help founders gain clarity, grow their audience, and achieve greatness through a community of fellow legends and proven systems.

2023 Business Goals

Herb 1-Year Goals

  • $850K MRR

  • 1M newsletter subscribers

  • 100% adoption of Herb Analytics

  • 97% of clients refer business to Herb

  • Closers system implemented

Founder OS 1-Year Goals

  • Audience at 1M (250K IG, 500K Twitter, 500K LinkedIn, 100K YT, 100K TikTok)

  • Newsletter subscribers at 150K

  • 2,000 founders served through Founder OS Program

  • Recurring revenue product generating $50K per month by October 30

  • Implement 3 Founder OS Program improvements each month

2023 Personal Goals

Romance

  • Meet the woman of my dreams

Faith

  • Meditate daily

  • Go to Patagonia

  • Experience sunsets daily

Family

  • Go on an epic wilderness adventure with brother Nick and Dad

Fitness

  • No excess sugar

  • Lift daily

  • Morning runs (on the beach)

  • Daily stretch

Friends

  • Meet up with Johnny for an epic adventure

  • Serve 20 founders through Henso Mastermind

Fun

  • Go to Japan

  • Read/listen to 2 books per month

  • Find a home base

Anti-Goals

Stop doing things you hate.

  • No meetings before noon

  • No meetings longer than 30 mins

  • No more accepting negative people around me

2023 Predictions

  • S&P down 30% by May

  • Google beats ChatGPT

  • TikTok banned in the US

  • Twitter turns into a video-first platform

  • Elon Musk opens up Twitter policy for cannabis ads

Conclusion

The biggest bottleneck to your growth is you.

Learn. Grow. Build. Launch. Have fun.

Spend your time on things that bring you energy and growth. Delete the rest.

Everything is moving in a positive direction - keep up the amazing momentum.

"Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion." - Michael Jordan

There you have it, my reflection of 2022 and priorities for 2023.

I hope you found them helpful.

Here is a 2023 Master Plan Template 👇

I've built this system over the last 14 years. I complete this reflection each year and journal my goals for the next year.

This is a simple 17-question analysis that can help you plan for 2023.

I generally complete this journalling exercise with a pen and paper over 5-6 days (complete 3 questions a day).

I then complete my vision board (as seen in Founder OS Program) for each of my businesses (Herb, Founder OS).

If you've taken the time to reflect on your past year, or have made a plan for 2023, hit me up on Twitter and share them with me. I'd love to hear from you.

Let's win in 2023 together 🥇

Matt

P.S. Whenever you're ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:

#1: I just launched a new YouTube Channel. I'm putting a ton of energy into creating heaps of valuable content that I think you'll like. Come check out my latest stuff, and give me a like and subscribe.

#2: Want to grow your audience and online business fast? Discover how to build a proven system for audience growth in just 2 hours here.

#3: Promote your brand to over 36,842 subscribers by sponsoring this newsletter (Booking into April 2023)

#4: Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn for more operating systems, marketing tips, and community-building systems.

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