FORGE Framework

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Stage 1 – FRAME
• 3. Stage 2 – ORGANIZE
• 4. Stage 3 – RUN
• 5. Stage 4 – GAUGE
• 6. Stage 5 – EVOLVE
• 7. Workbook Wrap-Up

Introduction

Why You’re Here

You’re not here for more theory.

You’re here because:

• You have ideas that aren’t turning into finished things fast enough.
• You’re getting hit from all sides with inputs—emails, DMs, meetings, tasks, “we shoulds.”
• You know AI is powerful, but you don’t yet have a reliable way to work with it day-to-day.

You don’t need another app.
You need a way of working that you can actually live inside.

That’s what this workbook is for.

---

What Business Forge Is

Business Forge is an AI partnership system.

It’s not just “productivity with AI sprinkled on top.”
The core idea is:

You’re not just getting work done.
You’re training yourself and your AI to be better partners with every loop.

The framework at the heart of this workbook is called FORGE:

FRAME → ORGANIZE → RUN → GAUGE → EVOLVE

Every page in this workbook lives inside that loop.

---

What This Workbook Will Help You Do

By the time you’ve worked through this (you do not need to do it all at once), you will have:

• A clear FRAME for what you’re building and how you and your AI work together
• A simple way to ORGANIZE your world—where everything lives, how it flows, and what you’re never doing now
• A daily RUN habit: blocks of focused work with AI as a co-pilot, not a distraction
• Lightweight GAUGE rituals so you always know what’s actually happening
• An EVOLVE practice that turns all that evidence into better habits, smarter context, and a deeper AI partnership

You’ll walk away with:

• A project snapshot and AI partner profile you can paste into any AI
• A clear capture + storage map for your ideas, tasks, and artifacts
• Reusable block templates for focused work sessions
• Review pages to see your patterns, wins, and “never doing now” items
• A living system you can keep refining over time

How to Use This Workbook

You do not need to be “disciplined” to start.
You do not need to “do it right” on the first try.

This workbook is meant to be lived in.

A few ways to approach it:

• Straight through
  Start at FRAME and move stage by stage as if this is a guided program.
• Just-in-time
  Jump to the stage that matches your loudest pain:
  • Drowning in tasks? → ORGANIZE
  • Always busy, never moving the big thing? → RUN + GAUGE
  • Lots of data, not much learning? → EVOLVE
• Workshop mode
  Use one stage per week with your AI (or at a meetup) and loop FORGE over a month.

You can absolutely print out individual stages as separate booklets if you want a lighter carry.

---

Quick Tour of the 5 Stages

You’ll see these five stages repeated throughout the workbook.

FRAME – What are we here to build?

You’ll:

• Choose what this cycle is about (business, project, experiment)
• Clarify your goal, why now, and what you actually have (time, money, skills, people)
• Name your obstacles, what you’ve tried, and how you work best
• Design an AI Partner Profile so your assistant knows how to show up for you

Output:
A one-page FRAME snapshot you can paste into any AI to give it real context.

---

ORGANIZE – What needs attention and where does it live?

You’ll:

• Take inventory of all the places your “stuff” currently lives
• Choose a single capture point (your “one inbox”)
• Decide where tasks, documents, notes, and archives live by default
• Learn a simple daily/weekly flow: capture → process with AI → decide → file
• Create three core lists:
  • NOW (calendar)
  • NOT NOW (later but real)
  • Never Doing Now list (things you’re consciously not spending your NOW on)

Output:
A storage map, a chosen capture tool, and clean lists your AI can help you maintain.

RUN – What am I doing now?

You’ll:

• Turn your calendar into a NOW list you actually follow
• Design focused work blocks (e.g., 45–90 minutes) with clear intentions
• Learn how to use AI as a co-pilot during execution, not a distraction
• Close every block with a quick “what really happened?” check-in

Output:
A daily execution rhythm, a reusable work block template, and a simple morning/midday/evening ritual that keeps you moving.

---

GAUGE – What happened?

You’ll:

• Run quick daily resets to clean up each day
• Hold a weekly review to see what completed, what rolled, and what was dropped
• Track a few simple metrics (completion, rollover, deep work, etc.)
• Look at outcomes across different areas of your life or business
• Rate the quality of your partnership with your AI over time

Output:
A set of review pages that turn activity into evidence, and evidence into insight.

