Walking Point | The 7-C Framework:
How to Get Better at Getting Better
I’ve been meaning to share this framework for a while. Now that we are closing in on the end of the year, I figured it was as good a time as any.
We’re all born with the urge to move—crawl, walk, run, go. But motion without mission is drift. Walking Point exists to solve that problem: to help you take the lead in your own life, move with purpose, and build the systems to stay on azimuth when the fog rolls in.
Over the next eight weeks, we’re running a mini masterclass on the 7-Cs—a simple, battle-tested framework I have built over many years dedicated to trying to get better at getting better.
This post will help set your compass. Over the following seven weeks, we’ll cover the 7-Cs:
Clarity — Know the hill you’re taking.
Define who you’re becoming and why it matters. Strategy (who/why), operations (how), tactics (what now). Without Clarity, you confuse activity for progress and chase other people’s objectives.Commitment — Tie yourself to the mast.
Make promises you’ll keep under pressure. Commitment converts preference into policy: deadlines, public stakes, non-negotiables. If Clarity is the destination, Commitment is the contract.Courage — Close with and engage the hard thing.
Not recklessness, not show—aimed aggression. The right risk at the right time for the right reason. Courage moves you through friction when comfort starts negotiating.Consistency — Small, right moves—relentlessly repeated.
The advantage isn’t intensity; it’s reliability. Consistency shrinks the gap between intention and action until it disappears. Systems over sprees, streaks over sprints.Competence — Earn your confidence with receipts.
Skill kills doubt. Competence isn’t talent; it’s deliberate reps, good feedback, and standards you can’t talk your way around. Do the reps that transfer.Confidence — Quiet belief, based on proof.
Confidence without proof is noise. Proof without confidence is wasted. Stack executed reps (Competence) and honor kept (Commitment) until your default posture is calm and aggressive.Curiosity — Keep learning faster than the problem evolves.
Curiosity prevents hardening into dogma. Ask better questions, run small experiments, capture lessons with a quick AAR. Adaptation is a skill—and it compounds.
The “7-Cs” work like the layers of Kevlar we talked about last week. No single strand makes you “bulletproof.” The system does. Clarity points the way. Commitment locks it in. Courage gets you moving. Consistency keeps you moving. Competence and Confidence improve the quality of movement. Curiosity keeps you asking, “What’s next?”.
Here’s how this series will run:
Week 1: Clarity — Stand Hard- Plant the strategic flag. Define operational objectives. Set daily tactical moves you can mark ✅/❌.
Week 2: Commitment — Build contracts, stakes, and tripwires that survive bad moods.
Week 3: Courage — Select intelligent risk and run toward the right fight.
Week 4: Consistency — Install short, repeatable “micro-deployments” that make progress automatic.
Week 5: Competence — Train to the edge of failure, and log the proof.
Week 6: Confidence — Convert receipts into posture—then lead from it.
Week 7: Curiosity — Build a learning loop that never shuts off.
Execution (Start Walking Point)
Write one sentence for each C that applies to your life today. Keep it brutally specific.
Start thinking about your current level of Clarity.
Grab a new notebook if you want to start building your nav plan over the next seven weeks.
If you’re tired of drifting or following someone else's lead and you’re ready to lead your own patrol, this is your playbook. Subscribe, share with someone who needs a compass, and meet me here next week. We’re going to dive into each “C” with real examples, checklists, and steps to get started, Walking Point.
Until next week,
Move with mission, and Start Walking Point!
John
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I look forward to our collaborative post on the 7Cs to avoid post we can do after this series:
Coward
Corrupt
Cynic
Condescending
Complacent
And then I have two more inappropriate ones that we can put behind a paid tier…
You know I'm partial to a 7-letter system... The 7Fs and know the 7Cs.