The Date and Runway Method
Schedule your exit day, then build the financial and skill runway to reach it.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 85%
This method turns a vague wish to quit into a scheduled, resourced plan. First you pick a concrete exit date, three to twelve months out, and post it where you see it daily, asking each day what one action moves you closer. Then you build the Runway: auditing your finances to find your monthly survival number, reducing debt, and starting a side hustle that generates income and courage. Learning directly from someone who's already built the business you want accelerates the runway. Scheduling makes the leap real; the runway makes it survivable.
Origin
Porterfield built the method during the year between the fateful Tony Robbins meeting — where she realized she wasn't free — and the day she drove out of headquarters to start her own business.
Core principles
- 01Scheduling a date makes the leap real; without one you kick the can down the road.
- 02Anything over a year out is an excuse.
- 03Ask daily: what's one thing I must do today to move closer to that date?
- 04You need less savings than you think, but you must know your numbers.
How to run it
- 1
Schedule the exit date
Choose whether you leave in three, six, nine, or twelve months, write it on a Post-it, and put it on a mirror you see every day.
Pro tip Ask yourself daily: 'What is one thing I must do today to move me closer to that date?'
Watch out Anything over a year out means you're making excuses.
- 2
Audit your finances
Face how much money you have, how much debt you carry, and the minimum monthly income you need to get by in year one.
Pro tip You may only need modest savings — Porterfield left with about $2,000 in the bank.
Watch out Plan for a sacrifice year: no new floors, car, or vacation.
- 3
Start a side hustle
Begin a service or offer you can do quickly on nights and weekends to bring in extra money and, more importantly, prove you can put yourself out there.
Pro tip Services are the fastest start — you already get paid for the skill and need no website.
- 4
Learn from someone ahead of you
Reach out to someone who has built the business you want and pay for an hour of their time to understand the path.
Pro tip Offer to pay even when they don't normally sell consulting — many will say yes.
In the wild
Six months from her chosen exit date, Porterfield paid a woman who ran the online business she admired for an hour of her time, then crawled under her thin-walled office desk at lunch with a landline and whispered the whole conversation so no one would learn her plans.
→ She learned how to set up a course and blog and what it cost to start, and the woman remains her friend today.
Common mistakes
Believing you need a big nest egg
Porterfield thought she had to save tons of money but left with roughly $2,000. Overestimating required savings becomes an excuse to never leave.
Setting no date at all
Without a scheduled exit day, the plan stays 'I'm gonna do it' forever and you get nowhere.
Is it for you?
Best for
Employees who want to leave a stable job to start their own business.
Not ideal for
Those with no financial cushion or dependents who can't absorb a sacrifice year.
From the transcript
“you've got to schedule it to make it real”
“is it going to be in three months six months nine months or a year anything over a year you're making excuses”
“I might have had two thousand dollars in the bank when I left so I don't think you need a big nest egg”
From the episode
Amy Porterfield: How I Quit My Job and Built a Multi-Million Dollar Business Online, My Step-By-Step Blueprint
Amy Porterfield