---

EVOLVE – What did I learn and how will I change?

You’ll:

• Use your GAUGE evidence to spot patterns and blind spots
• Decide which patterns to accept, design around, or change
• Update only the parts of your FRAME that have actually changed
• Tune how you and your AI work together (deepen the partnership)
• Review Wins and your Never Doing Now list at a higher altitude

Output:
A short list of intentional changes for the next cycle, refreshed FRAME, and a partnership with AI that feels more like a co-creator than a vending machine.

Stage 1 – FRAME

Stage 1 Opening

Why this stage exists

Before you ask AI for help, it needs to know what game you’re playing.

FRAME answers:

• What are you building?
• Why does it matter?
• What do you actually have to work with?
• What’s in the way?
• How do you work best?
• What kind of AI partner do you want?

By the end of this stage, you will have:

• A clear description of what you’re building
• A written project snapshot (goal, why, resources, obstacles, history, work style)
• An AI Partner Profile you can paste into any AI
• A 1-page FRAME snapshot to start any session with context

---

1. Choose What This FRAME Is For

You can create multiple FRAMEs over time. Right now, pick one:

This FRAME is for:

• My whole life direction
• My overall business
• One specific business:
• One specific project:
• One experiment / side quest:

If you’re torn, pick the one that, if it moved forward, would make everything else easier or less urgent.

---

2. What Are You Building?

Think of this as naming the “build” your AI is helping you with.

2.1 Describe the build

Answer in short, concrete sentences.

Optional tidy-up

“I am building [name], a [type of thing] for [who] that helps them [result].
I’ll know it’s working when [evidence], by around [date].”

3. Why This, Why Now?

This is what we’ll come back to when you feel like bailing.

1. Why this build vs all the other things you could do?

2. Why now? What makes this the right time?

3. If you succeed, what changes for you? For others?

4. If you don’t do this, what happens?

5. How committed are you, honestly? (1–10)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6. Why not a 10? What’s holding that back?

---

4. What Do You Actually Have to Work With?

Be honest. You and your AI need the real constraints.

5. What’s In the Way?

Name the real obstacles so you and your AI can work around them instead of pretending.

5.1 First Pass: Obvious Obstacles

Write anything that feels like a blocker, big or small:

Now ask yourself “What else?” and list more:

What else could get in the way?

If those disappeared, what would still be in the way?

5.2 Types of Obstacles (Quick Scan)

Check any that feel true right now:

• Time / schedule
• Money
• Skills / knowledge
• Confidence / self-doubt
• Focus / shiny object syndrome
• Energy / health
• Family or job responsibilities
• Something else:

Pick the top two you want to design around:

Key obstacle #1:
Key obstacle #2:

5.3 Decision

Given these, here’s what I’m not willing to sacrifice:

And here’s what I am willing to change or try:

---

6. What Have You Already Tried?

We want to reuse what worked and stop looping what didn’t.

1. How long have you wanted to do this (or something like it)?

2. What have you already done toward it? (Actions only, not thinking.)

3. What worked better than expected?

4. What didn’t work, or burned you out?

5. Why did you stop or stall?

6. What’s different this time?

7. How Do You Work Best?

Your AI needs to know how to work with your wiring, not against it.

7.1 Quick Preferences

Answer quickly, don’t overthink.

• I do my best work:
  

  • Early
  • Mid-day
  • Late
  • It depends

• I prefer:
  

  • One main thing at a time
  • Several things in parallel

• When starting something big, I like to:
  

  • Have a detailed plan first
  • Start messy and refine as I go

• I respond best to:
  

  • Direct, blunt feedback
  • Encouraging, gentle feedback
  • A mix of both

• I get stuck when:
  

• I get momentum when:
  

7.2 “How I Work” Note

When I’m at my best, this is how I work:

Things that help me stay on track:

Things that almost always derail me:

---

8. Design Your AI Partner

Now that you’ve framed yourself and your build, decide how you want your AI to show up.

