Green: Attack. Amber: Hold. Red: Pull Back and Protect.

Always know exactly where you are — and drive accordingly. This is the advanced class, and the episode I'd give my younger self. Earlier this week we talked about optimizing your state. Today is about calibrating to it — because no matter how well you manage the machine, you will still have green days, amber days and red days. Mastery isn't pretending they're all green. Mastery is knowing, moment to moment, which light you're on — and adjusting your behaviour to match. Green (rested, fuelled, positive): attack — the hard conversation, the big decision, the heavy lift; that's what the state is FOR. Amber (functional but taxed): hold the cadence, protect the basics, don't schedule the fight. Red (tired, worn, depleted): this is where lives get damaged, because red-state decisions feel urgent and true and are reliably neither — pull back, delay the verdict, don't send the email, sleep.In this episode: how I calibrate into a keynote, why I'm done by 6pm and asleep by 8, the drafted messages my "idiot cortex" saved me from, and the 500-year-old version of this whole system — St Ignatius and the rule that you never make a decision in desolation.Grab my book Bridging the Gap free as an audiobook — search "Bridging the Gap Jonathan Doyle" on any podcast app.Corporate speaking and executive coaching enquiries: jonathandoyle.co.Follow the daily videos: YouTube · InstagramA new one every morning. Don't go back to sleep.