The Daily Discipline That Builds A Predictable Consulting Pipeline

On vacation, after the kids were finally asleep in their bunks, I indulged in a little TV. We stumbled on a show about families buying homes in Yukon—a remote, frozen corner of northern Canada.

One family wanted to live off-grid—not connected to water, electricity, or gas—in this region where winter temperatures can plunge to –40℉.

The realtor explained that power came from solar panels, heat from a wood-burning stove, and water from a giant plastic tank. When the water ran dry, they’d need to drive 25 miles into town to refill the 250-gallon tank.

Chopping wood and carrying water—mundane, physical tasks—were about to become life-sustaining.

Watching that family prepare for life off-grid made me think about what it takes to survive and thrive as an independent consultant. It’s not glamorous, but it’s essential.

If you want a steady stream of clients, you also must chop wood and carry water. Metaphorically, of course.

Your #1 Job is Demand Generation

Your main job (surprise!) is not client delivery, but demand generation—creating interest and opportunities for your services through consistent outreach.

To generate this demand, use your ARMS. Start tracking these 4 key metrics on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

• A: Activities. Any personalized one-to-one outreach—LinkedIn DMs, emails, phone calls, texts.
• R: Replies. Responses to your outreach—someone messages you back, answers your call, or replies to your email.
• M: Meetings. Appointments booked with those who replied—typically Intro Calls.
• S: Sales. Signed contracts—when a future client becomes a paying client.

This is your version of “chopping wood and carrying water.” Initiate conversations, book meetings, onboard clients. Do them every weekday. Block your calendar so you will make time for the mundane tasks that grow your business.

And track your numbers in a spreadsheet. Log your ARMS every day. Yes, it’s manual and a bit tedious. But it’s the kind of discipline that builds momentum, confidence, and predictability.

Tracking these four measures gives you insight into what’s working—and what’s not—so you can answer questions like:

• How many activities does it take, on average, to generate a sale?
• Does Message A or Message B generate more replies?
• What percentage of intro calls lead to a signed contract?

Once you have baseline data, then you can look for the weakest muscle in your ARMS and improve it. Maybe it’s a different outreach activity. Maybe it’s a better script for your Intro Call. You're just guessing until you track the data over time.

Independent consulting is a lot like living off-grid. It's the consistent effort that sustains you. Use your ARMS—and keep chopping.