8.1 Main Roles You Want From Your AI

Pick 2–4 primary roles:

• Thinking partner (help me clarify ideas)
• Coach (ask questions, challenge me)
• Project manager (help track tasks & next steps)
• Research assistant
• Writing / content partner
• Systems / workflow designer
• Accountability buddy
• Other:

8.2 Tone and Communication

• I prefer the AI’s tone to be:
  

  • Casual + friendly
  • Professional + concise
  • Direct + no fluff
  • Playful + a bit funny
  • Other:

• When I ask something vague, I want the AI to:
  

  • Ask clarifying questions
  • Offer 2–3 interpretations and let me pick

• When I’m clearly stuck or procrastinating, I want the AI to:
  

  • Be gentle and encouraging
  • Call me out directly
  • Ask what’s going on underneath

8.3 Things Your AI Should Always / Never Do

Always do:

Never do:

8.4 AI Partner Profile (Short Version)

You can paste this into any AI at the start of a session.

---

9. FRAME Snapshot

Use this page as the thing you paste into any AI at the start of a session.

Stage 1 Recap

In Stage 1, you:

• Chose what this cycle of work is about
• Clarified what you’re building and why now
• Got honest about your real resources and real obstacles
• Captured your past attempts and how you work best
• Designed an AI Partner Profile

You now have:

• A living FRAME snapshot for this business or project
• A prompt you can paste into any AI so it knows who you are and what you’re doing

You’re ready for Stage 2 – ORGANIZE when:

• You can say, in one or two sentences, what you’re building and what you want your AI to help you do next.

Stage 2 – ORGANIZE

Stage 2 Opening

Why this stage exists

FRAME gave you clarity. Now you need structure.

ORGANIZE answers:

• Where does everything go?
• How do new things come in?
• How do I stop losing track of important stuff?

By the end of this stage, you will have:

• A simple storage map for tasks, documents, notes, and archives
• One chosen capture point (your “one inbox”)
• A repeatable capture → process → decide → file loop
• Three core lists: NOW, NOT NOW, and Never Doing Now
• A place for Wins (wins)

---

Phase 1 – Get Your House in Order

1. Take Inventory

1.1 Where does “work” currently live?

Check all that apply and jot notes:

• Email inbox(es):
• Messaging (SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, etc.):
• Social DMs:
• Task apps (Todoist, Asana, etc.):
• Paper notebooks / sticky notes:
• Whiteboards / random docs:
• In your head (things you’re “just remembering”):

Anything else?

1.2 Open Loops (On Your Mind Right Now)

We’ll use these as examples.

2. Choose Your ONE Inbox (Capture Point)

You can have many sources, but you want one place everything passes through before it’s organized.

2.1 Decide Your Main Capture Tool

Pick one:

• AI chat (e.g., Business Forge AI)
• Notes app on phone (Apple Notes, Obsidian, etc.)
• Task manager
• Small physical notebook you always carry
• Other:

Write it clearly:

My one inbox is:

2.2 Routing Rules

Decide what you’ll actually do when things come at you:

• When someone tells me something in person →
  

  I will:

• When an important email comes in →
  

  I will:

• When I get a text or DM that requires action →
  

  I will:

• When I have a random idea →
  

  I will:

Goal: as soon as something matters, it ends up in your one inbox, not scattered.

---

3. Decide Where Things Live (Storage Map)

You don’t need a perfect system, just clear defaults.

Fill this in:

Phase 2 – Keep It in Order

From here on, ORGANIZE is a simple loop:

Capture → Process with AI → Decide → Put in the right place

You’ll run this loop daily (quickly) and weekly (a bit deeper).

4. Capture

Whenever something matters, put it in your inbox. That’s it.

Practice now: dump 10–15 items into it (from your head, email, sticky notes, etc.).

Capture dump (today):
1.
2.
3.
…
10.

Don’t organize yet. Just get it out of your head.

5. Process With AI: “What Is This and What’s Missing?”

You’ll go item by item (or in batches) and answer three questions:

1. What is this? (task, event, note, idea, reference, junk)
2. Is there an action here? If yes, what’s the very next action?
3. Do we have enough info to do it? If not, what’s missing?

Example prompt:

“Here is a list of items from my inbox. For each item:
– Tell me what it is (task, event, note/idea, reference, junk).
– If it’s a task, suggest a clear next action that could be completed in one sitting.
– If more information is needed before I can do it, list the missing info or questions.”

