Go Live & Assess - Living with your capsule brand

You’ve done the inventory.

You’ve built your Try-Some 16.

You’ve picked fonts, colors, elements, and layouts you can actually work with.

Now comes the part where you stop planning and start applying.

No more tweaking. No more second-guessing.

This is the Go Live phase

Go Live doesn’t require a launch. It doesn’t require a redesign. It just means you start using what you built—on Instagram, in emails, inside your workshop slides, wherever your brand shows up. If you can’t use it in motion, it doesn’t work.

You’re going to feel off for a minute. That’s normal. When you build something from scratch, even something simple, there’s always a learning curve. You’re used to spiraling. You’re used to fiddling. Now the system is supposed to hold you. And that shift is going to feel awkward. Give it a minute.

The rule here is simple: for 90 days, use your Try-Some 16. Stick to your two fonts. Stick to your two colors. Stick to your chosen layouts and elements. Use the logo, headshot, lightest and darkest brand colors you already slotted in. No changes. No additions. No panic edits because you saw something cute in someone else’s feed. Boredom is not a red flag. It’s a sign of consistency.

You are building muscle memory. You are building creative stamina. You are learning how your system moves by actually moving through it. This is where things start to get easier.

If you’re struggling, plug into the Don’t-Think Tank—our private Discord where the rest of the people using this system are working through the same friction. It’s where you can share your templates, ask if something feels off, and get feedback without having to book a whole call. I’m in there every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Central. The rest of the time, the community’s got you.

Now we move to Step 4:

Assess. Most branding systems skip this part. They hand you the rules, make you apply them, and leave you alone to guess what went wrong. That’s not how a Thoughtless Brand works.

Here we observe what’s actually happening.

The Not Today List is how we track that. It’s one doc—analog, digital, whatever you’ll actually use—where you log every time you want to break your system. Every time you feel tempted to add a font, pull an old template, try a trend, or reach for a color that isn’t in the 16.

Don’t judge it. You just write it down.

The goal is to create a running list of friction points, gut instincts, boredom spikes, and design itches. So when the 90 days are up, you have actual data—not just a vibe. This becomes the raw material for your 90-Day Edit in Step 5.

This list works because it captures real-time temptation without requiring you to act on it. You’ll log what you wanted to do, why you think it happened, how it turned out (if you did it anyway), and what you were feeling. You’re not trying to stay inside the lines out of guilt. You’re building a system that earns your trust.

If you break the rules, fine. Just document it. That’s the work.

This phase is not about performance. It’s about pattern recognition. You’re noticing what works, what doesn’t, and what keeps pulling your attention. You’re not spiraling. You’re learning.

What you’re doing in this phase:

• Using only your Try-Some 16

• Tracking every time you want to tweak

• Documenting your instincts without acting on them

• Letting repetition show you what matters

• Getting feedback in real time

• Preparing for your brand’s next iteration with actual insight

This is how you build a brand that lasts longer than your attention span. A system you can grow into. Not one you burn down every quarter.

Next is Fine-Tune. That’s where we take your Not Today List and do the seasonal edit—what stays, what goes, what gets folded in. But for now? Just keep showing up. Use the system. Log what pulls you off track.