For years my content plan has been simple: send one newsletter a week and then repurpose it across social media and my blog. Some periods I’ve been really consistent with that and other periods I haven’t.

Given that my work is to support other business owners to reach their goals, something I think about a lot is what actually helps me stay with my own plan and what I’ve realised is that for me it comes back to rhythm. 

For a long time I tried blocking Mondays to write and send my newsletter. It felt like a good plan but it rarely worked. After years of being curious about why, I eventually realised that I don’t write like that. 

I need time to sit with an idea before I can write about it. I need to choose a topic a few days before I sit down to write. And then I need a day or two between the first draft and finalising it. 

Once I started honouring that in my weekly planning, my content rhythm started working much better. 

Outreach has been another story. 

Historically I’ve done outreach in bursts, which doesn’t suit my introverted nature at all. A big burst of outreach means a big burst of replies, and suddenly my inbox and my calendar feel overwhelming, which inevitably leads me to stop and avoid outreach for a while.

I’ve also tried blocking time in my week for outreach, but when that time comes around, I often avoid it. Outreach in a block of time doesn’t feel authentic to me. I prefer to reach out to people when the thought occurs to me. 

So this week I’ve come up with something I want to try for a while. I’m calling it my 3-2-1 rhythm.

3 – Reach out to 3 people each week. This might be touching base with an old client or member of my audience, responding to someone’s newsletter I’m subscribed to to share my appreciation, or reaching out to a colleague.

2 – Have 2 generosity calls a week. These tend to be my 30/30 research calls, virtual coffees with colleagues, or the occasional gift session. I like to call them generosity calls because I do my best to show up for them from a place of service. 

1 – Write and send one newsletter each week. 

And that’s it. 

What I like about it is that it feels doable, memorable, and something I can return to even when I inevitably fall off it for a while. It also helps me avoid overwhelm. Without something to anchor me, I tend to swing between doing very little and doing too much, and neither is helpful. And I’m also a sucker for a tick box, so being able to tick each one off when it’s done helps too.

This gives me just enough structure to stay consistent without creating pressure. Rather than question what I should be doing to grow the business, I can just come back to this rhythm: have I reached out to 3 people this week? Do I have 2 calls booked in the calendar and have I sent my newsletter? If the answer is no to any of those questions then that’s what I focus on. 

If you think about your own business for a moment, do you have something like this?

Not a detailed plan, but a rhythm that you can come back to and that honours how you work.

Because that’s the piece most people are missing. Not more strategy, but something steady enough to hold them through real life.

If this is something you’ve been struggling with, you might want to try creating your own version of this. It doesn’t need to be complicated. It just needs to be something you’ll actually return to.

And if you do try it, let me know in the comments. I’m always interested to hear what people land on.