Paste your captured items and work through the suggestions, editing as needed.

6. Decide Where Each Item Goes

Once you know what something is and what’s missing, decide what to do with it.

You really only have a few options:

• Do it now
  If it takes less than ~2 minutes and you have the time.
• Schedule it (NOW)
  If it needs focused time → put it on your calendar as a block.
• Save it for later (NOT NOW)
  If it matters but not now → park it on your NOT NOW list.
• Delegate it
  If someone else should do it → assign it out.
• Drop it (Never Doing Now)
  If it’s not worth doing under current conditions → move it to your Never Doing Now list.

You can ask AI:

“Given these clarified items and my FRAME, suggest for each whether it should be done now, scheduled, put on my NOT NOW list, delegated, or moved to my Never Doing Now list. Call out any that seem fuzzy or need more information before I decide.”

You make the final call.

7. Build Your Core Lists (+ Wins)

You can keep these in an app, in your AI, or on paper.

NOW — things that have a date/time

• Calendar events
• Focus blocks you’ve scheduled
• Hard commitments

NOT NOW — things that matter, but not yet

• Future ideas
• Projects that need more information
• Tasks that can’t start until something else happens

Never Doing Now list — things you’re explicitly not doing under current conditions

• Ideas you considered and decided “no” on
• Requests you declined
• Experiments you ended

Some may be “no, not ever.”
Some may be “no, not now… unless X changes.”

Wins — evidence you’re moving

• Completed tasks that mattered
• Wins, milestones, “that went well” moments

8. Simple Daily & Weekly ORGANIZE Rituals

Daily (5–10 minutes):

• Empty your inbox → clarify with AI → decide where each item goes
• Update your calendar (NOW) and NOT NOW lists
• Note any Wins (small wins)

Weekly (20–30 minutes):

• Review NOT NOW: promote anything ready onto your calendar
• Review your Never Doing Now list:
  • Anything to promote into NOT NOW?
  • Anything you can finally let go of completely?
• Notice patterns:
  • What keeps getting pushed back?
  • What do you keep saying yes to that doesn’t matter?

This sets you up perfectly for RUN and GAUGE.

Stage 2 Recap

In Stage 2, you:

• Took inventory of where your work and ideas live
• Chose a single capture point (your “one inbox”)
• Created a simple storage map for tasks, docs, notes, and archives
• Started using a daily/weekly capture → process → decide → file loop
• Set up your NOW, NOT NOW, Never Doing Now, and Wins lists

You now have:

• A basic but trustworthy organizing system your AI can help you maintain
• A home for everything new that hits your world

You’re ready for Stage 3 – RUN when:

• You know where your tasks live
• You know where your calendar is
• You’ve got at least a few items on NOW and NOT NOW that you care about.

Stage 3 – RUN

Stage 3 Opening

Why this stage exists

No amount of planning replaces doing.

RUN is where your organized intentions turn into reality.

It answers:

• What am I doing now?
• How do I use AI while I’m working, not just before or after?
• How do I finish more of what I start?

By the end of this stage, you will have:

• A daily execution rhythm built around your calendar
• A reusable work block template
• A simple morning/midday/evening ritual
• A habit of checking in with your AI before and after work blocks

---

1. Start With Your Calendar

Your calendar is your NOW list in action.

When you sit down to work:

1. Open your calendar
2. Look at the next scheduled block
3. Commit:
   

   “This is what I am doing now.”

If there is nothing scheduled, pull from NOT NOW and add something.

Your brain doesn’t have to decide what to do—it just follows what Past You planned.

---

2. Run One Work Block at a Time

A “work block” can be 25 minutes, 45 minutes, 60–90 minutes—whatever fits your brain.

The key:

• One task
• One focus
• One intention
• No multitasking
• AI assisting you inside the block, not distracting you

Work Block Template

Fill this out before each focused block.

3. Use AI During the Block

Your AI is your co-pilot, not your boss.

Kickoff Prompt (Start of Block)

“For the next ___ minutes, help me focus on this:
[paste the block intention].

