12 Weeks. 12 Lessons. 1 Big Shift.
Twelve weeks ago, I committed to publishing every Saturday for 12 weeks. This is Week 12.
This is the longest stretch of marketing consistency I have ever maintained. Twelve weeks of showing up taught me more than three years of sporadic building ever did.
Here is one lesson from each week, building to the shift that changed everything.
Week 1: Show Up Before You Feel Ready
I published my origin story. My illustration business wasn’t bringing me joy or money. I was burned out after my second child. The pivot to AI workflows when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
I announced I was helping creative businesses build AI workflow systems. I had built exactly one functional tool at that point.
The lesson: Waiting to feel ready means never starting. The first post is always the hardest. After that, it is just Saturday again.
Week 2: AI Cannot Fix a Strategy Problem
I built an AI planning tool for a workflow I did not actually have. Spent hours configuring it. Testing it. Documenting it.
Then I realized: I was over-planning instead of executing. Building systems to manage work I was not actually doing.
The lesson: AI amplifies what you feed it. Garbage in, garbage out. You need strategy first, tools second. All the automation in the world will not save you from doing the wrong thing efficiently.
Week 3: Done Beats Perfect
I had 24 hours to update my portfolio. Usually, that would mean weeks of agonizing over every detail before shipping anything.
Instead, I used ChatGPT to generate product mockups in an afternoon. They were not perfect. They were done.
The lesson: Done beats perfect. AI does not have to generate your art but can help you showcase it quickly. Shipping builds momentum. Perfection kills it.
Week 4: Ask for the Critique You Are Avoiding
I asked AI to roast my business idea. Not gently. Brutally.
It told me my positioning was vague, my audience unclear, my offer unproven. It cursed a lot. And it called me out on all the things I suspected but had not wanted to face.
The lesson: The question you are afraid to ask is the one you need answered most. Discomfort equals growth. Ask for the feedback that makes you wince. This simple setting adjustment completely changed how I work with AI.
Week 5: AI as Collaborator, Not Employee
I wrote about AI as my thinking translator. Not generating ideas for me. Taking my chaotic brain dumps and helping me articulate what I already know.
I do not need AI to think for me. I need it to help me communicate clearly when my brain is moving faster than my words.
The lesson: AI works best as a collaborator, not an employee. It does not replace your expertise - it helps you express it. The quality of what you put in matters more than what comes out. Find the AI that translates you, not replaces you.
Week 6: The Shop on the Empty Street
I analysed why my illustration business had never turned a profit. Revenue from strangers? £0. Revenue from family and friends? £308.
The pattern was clear: I built products for an audience that did not exist.
The lesson: 200 hours building to 1 hour marketing is a formula for failure. Audience first. Always. You cannot sell to people who do not know you exist.
Week 7: Stop Setting the Same Goals
I created a goal-setting framework that actually accounts for constraints. Time. Energy. Childcare. Reality.
When I ran my 2026 goals through it, they required 3-5 times more hours than I actually have available.
The lesson: Output goals (what you want) are not the same as input goals (what you control). Focus on inputs. Outputs follow.
Week 8: Reality Does Not Care About Your Timeline
I stress-tested my 2026 goals against my actual constraints. Time available. Audience size. Growth rate.
The math revealed I was planning to launch products to an audience that would not exist yet. Yes, again.
The lesson: Math does not lie. Enthusiasm does. Validate your assumptions before you commit. Check your timeline against reality, not hope.
Week 9: Sometimes the Goal Is Wrong
The revenue validation calculator showed my £5,000 goal was mathematically impossible given my audience growth rate and available time.
Then I realised: I do not actually need income until September 2027 (when both my kids are in school and our household math changes). I had created pressure that was killing my ability to explore.
The lesson: Remove pressure that serves no purpose. 2026 is not a revenue year. It is an exploration year. And that is fine.
Week 10: The System Behind the Streak
I documented my actual content creation rhythm. Monday: test AI workflow. Tuesday: refine. Wednesday: write. Thursday: illustrate. Friday: distribution. Saturday: publish.
It emerged organically. I did not plan it. I just noticed what was working and kept doing it.
The lesson: Consistency needs structure, not willpower. Build rituals. Rituals beat motivation every time.
Week 11: Strategic Quitting
I made a list of what NOT to do in 2026. Building products before audience. Monetising before clarity. Performing confidence I do not have.
Saying no to those things created space for what actually matters.
The lesson: Subtraction is more powerful than addition. Saying no creates space for better yeses.
Week 12: The Shift
Here is what changed between Week 1 and Week 12.
Week 1 mindset:
Build AI workflow products first
Launch to 100+ subscribers by July
Generate £5,000 revenue in 2026
Position as expert who has it figured out
Hide that I am still learning
Week 12 mindset:
Build audience before products
Grow to 80-100 engaged subscribers by December 2026
Generate £0-500 revenue (and that is completely fine)
Position as explorer documenting the journey
Show that I am figuring it out in real time
The shift: From “I need to know what I am building” to “I need to discover what is worth building.”
What that means practically:
Instead of spending 6 months building products, launching to no one, then repeating the cycle, I am doing this: Spend 12 months building an audience, have real conversations with them, explore new opportunities, learn a lot of lessons, let the data guide what to build.
Why this matters:
I spent three years repeating the same mistake. Build product. Hope for the audience. Get £0 from strangers. Start over.
These 12 weeks broke that pattern.
I still do not know exactly what business I am building. But I know how to find out: Show up consistently. Have real conversations. Follow the data.
That is the shift.
What Happens Next
January 2026:
Start conversations with 5 people whose paths I’m curious about
Less ‘here’s what I built’ and more ‘here’s what I’m testing’
More questions, fewer answers
More transformation, less perfection
My 2026 commitment:
Same as Week 1-12: Show up every Saturday for 52 weeks.
Different from Week 1-12: I am not building products. I am building clarity.
The meta-lesson:
Twelve weeks of consistency taught me more than three years of sporadic building. Not because consistency is magic. Because consistency creates the data you need to see what’s actually working.
Final thought:
I started Week 1 thinking I needed a business plan.
I am ending Week 12 knowing I need a discovery plan.
That is progress.
