Scene: imagine a founder with their Miro/Asana board, calendar, and a 57-item to-do list, proudly calling it “my strategy.” It’s a common picture, where the overwhelm creeps in day after day, task after task.
Why?
Because that’s not a strategy. It’s a glorified errands list.
If this scene feels all-too-familiar, you’re in good company. Most marketing content today blurs the lines between strategy, planning, and tactics — and that’s dangerous.
I’ll explain why in a second, right after we welcome today’s partner, someone with the knowledge and the background to teach you a real nutrition strategy.
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What most “strategies” look like
✅ Post on LinkedIn 3x a week
✅ Build a free lead magnet
✅ Launch a course in Q3
These are tactics at best, not a strategy. [I wrote about the difference between strategy and tactics here, so I won’t dwell on it too much.]
Here’s the truth: a to-do list, no matter how colour-coded or beautifully organized, is not a strategy. It’s simply a catalogue of actions.
Conventionally, strategy contains all of it: your vision, your planning, and your tactics.
Let’s look at it from a different agle today, starting with a newer definition that’s been shaping up in my brain for a while — up to the point of obsession.
Strategy is something deeper, something that rarely fits inside a project management tool. It’s not just about what you do — it’s about who you are, why you do it, and what ultimate transformation you want to bring to the world or your audience.
And if you’re wondering why you feel like you’re working your face off but somehow drifting in circles, the culprit is probably this: you skipped strategy entirely.
Don’t worry — most people do. Because no one ever explained the difference between strategy, planning, and tactics in a way that didn’t sound like a bad PowerPoint from 2003.
What strategy really means
At its core, strategy is belief-driven. It’s the fundamental philosophy that shapes every choice you make, from where you show up to how you market yourself to which products or services you offer.
Strategy is the compass that directs the journey — the force that makes you say yes to certain paths and no to others.
For example, my strategy is: I want to help experts make F-You money — enough to work on their own terms, say no to bad clients, and build businesses that are both profitable and aligned with their values.
This is not a plan. It’s not a list of marketing tasks.
It’s a philosophical stance on what I believe matters in business, and it informs everything I create — from this newsletter to the products I sell to the tone I use when I write.
Carol Amendola D’Anca, our partner today, has a strategy that resonates deeply with me: teaching people the foundation of longevity and health in an applicable manner, without biohacking and all that nonsense.
As a recipient of the Leonardo Da Vinci Award for Contribution to Medicine, it’s obvious that she knows what she’s talking about. Still, given her background, she could have chosen any health-related path.
She chose this one because it deeply resonates with her core beliefs. Which is why she is so successful — her clients can see the passion she puts into her work and that acts as a powerful magnet.
Who even has time for philosophy? (read: why the f*ck should I care about beliefs and all that crap?)
Like it or not, this is where the real money is at. Without a proper strategy, a guiding compass, you will:
- Pay dozens of consultants to tell you what to do — and each of them will push their own “pRoVen FraMewoRk”
- Say “yes” to every opportunity in case something sticks.
- Miss out on having a real driving force, a motivator that goes beyond money.
I hear you. We’re all running a business to make a living and I’m not here to convince you to switch to a nonprofit model.
Quite the opposite: I’m here to tell you that people rally behind BIG ideas, not half-assed “pRoVen FraMewoRks”. And when someone rallies behind your idea, they also pay for access to your wisdom.
Why most founders confuse strategy, planning, and execution
Part of the confusion comes from the fact that tactics feel productive. They’re visible, measurable, and give you quick dopamine hits (“Look! I published something!”).
Planning feels responsible because it gives you the illusion of control (“Look! I made a calendar! It has pretty colors too.”).
Strategy, however, feels vague and uncomfortable. It requires introspection and commitment, and there are no immediate rewards for doing it well.
Michael Porter famously said: “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do”. This is why businesses without clear strategies tend to chase every trend, spreading themselves so thin they accomplish very little.
Strategy > Planning >Tactics
As a philosophy lover, I’m a sucker for a good strategy statement. As a businesswoman, I know it’s not enough, though.
Strategy is the nexus of everything but without planning and execution, it’s just a nice dream.
Think about it this way:
→ Strategy = your North Star. It’s the unshakable belief about who you are and what you stand for. It answers the question: “What’s the point of all this?”
→ Planning = the map you draw to reach that North Star. It’s the practical translation of the belief into milestones, resources, and timelines. Plans can change. Strategy shouldn’t (unless you realize your belief was off).
