These guides are written for owners who'd rather fix their follow-through than read another productivity book. Each one is practical, Canadian and usable on your own. You don't need to hire Doin.ca to get value from them, and we'd rather you used them than didn't.
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How to turn a business plan into this week's commitments
A plan becomes real when it turns into a few dated commitments for this week. This guide walks through the five steps we use with owners, with a worked example and a checklist.
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Run your own 30-minute weekly check-in
A weekly check-in is a fixed 30 minutes where you review last week's commitments, find what got in the way and set a realistic list for next week. Here is the full template, ready to use this Friday.
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Why capable owners keep missing their own commitments
Owners rarely miss commitments because they don't care. They miss them because of full calendars, missing decisions, oversized tasks, discomfort, unclear finish lines and nobody asking. Each has a fix.
Guide 1: From plan to this week's commitments
Turning a plan into weekly action is the guide to read if you have goals, or even a full business plan, and no idea what to do on Monday morning.
It teaches:
- how to sort a long list of goals down to three for the next six weeks;
- how to write a commitment that can clearly be kept or missed;
- the "room-making" step most plans skip;
- a worked example of one goal broken into six weekly steps.
It mirrors the method behind our six-week action plan, so it's also a fair preview of how we work.
Guide 2: Why owners miss their own commitments
Why owners miss their own commitments looks honestly at the reasons capable people keep breaking promises to themselves. It isn't about laziness; it's mostly about calendars, missing decisions, discomfort and the lack of anyone asking.
It teaches:
- the six common causes of repeat slips, and a fix for each;
- how to tell a capacity problem from an avoidance problem;
- simple self-checks you can run at the end of any week.
If this one sounds like you, our habits and calendar reset applies the same ideas with a coach.
Guide 3: Running your own weekly check-in
The weekly check-in template gives you a complete 30-minute format to run alone or with a business partner. It's the same three-question structure we use in our weekly check-ins, written out so you can try it for a month before deciding whether you want outside help.
It includes:
- a printable ☐ checklist for the 30 minutes;
- a simple record for kept and slipped commitments;
- guidance on running it with a partner without it turning into a status meeting;
- what to do in the weeks you want to skip.
How to get the most from these guides
Read one, then act on it within a week. Reading feels productive, but only the acting changes anything. A guide you agree with and never apply is just another plan in the drawer, which is the problem we exist to solve.
A practical approach:
- Pick the guide that matches your situation most closely.
- Block 45 minutes this week to work through it with your own goals.
- Run the weekly check-in from Guide 3 for four weeks.
- Count your kept commitments at the end. That number is your honest starting point.
What the guides don't cover
They don't cover strategy, marketing tactics or finance. They assume you already know roughly what needs doing and focus only on getting it done. If you need help deciding what the plan should be in the first place, a strategy conversation is the better starting point.
Who writes the guides
Every guide is written by Ali Sedighi, MBA, from the same method we use with coaching clients. Nothing in them depends on special software, a paid course or a particular industry. They were written with Canadian owners in mind: seasonal businesses, small teams, long winters and busy summers.
We update them when we learn something better. The date at the top of each guide tells you when it was last reviewed.
When a guide isn't enough
Some owners find they can run the check-in alone for a few weeks, then it quietly stops. That's normal. The missing ingredient is usually another person who will ask. If that happens, our services are built for exactly that gap, and the first consultation is free.
You can also browse the FAQ or read about Doin.ca to see who writes these guides.
Frequently asked questions
Are the guides really free to use?
Yes. Use them, print them and share them with a business partner. They're written so an owner can apply them alone.
Which guide should I read first?
If you have a plan that never turns into action, start with the plan-to-weekly-action guide. If you keep making commitments and missing them, start with the follow-through guide. If you want something to do this week, go straight to the check-in template.
Do the checklists need any software?
No. They use plain ☐ boxes you can print, copy into a notebook or paste into any notes app.