Plan, Not Panic – New Year, New Vision

Year End Retreat 2025 (1)

Happy New Year!

Are we thinking, “What am I doing…I’m already behind…I need to get my act together!!!”

Or are we thinking, “I’m so excited, let’s get started.”

I’m shooting for the second one. Are you with me?

A few weeks ago, I invited you to join me in following the year-end process that I use each December to close one year and get the next off to a good start. 

It’s done in three phases:

  1. REFLECTION: Review the previous year and notice what went well, what could have gone better, and what lessons you learned.
  2. VISION: Set a vision for the coming year by imagining what success looks like for you.
  3. PLANNING: Create a plan and commitments for your most important goals, to translate them into a concrete reality. 

Today we are in the third and final step. And in my opinion, the timing couldn’t be better. 

Let’s harness all the fast-moving energy of the new year and ride that wave right into 2026!!

Getting Started: From Dreams to Goals

Before we can create a plan, we need to know our goals. 

And I know…it’s tempting to skip all the introspection and just get to the action plan. But what I’ve learned from experience is that every time I go through this process from start to finish, and take time to learn from the past, there’s something surprising that comes up. 

When I reach my final plan, I always find something that wasn’t even a consideration when I started my review.

So what we’re going to do is refer back to the previous steps of this review process. (If you haven’t started yet, this would be a great time to do steps one and two.) 

Pull out the notes you wrote in December. You’ve written down…

  1. What you learned in 2025
  2. What your dreams are for 2026

Now it’s time to translate those dreams into concrete goals. 

Looking over your 2026 vision notes, ask yourself: 

➡️ What goals do I want to pursue? 
➡️ Which ones feel most important?
➡️ Which will be most impactful in my life? 

Remember that you don’t need to have big goals for every area of your life. 

Maybe there’s an important category where things are going well and you simply want to maintain your current commitments. It’s better to have laser focus on fewer high-impact goals. Too many goals will scatter your focus and may cause you to fail. 

Once you’ve set your goals, you’ve done the hard part. Now you know where you’re going.

Making It Real: From Goals to Plans

Goals tell you where, but plans tell you how you’ll get there (action steps) and when you’ll get there (timeline). So let’s figure this out.

  1. For each goal, you’ll answer these questions. They are simple but not easy!
    1. What is your desired outcome? Get specific. What are you pointed toward and how will you know when you get there?
    2. What do you need to do to be successful? Break big goals into smaller chunks so the actions are achievable.
    3. How do you want to be to support these actions? If you need a reminder about being and doing, check out this blog post from last April. 
  2. Now create a commitment timeline for each of your goals.
    1. List the specific action step commitments on your calendar. This step creates deadlines for each smaller chunk to help you stay on track.
    2. Write out your specific commitments for Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. Quarterly commitments work well for most goals, as it’s enough time to gain traction but not so much that you lose sight of the destination.
    3. If a different planning timeline works better for you, such as months, seasons, school semesters, or something else, go for it!

Congrats! You just created your roadmap for 2026, and it’s already on your calendar. 

Putting It Into Action

Here’s where the rubber meets the road. All the reflection, vision-setting, and planning in the world won’t matter if you don’t get into action and DO SOMETHING!

As you start putting your plan into action in 2026, these tips can help you stay on track and keep the momentum going:

  • Have accountability in place. Enlist a co-worker, friend, or family member to be your accountability buddy. Let them know what you’re working toward and invite them to check in with you. 
  • Speak your plan out loud. Telling other people about your plan makes it more real and reinforces the commitment you’ve made. 
  • Remember your vision. When you find yourself resisting, procrastinating, and making excuses, go back to your vision. When you imagined it was the end of 2026 and asked yourself what you wanted to be true, your vision was crystal clear. By reconnecting with that vision, you can inject new enthusiasm to help you get over the hump so you can keep making progress.

Meeting big goals can be tough. If it was easy, you’d have already done it! 

But this review process that you just completed does a lot of the heavy lifting.

I’m excited to see what you create in 2026 as a result of envisioning your big goals and making them happen. Here’s to a new year full of opportunities and growth.

P.S. Don’t forget! My next Thriving Leaders Circle cohort is starting soon. Learn more about my program for new leaders before enrollment closes.