Guide me step-by-step.
Keep me on track.
Ask for a quick progress update every 10–15 minutes.
Only interrupt to keep me focused or to clarify what’s unclear.”

AI’s jobs during the block:

• Clarify next small steps
• Break tasks into do-able chunks
• Spot missing information
• Keep you from drifting
• Hold the intention of the block when you forget it
• Ask “How’s progress?” at natural breakpoints

If you wander, the AI gently redirects you to the block’s purpose.

---

4. End Every Block With a Check-In

This is where trust is built—with yourself and with your system.

At the end of each block, take 30–60 seconds.

Block Wrap-Up

AI Wrap-Up Prompt

“Here’s what happened in that block:
[paste summary]

Help me:
1. Decide where unfinished pieces go.
2. Update my plans honestly.
3. Adjust my NOT NOW and Never Doing Now lists if needed.”

5. Daily RUN Ritual

This keeps RUN light and consistent.

Morning Ritual (5–10 minutes)

1. Open your calendar.
2. Look at today’s commitments.
3. Choose 1–3 important blocks for today.
4. Use AI to draft intentions for each.

AI prompt:

“Help me plan my 1–3 most important work blocks for today.
Use my FRAME and my NOT NOW list to decide what matters most.”

Midday Ritual (1–3 minutes)

• Quick check-in with AI:
  

  “Here’s what I’ve done so far. Anything I should adjust based on time and energy?”

• If something derails you:
  

  “Given what’s changed today, what is the most realistic next block I can commit to?”

Evening Ritual (5 minutes)

• What did I complete?
• What didn’t I complete, and why?
• Where do incomplete tasks go now?
  (Tomorrow’s calendar / NOT NOW / Never Doing Now)

AI prompt:

“Here’s today’s summary.
Help me clean up my lists and prepare one strong intention for tomorrow morning.”

---

6. When You Don’t Feel Like Doing Anything

Use AI to re-engage rather than disappearing.

Prompts you can use:

“I don’t feel like doing the next block.
Here’s what I planned: [paste block].
Ask me 3 questions to help me figure out what’s going on, then suggest a realistic next step.”

Or:

“Give me the smallest possible version of this task so I can start.”

Or:

“Tell me what Future Me will wish I did right now.”

7. Handling Derailments Without Shame

Derailment is normal.

When it happens:

1. Stop.
2. Name what changed.
3. Ask AI:
   

   “Help me reset. Given what’s true now, what’s the next best step?”

4. Re-anchor to your calendar.

Your calendar becomes the truth boundary you return to.

---

8. What RUN Is Not

RUN is not:

• Endless planning
• Bouncing between 12 tabs
• Organizing instead of doing
• Feeling guilty about yesterday
• Trying to finish your entire NOT NOW list in one day
• Letting your mood decide your priorities

RUN is:

“Here is the one thing I am doing now,
with AI as backup.”

Stage 3 Recap

In Stage 3, you:

• Turned your calendar into a NOW list you can follow
• Designed work blocks with clear intentions
• Learned to use AI as a co-pilot during execution
• Built a simple morning / midday / evening RUN rhythm
• Started ending blocks with honest check-ins

You now have:

• A way to actually do the work that matters, not just organize it
• A feedback loop between your calendar, your blocks, and your AI

You’re ready for Stage 4 – GAUGE when:

• You’ve completed at least a few work blocks
• You have some honest notes on what really happened in those blocks.

Stage 4 – GAUGE

Stage 4 Opening

Why this stage exists

RUN gets you moving. GAUGE helps you understand what actually happened.

GAUGE answers:

• What did I really do?
• How did it go compared to what I planned?
• What’s working and what isn’t?
• How is my partnership with AI going?

By the end of this stage, you will have:

• A simple daily reset ritual
• A weekly review you can actually stick to
• A few light metrics (completion, rollover, deep work, etc.)
• A picture of your outcomes, not just activities
• A sense of how your AI partnership is evolving

---

1. Daily GAUGE (Evening Reset)

Think of this like brushing your teeth for your workflow.

Step 1 – Ask Yourself Three Questions

1. What did I actually do today?
2. What didn’t get done, and why?
3. What needs to happen to reset for tomorrow?

Write or say it out loud.