→ Tactics = the steps you take along the way. They’re the social posts, the emails, the funnels, the campaigns — all the tools you pick up to make the plan happen. Tactics are disposable. Burn them down if they stop working.
The hierarchy is sacred:
- Belief drives the plan.
- The plan shapes the tactics.
When you flip this order (which almost everyone does), you get busy — not successful.
So let’s bring them all together, shall we?
Planning: the bridge between vision and execution
Planning is where you translate the big, philosophical goal into tangible steps and timeframes.
A good plan considers practicalities:
- How much time you have
- What resources are available
- How long different efforts will realistically take
But the plan remains subservient to the strategy. It adapts when needed, but the belief stays intact.
For example, my strategy is to help experts make F-You money, so my plan might look like this:
- Build an email list of 10,000 experts by 2026.
- Create three signature offers that simplify critical marketing challenges.
- Host quarterly workshops about pricing, positioning, and strategy — the most common hurdles for my clients
Notice the plan is concrete, measurable, and time-bound — but it is rooted in the strategy. If a tactic fails (say a workshop flops), the strategy doesn’t change.
The plan does.
Tactics: the smallest, least important layer
Finally, tactics are the smallest building blocks. They are specific actions, often short-term, that execute the plan.
Tactics are where you decide:
- Where you’ll promote yourself (LinkedIn, Instagram, podcasts).
- How often you’ll publish.
- What format you’ll choose for your content.
Some of the tactics I use to turn my strategy into reality:
- Consistently post on LinkedIn → to help with my plan of building my email list.
- Mix in X, Threads, and Bluesky → for the same goal
- Syndicate this newsletter on Medium → to generate revenue and grow my list.
- Promote my products and services through the newsletter and all my other channels → to generate revenue.
Tactics are highly flexible — they should evolve as you test, learn, and grow.
How AirBnB does it
Let’s look at a company we all know, AirBnB.
- Strategy: make travel feel like staying with friends rather than being a tourist.
- Planning: build a platform for hosts to offer homes, experiences, and recommendations.
- Tactics: run Instagram campaigns showcasing unique homes, create referral programs, and launch host onboarding webinars.
Of course, this is an over-simplified version of what AirBnB does, especially when it comes to tactics. Heck, by the time you read this, they probably nixed three of their tactics and added four others.
But the overarching goal, the strategy that helped them build a huge business hasn’t changed since the beginning. (Whether it looks like they succeeded or not is an entirely different story.)
✋ Limitations
Marketing and business aren’t exact sciences. This is why nuance is important — and why you should never, ever treat any piece of advice as gospel. This newsletter included.
Be wary of:
- Over-attachment: strategy is enduring, but it’s not eternal. Markets shift. Your understanding evolves. Clinging to a strategy that’s no longer relevant can be just as dangerous as having no strategy at all.
- Over-complication: your strategy should be one clear, memorable sentence — not a manifesto. If your strategy requires a 20-slide deck to explain, it’s probably a plan in disguise.
- Forgetting execution: strategy without action is daydreaming. Planning and tactics exist for a reason — don’t skip them in pursuit of philosophical perfection.
How to apply this to your business
- Write your strategy in one sentence. What do you believe, who do you serve, and what change do you want to create? Be bold AF!
- Audit your current plan. Is it aligned with that strategy or is it just keeping you busy?
- Review your tactics. Which ones genuinely support your strategy? Eliminate the rest.
Still in tactical survival mode? That does NOT mean you’re failing!
Listen, we all started there. We tried a bunch of tactics to see what sticks. For some, it takes years to add that truly strategic layer.
Feel like you’re buried under a never-ending list of to-dos and you’re not sure which of them is worth doing?
This is your signal that it’s time to seriously consider your strategy.
Step back, zoom out, and build a strategy that puts all those tactics into perspective. This is what kills overwhelm, not outsourcing or AI-ing your to-do list.
If you feel like it, hit reply to this email and share your one-sentence strategy with me. I’d love to support you!
Need a bit of help with that? This is exactly why I built my Guided Strategy Framework — because I believe in the democratization of strategy. You don’t need to be a Fortune 500 company to have a strategy that acts like a driving force.
This framework takes you through all the steps — from the strategy statement to planning, tactics, and evaluation.
It already helped dozens of solo founders who are raving about it. Grab your copy here.
