One-in-Sixty Course Correction
Review outcomes weekly and correct small deviations before they compound
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 99%
The One-in-Sixty Course Correction adapts an aviation saying: a one-degree error can leave a pilot sixty miles from the intended destination. Sanchez applies the metaphor to daily action. Put a recurring weekly review on the calendar, state the outcomes you wanted, compare them with what actually occupied time, and identify where small choices shifted the path. Then choose a modest correction and schedule it into the coming week. The exact questions, notebook, weekday, and ritual matter less than repetition. The mechanism is early feedback: frequent small corrections prevent an apparently harmless one-degree drift from compounding into a life or business outcome far from the original destination.
Origin
Sanchez turned the pilots' one-in-sixty saying into a weekly notebook and calendar ritual for correcting daily-action drift.
Core principles
- 01Small daily deviations compound into large misses
- 02A recurring review matters more than perfect review questions
- 03Desired outcomes should be explicit
- 04Course correction should happen before drift becomes crisis
How to run it
- 1
Reserve the review
Place a recurring weekly appointment on the calendar for uninterrupted reflection.
Pro tip Use the same time most weeks so the review becomes automatic.
- 2
Restate the destination
Write the outcomes that matter for the week or current season.
Watch out You cannot detect drift from an undefined destination.
- 3
Compare action with intent
Review where time and effort actually went and identify mismatches with the desired outcomes.
Pro tip Use calendar evidence instead of relying only on memory.
- 4
Find the degree of drift
Name the smallest recurring behaviour that is moving the trajectory off course.
Watch out Do not wait for a dramatic failure before acknowledging a pattern.
- 5
Schedule the correction
Choose one practical adjustment and place the changed action on the next week's calendar.
Pro tip Correct slightly and repeatedly rather than redesigning everything.
In the wild
A founder intends to speak with customers but discovers that internal meetings consumed every open block. During the weekly review, she identifies the repeated drift and reserves two customer calls before accepting new internal meetings.
→ A small calendar correction returns the following week to the intended learning goal.
Common mistakes
Perfecting the questions
An elaborate template that is rarely used is weaker than a simple review practised every week.
Reviewing without scheduling
Recognising drift does not change the next week unless the correction alters actual commitments.
Is it for you?
Best for
People with clear goals whose weeks are repeatedly consumed by whatever feels urgent in the moment.
Not ideal for
Unstable situations where the goal itself must change rather than the person merely returning to an old course.
From the transcript
“for every one degree that you go off course at any given time at the end you'll end up 60 miles uh away from the…”
“I put on my calendar pretty much every week that I can uh a little time for me to sit down with a notebook”
“each week you're going to course correct slightly for every degree that you get off”
From the episode
Codie Sanchez: How to Get Rich Buying a Business No One Wants
Codie Sanchez