Step 2 – Sort TODAY Into TOMORROW

For every incomplete or in-progress item:

• If it’s important and soon → put it on the calendar
• If it matters but not tomorrow → move it to NOT NOW
• If someone else should handle it → delegate it
• If it no longer matters → move it to the Never Doing Now list

Step 3 – Talk to Your AI

Prompt:

“Here is what happened today:
[paste your summary]

Help me:
– interpret the day honestly
– clean up my NOW, NOT NOW, and Never Doing Now lists
– prepare one strong intention for tomorrow.”

Step 4 – Capture Your Wins

Write 1–3 things that went right:

Today’s Wins:
1.
2.
3.

These become fuel for later.

2. Weekly GAUGE (The Honest Mirror)

Once a week (e.g., Friday or Sunday), spend 10–20 minutes.

Step 1 – Review the Week

Ask:

• What did I accomplish?
• What moved forward?
• What surprised me?
• What felt heavy or blocked?

Weekly reflections:

Step 2 – Look for Patterns

Look for:

• Tasks you keep postponing
• Times of day you lose energy
• Work that feels easy vs heavy
• Triggers that derail you
• Things your AI keeps bringing up

Patterns I see:

Step 3 – Plans vs Reality

Ask yourself:

• Did I plan too much? Too little?
• Was I honest about my time and energy?
• Did anything take way longer or shorter than expected?
• Did I follow my calendar? If not, why?

What I notice about my planning vs reality:

Step 4 – Weekly Reset

Before ending:

• Move tasks into the right lists
• Schedule 2–5 important blocks for next week
• Ask AI:
  

  “Given everything we reviewed, what are the 1–3 things that matter most next week? What should I ignore?”

3. Monthly & Quarterly GAUGE

Monthly (10–20 minutes)

Once a month, zoom out:

1. What actually changed this month?
2. Where did my time go?
3. What patterns are emerging?
4. Did I move closer to my FRAME goal?

Use the “Outcomes by Area” section below.

Quarterly (45–90 minutes)

Every 3 months:

• Look at trends: completion, rollover, deep work, partnership quality
• Ask: is this way of working still working for me?
• Note a few big adjustments to consider next quarter

You can combine Quarterly GAUGE with Stage 5 – EVOLVE for a deeper reset.

---

4. Simple Metrics to Track

You don’t need a full dashboard. A few metrics tell you a lot.

You can track:

• Completion: Am I committing to a realistic amount of work?
• Rollover: What do I keep avoiding?
• Never Doing Now: Where am I getting more honest?
• Deep work ratio: Aim for at least 50% of work time in focused blocks.
• RUN vs ORGANIZE: Ideally 70–80% RUN, 20–30% ORGANIZE.

Just jot rough numbers; don’t overcomplicate.

5. Outcomes by Area of Life / Business

Once a week or month, ask: “What actually changed in these areas?”

This keeps you from confusing “I was busy” with “things actually changed.”

---

6. Partnership Quality Check

Once a week (or after a big chunk of work), quickly rate your partnership with AI from 1–10 in each area:

• Clarity – Did the AI help me think clearly?
• Flow – Did our sessions feel smooth, natural?
• Insight – Did I learn something I wouldn’t have seen alone?
• Challenge – Did the AI challenge me in useful ways?
• Value – Did our partnership move things forward?

Then ask:

“What would make our partnership even better next week?
What do I want more of? Less of?”

7. GAUGE AI Prompt Panel

You can reuse these:

After a work block:

“Here’s what I planned vs what happened: [paste].
Help me summarize the truth, decide where unfinished pieces go, and capture any patterns you see.”

Daily reset:

“Here’s what I did and didn’t do today: [paste].
Help me clean up my lists and suggest one strong intention for tomorrow.”

Weekly review:

“Here are my notes for this week: [paste].
Help me identify:
– The top 3 patterns
– Likely blind spots
– 1–3 adjustments to make next week
– 2–5 important blocks to pre-schedule.”

Stage 4 Recap

In Stage 4, you:

• Built a daily GAUGE habit (evening reset + Wins)
• Started running weekly reviews that are honest but not punishing
• Added a few light metrics so you can see trends
• Looked at outcomes, not just tasks completed
• Began tracking the quality of your AI partnership

You now have:

• Evidence of how you actually work
• A feedback loop between your plans and reality

You’re ready for Stage 5 – EVOLVE when:

• You have at least a week or two of GAUGE notes
• You can see a few patterns, even if they’re messy.

