When I worked at Slack, I was in the Growth Product Marketing function, and I had to create my plans for how to grow the product (and business) for the year.

The product I worked on was Slack Connect and up until a certain point, the product grew organically without much effort—we had found product market fit. But looking ahead to next year, growth was slowing.

If you’re familiar with the adoption curve, we had moved past the early adopters of the product and were transitioning to the early majority.

So many times, I’d look at my plans and have to ask myself: is this really going to help us grow?

It was easy to fall back on the idea that doing more of what we had already done would be the right move. But we were at an inflection point—doing more of the same thing wasn’t the answer.

This year has been the year of experimentation. I've said yes to the majority of opportunities that have come my way, and I don't regret it.

But as we enter the last month of the year and second year of my business, I find myself reflecting on a similar question: Are my plans for next year really going to help me grow? Because I know what got me here won't get me to the next level.

I know I need to change my approach—not just to reach the next level, but to maintain my sanity.

It’s easier said than done, especially when I’ve been working since I was 16. The engrained belief that hard work directly impacts results is still something I grapple with.

But if I think back to my plans I created at Slack, the answer is right in front of me—I just need to prioritize the highest impact activities.