Seasons of Life Focus Framework
Help someone identify their current life season and get radically clear on the one domain that deserves full attention right now. Drawn from Derek (More Plates More Dates), who built a $100M+ business portfolio entirely off the back of a sequential — not simultaneous — approach to life’s major domains.
When to Use
The user is scattered, overwhelmed, or trying to optimize multiple life domains simultaneously and making progress in none of them. They might say:
- “I feel like I’m doing everything half-assed”
- “I want to build a business but also get in shape, date more, advance in my career…”
- “I can’t seem to make progress on anything”
- “How do I balance all of this?”
- “Is it realistic to start a company while also trying to [other major goal]?”
- “I feel spread thin”
The Core Principle
From Derek (Zkad55pc_4w.md):
“I think a lot of people — especially in the entrepreneurial world — live in stages. Almost like seasons of your life. Certain seasons allow you to complete prerequisites for others.”
And the consequence of ignoring seasons:
“Trying to do everything at the same time, you’ll just fail or do everything half-assed and never get anything done with exceptional quality.”
Derek’s own sequence: social confidence season → fitness season → entrepreneurship season. Each one built the foundation for the next. He did not try to optimize all three simultaneously.
Shaan Puri, after hearing Derek’s philosophy:
“I think people should be segregating things into seasons, personally.”
Step 1: Name the Domains
Before identifying the season, name the domains the user is trying to juggle. Most people are operating in 3-5 major life domains simultaneously, each one demanding significant attention.
Common life domains:
| Domain | Examples |
|---|---|
| Business / Career | Starting a company, getting a promotion, building side income |
| Health / Body | Getting lean, building muscle, fixing sleep, training for an event |
| Relationships | Dating, deepening a marriage, building a social circle |
| Learning / Skills | Getting a degree, learning to code, reading seriously |
| Money / Finances | Paying off debt, building savings, investing |
| Family | Raising young children, caring for parents |
| Personal Development | Mental health, therapy, spiritual practice |
Ask the user: List every major domain you’re actively trying to make progress in right now. Write them all down.
Step 2: Assess the True Cost of Each Domain
The problem with trying to do everything is that people underestimate how consuming each domain actually is at full intensity.
Derek on dating:
“Dating large numbers of women when you’re trying to get your anxiety out of your system — it’s not something you can juggle simultaneously with building a business. Dating as a single person can be as consuming as a full-time job in itself.”
Derek on serious bodybuilding:
“I was also more hardcore about bodybuilding at the time — dedicating blocks of time to cutting and bulking phases, getting to striking distance of stage-ready condition, which is super mentally taxing.”
Ask the user: For each domain on your list — what does it actually take to make serious progress?
| Domain | What Serious Progress Requires |
|---|---|
| Starting a business | 50-70+ focused hours/week, mental energy for ambiguity |
| Dating seriously | Time for dates, emotional bandwidth, social energy |
| Competitive fitness | Training, recovery, diet discipline, mental focus |
| Learning a skill | Daily practice, cognitive bandwidth |
Most domains, done with real intensity, are close to full-time jobs. You cannot do two full-time jobs simultaneously at a high level.
Step 3: Identify the Season You’re Actually In
A season is defined by which domain is producing the highest return on focus right now — not what you wish you were doing, and not what you’ve been avoiding.
Season identification questions:
- What is the single thing that, if you made massive progress in it this year, would change everything else?
- What prerequisite are you missing that’s limiting you in multiple domains simultaneously?
- What season are you biologically or circumstantially best positioned for right now?
Derek’s key insight about sequence:
“When it comes to women — when you’re young, you don’t need exorbitant amounts of funds. You can have a piece of crap car, live with your parents, and still do great with attractive women your age. Being able to kind of get that season of your life out of the way, and develop those social skills — at the time when I was broke, that felt worth getting out of the way before going down the road of entrepreneurship, which I knew would consume the majority of my free time.”
Some seasons are time-sensitive. You can build a business at 40. You cannot replicate being 22 and single with no obligations. Sequence matters.
Ask the user:
- Are any of your current domains time-sensitive? (Will this opportunity close if you wait?)
- Which domain, if mastered, would make all the others easier?
- What’s the one domain you’ve been avoiding that you know needs to be the priority?
Step 4: Commit to the Season (And Deprioritize Everything Else)
Identifying the season is easy. The hard part is actually deprioritizing the other domains — not abandoning them, but deliberately reducing effort there so the priority season gets full focus.
Derek’s logic:
“I’d still probably agree with that logic, even though that blog is super outdated. You’ll just fail or do everything half-assed and never get anything done with exceptional quality.”
Sam, on the lion metaphor:
“What’s that quote — lions graze, lions rest, and then pounce? In business it’s sometimes a little easier to be like the lion instead of a constant forty hours a week. Sprints might be easier.”
Ask the user: For each non-priority domain, what is the minimum viable maintenance level?
| Domain | Current Intensity | Maintenance Level | What You’re Freeing Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 6 days/week training | 3 days/week | 3 hours + mental energy |
| Dating | Active pursuit | Organic only | Significant time + emotional bandwidth |
| Learning | Daily study | Weekly reading | 5+ hours/week |
Maintenance is not zero. You don’t abandon your health during the business season. But you drop it to the level that preserves progress without consuming priority resources.
Step 5: Define the Season’s End Condition
Seasons need endpoints. Without a clear end condition, you’ll stay in the same season forever (or drift out of it without deciding to).
Ask the user: What would “done” look like for your current priority season?
| Season | Sample End Conditions |
|---|---|
| Business season | Business hitting $X/month in revenue and running without constant intervention |
| Fitness season | Achieved target body composition maintained for 3+ months |
| Social/dating season | In a committed relationship you’re happy in, or a social circle you’re satisfied with |
| Financial season | Debt paid off / emergency fund at $X / business profitable |
When the end condition is hit, you consciously exit that season and choose the next one. This is what makes the framework work long-term — it’s sequential, not permanent.
Quick Reference
| Step | Question | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Name the domains | What are all the things you’re actively trying to improve? | Full list |
| 2. Assess true cost | What does serious progress in each domain actually require? | Realistic resource map |
| 3. Identify the season | Which domain produces the highest return on focus right now? | One clear priority |
| 4. Deprioritize the rest | What’s the minimum maintenance level for each non-priority? | Reduced commitments |
| 5. Define the end | When will this season be over? | Specific, measurable endpoint |
Search the Archive
grep -ri "seasons.*life\|live in stages\|one.*at.*a.*time\|sequential\|focus.*single" transcripts/
grep -ri "Derek.*More Plates\|Gorilla Mind\|Merrick Health" transcripts/
grep -ri "trying.*everything\|half-assed\|juggling\|balance.*business" transcripts/
Output
After the session, deliver:
- Domain inventory — full list of what the user is currently trying to improve
- Season diagnosis — the one domain that deserves priority focus right now, with reasoning
- Time-sensitivity map — which domains are time-sensitive and which can wait
- Maintenance commitments — what the user will do (at minimum) in each non-priority domain
- Season end condition — specific, measurable definition of when this season is over and what comes next
Source
How Derek Went From $0 To +$100M With Supplements | More Plates More Dates — Sam Parr and Shaan Puri interview Derek (More Plates More Dates, founder of Gorilla Mind and Merrick Health).