Stage 5 – EVOLVE

Stage 5 Opening

Why this stage exists

You’ve done work. You’ve measured what happened.
Now you want to actually get smarter from it, not repeat the same week forever.

EVOLVE is where your system learns.

You take what GAUGE revealed (what happened, what worked, what didn’t, what you noticed) and turn it into:

• Smarter habits
• Clearer context
• A stronger partnership with your AI

You don’t start over. You make small, targeted upgrades.

By the end of this stage, you will have:

• A short list of patterns and blind spots you’re actively working with
• Updated pieces of your FRAME so your context matches reality
• One or two concrete changes to how you organize and run your weeks
• Clear signs of how your relationship with your AI is maturing
• A cleaned-up Wins and Never Doing Now list you feel good about

---

Weekly EVOLVE – Light Retrospective

Use this once a week with your GAUGE notes handy.

AI Prompt – Weekly EVOLVE

“Here are my reflections for this week (what worked, what didn’t, what I learned, patterns, blind spots):
[paste notes]

Help me:
– Name the top 3 patterns
– Call out likely blind spots
– Recommend 1–3 specific changes to my FRAME, ORGANIZE, or RUN
– Suggest 2–5 concrete work blocks to schedule for next week.”

Monthly EVOLVE – Pattern & Outcome Review

Once a month, zoom out.

---

Quarterly EVOLVE – Big Picture Reset

Every 3 months, give yourself 2–3 focused hours.

Checklist:

• Review Wins (wins) – what story do they tell?
• Review NOT NOW and Never Doing Now lists – what can be promoted or fully let go?
• Review major patterns and blind spots from the last 3 months
• Re-read your FRAME – is any part outdated or untrue now?
• Update your FRAME where needed (goal, why, walls, on-hand, how you work, AI partner profile)
• Check your partnership quality with AI – is it getting clearer, deeper, more helpful?
• Decide what to simplify or eliminate in your system
• Decide whether it’s time to “graduate” to more capability (e.g., deeper tool integration, local files, more automation)

Notes from this quarterly EVOLVE:

Patterns & Blind Spots

A pattern is something that happens more than once.

Examples:

• “I plan 5 big things per day and only do 2.”
• “I get more done in the mornings than evenings.”
• “I avoid tasks involving outreach.”
• “Creative deep work feels easy; admin tasks drain me.”

A blind spot is something important you don’t see clearly yet.

Signs:

• You keep getting the same result you don’t like.
• Your AI keeps asking about the same thing.
• You feel strong emotion but can’t name the real cause.

Use Your AI to Help

Prompts:

“What patterns do you see in my last 4 weeks of GAUGE and RUN notes?”
“What might I be missing or avoiding?”
“Where do my words and my actions not match?”

Patterns / Blind Spots I Want to Act On

Updating Your FRAME – Only What Changed

EVOLVE does not mean rewriting everything.
You only update what is clearly different now.

Checklist:

• Is my main Goal still accurate?
  If no, write the new version:
  

• Is my Reason (why this, why now) still true?
  If no, update it:
  

• Have my resources (time, money, skills, people) changed?
  If yes, adjust “what I actually have to work with.”
  

• Have new obstacles become clear?
  Name them so you can design around them:
  

• Have I learned new things about how I work best?
  Update your “How I work” notes.
  

• Does my AI Partner Profile need to change?
  Tone? Roles? How hard to challenge me? How often to check in?
  

Once you’ve updated FRAME, your next cycle of FORGE starts from reality, not from an old story.

---

Partnership With Your AI – Are We Deepening?

Over time, you want your AI to feel less like a vending machine and more like a partner.

Signs of a shallow relationship:

• You only ask for quick answers and never share context.
• Every conversation feels like a fresh start.
• You rarely reflect together on what happened.

Signs of a deepening partnership:

• Your AI remembers your FRAME (or you keep feeding it) and refers back to it.
• It notices patterns and gently calls them out.
• You let it challenge you (and sometimes change your mind).
• You co-create plans, content, and experiments together.

