Create the outcome note
This page is an intentionally brief resource page used to jumpstart your first Smart Loop. To learn more about outcome notes, read How I use outcome notes to go from idea to outcome in Obsidian.
What changes today
A desired outcome gets home where relevant ideas can aggregate, context can improve, and the work can be managed.
Instead of starting with another prompt, you create the outcome note where the goal, context, delegated work, review, and next action can improve over time.
Before:
- useful work scatters across notes and tabs
- ideas get lost
- context cannot be iteratively improved
After:
- the desired outcome is managed in one note
- relevant ideas have a clear destination
- attached context can be improved and reused as needed
Answer before creating your first outcome note
- What outcome might matter most right now?
- What result might make this loop feel worth doing?
- What name for this outcome might be best?
Copy this into your note
Copy this starter structure, then replace the placeholder with your selected outcome.
## Desired outcome
[one sentence naming what this note is trying to make real]
## What done looks like
## Context
## Delegated work
## Next action
## Review notes
Checkpoint
- The desired outcome is written in one sentence inside the outcome note.
Choosing a desired outcome
Don't overthink this step. Pick something that might be interesting to take from idea to finished. Instead of worrying about choosing the right outcome, focus on learning the Smart Loop workflow, a reusable way to move any future outcome forward without giving up control to AI.
- You know what you want, and don't know how to get it.
- You don't know what you want.
The outcome note is designed to help with problem #1.
If you have problem #2, don't worry, just pick something! The only way to solve not knowing what you want is trying new things!
Use Smart Plugins to make this easier
- How I link notes without spending time organizing or searching in Obsidian
- Use Smart Lookup when existing notes might help you choose the desired outcome, but you're "not quite sure where to look or the exact name for that one thing."
Same loop, bigger outcome
Bigger outcomes can use this same process.
- a product feature
- a full product launch plan
- a publish-ready guide
- a client proposal
- a personal portfolio website
- a website for business
Bigger outcomes might need more clarity, more context, more delegations, or even sub-outcomes that deserve their own notes. But the system remains the same.