by David Radin
If 2024 was the year of the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) as a widely used practical tool, 2025 will be the year in which AI finds its place to work side-by-side with traditional tools and methods to create even higher levels of success. So, as we start the year, it’s a good time to think more strategically about how you merge the old with the new to make that happen for you.
Using AI to build on your best foundation
Let’s start by re-assessing what got you here successfully.
Step 1: Make a list of your top business goals. Examples: your top goal might be to increase 2025 revenue by 25% each quarter or to bring on 2 employees who are productive within 2 months of hire.
Step 2: Which actions or activities have made you successful in similar goals in past years? How much time do you spend on each listed activity in an average week? Only include the activities that are undeniable high impact contributors to your success. Order them by most important to least important. Hint: when you look at the list, the time used for each activity should be high (as a percentage of total) at the top of the list and become smaller as you move down the list?
Step 3: What methods do you already use to keep your focus on those activities and away from other activities that are less productive? Do you have a framework that you always use to keep that focus and to ensure your time is spent on success-breeding activities? Popular examples are keeping a daily list of to-dos with priorities, or for more sophisticated business people, putting your to-dos into quadrants using methods made famous by Stephen Covey and President Dwight David Eisenhower. Whichever you use, ask yourself what you like and don’t like about it. This is the time to determine whether it is serving you well or whether you need to change it or discard it for other methods. This is your foundation – and we’d prefer to leverage it if it works than to throw it out.
You don’t use a framework to manage your time? This is a good time to start, because AI will help you turn it into an amazing success machine.
Step 4: Now define the activities that take up the time that are not listed above – the items that don’t contribute to your success at the same high levels. How much time are each of them taking you? Create a single list with the one that takes the most time at the top, followed in order by the next biggest time user.
Here’s where the AI comes in.
Step 5: Starting at the top of the list, ask yourself what single thing you might do with an AI-based tool to either make that activity either more successful or significantly decrease the amount of time that it takes to get the same results from that activity.
That answer will impact the type of AI you use, how you use it, and how long you spend to learn it. The bigger the impact expected, the more you should invest (time and money) to be successful with that AI.
This is also your opportunity as a savvy leader to leverage what you learn by helping your team learn it too – in addition to expanding your traditional frameworks to the rest of your team.
You may have noticed that the step-by-step setup I’ve outlined concentrates on getting you the biggest wins by leverage what already works well for you with new methods that will have the biggest impact. It’s not about fixing everything; it’s about concentrating your focus on impact.
AI is a wonderful way to become more productive and make your life easier; but the reality is that it works best when you’re not throwing out what already works to start new. Using this methodology for moving forward will make it easier as it gives you the best returns on your investment.
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