Use EVOLVE to tune the relationship.

Wins & Never Doing Now List

Wins

Your Wins are proof you are moving.

At least quarterly, flip through:

• Completed tasks that mattered
• Milestones reached
• Risks you took
• Blind spots you faced
• Systems you simplified

Ask: “What story do these tell about who I am becoming?”

Write a few highlights here:

Never Doing Now List

This is the list of things you are consciously not doing under current conditions.

Some may be “no, not ever.”
Some may be “no, not now… unless X changes.”

Review this list quarterly and ask:

• Is there anything here I finally want to let go of completely?
• Is there anything here that now makes sense to promote into NOT NOW or onto my calendar?
• Are there themes in what I keep saying ‘no’ to? What does that tell me about my priorities, fears, or constraints?

Notes from reviewing my Never Doing Now list:

EVOLVE Session Quick Checklist

For a Weekly or Monthly EVOLVE session, use this short checklist:

• Look at what actually happened (GAUGE)
• Ask: what worked, what didn’t, what did I learn?
• Capture patterns and possible blind spots
• Choose 1–3 changes to try next cycle
• Update only the FRAME pieces that truly changed
• Note any tweaks to how you and your AI will work together
• Celebrate Wins
• Confirm what stays on NOT NOW and Never Doing Now

Then, go back to FRAME and start the next loop of FORGE from a smarter, truer place.

Stage 5 Recap

In Stage 5, you:

• Turned GAUGE evidence into insight and concrete changes
• Named patterns and blind spots and decided what to do with them
• Updated your FRAME so it reflects who you are now
• Tuned how you and your AI work together
• Cleaned up your Wins and Never Doing Now list

You now have:

• A living, evolving system
• A partnership with AI that can grow with you over time

You are ready for your next loop of FORGE when:

• You can say, in one or two sentences, what you’re changing next week—and why.

Workbook Wrap-Up

What You’ve Done

By working through this workbook—even if you didn’t touch every page—you have:

• Declared what you’re here to build (FRAME)
• Given your AI enough context to act as a partner, not just a responder
• Chosen where your work and ideas live, and how new things enter your world (ORGANIZE)
• Practiced showing up for calendar blocks and doing one thing at a time (RUN)
• Learned to look at reality—what actually happened—without shame or fantasy (GAUGE)
• Turned that reality into specific changes in how you work and how you partner with AI (EVOLVE)

You didn’t just “set up a system.”
You trained yourself and your AI to work together.

---

How to Use FORGE When Things Get Messy

At some point:

• Your calendar will get overstuffed.
• Your capture inbox will overflow.
• Your AI conversations may drift back to “quick answers.”
• Your lists will feel stale.

That doesn’t mean the system failed.
It means: you’re in the middle of the loop.

When that happens:

1. Go back to FRAME: “What am I building? Why now?”
2. Clean up ORGANIZE just enough to breathe again.
3. Commit to one strong RUN block and complete it.
4. Do a tiny GAUGE: what actually happened today?
5. Use EVOLVE to make one small change.

You never “start over.”
You just keep FORGE-ing.

---

Keeping FORGE Alive

• Keep your FRAME snapshot handy (or pinned in your AI).
• Use ORGANIZE anytime you feel cluttered.
• Use RUN anytime you think, “What should I be doing right now?”
• Use GAUGE at the end of the day or week, even if it’s just three lines.
• Use EVOLVE when you notice, “This way of working isn’t quite working anymore.”

The goal is not to be perfect.
The goal is to be in relationship—with your work, your time, your nervous system, and your AI.

What’s Next for You

From here, you might:

• Use this workbook alongside the Business Forge Software
• Implement FORGE inside a specific product or offer
• Adapt these pages into digital forms or in-app flows
• Keep a running journal of each FORGE loop you complete
• Or simply keep the book on your desk and come back to it whenever you feel stuck

Whatever you build next, FORGE is a loop you can return to every time:

FRAME what you’re here to do.
ORGANIZE what needs attention.
RUN the work.
GAUGE what actually happened.
EVOLVE how you do all of it.

You’re not just building a business.
You’re building a way of working—with AI as your partner—that can grow with you for years.