It’s planning season and time to plan for 2026 as the New Year looms on the horizon.

I’ve identified four steps to the planning process. While I primarily teach this as a business planning tool, it can be used for planning out any set of goals or dreams you might have. Loosing weight? Landscaping a yard? These for steps apply just as well.  Here we go.

Stepping Out – of your comfort zone

This first step has two parts each with its own function. Both require stepping out of your comfort zone and both will help with planning for 2026.

Part One

The process begins with a review of the previous year. This review not only helps to identify successes and challenges from the previous year, but all provides a stable platform from which to move forward.

Start by taking a piece of paper and dividing it into three columns. Title the first column “What I Wanted” and write down in this column the goals and achievements that you wanted for 2025. The second column is titled “What I Got”. In this column, beside the list of what you wanted, write down what you actually got. You may have achieved your goals or you may have supercharged them. Some of you may be disappointed with the results of some of your goals. Suspend judgement in this exercise and simply write the truth as you see it.

The third column is titled “How did I Contribute to this Result?”. What hard things did you do? Where did you hold back and play small? Here is the out of the comfort zone space for you. Suspend judgement and simply review and acknowledge what you wanted, what you got and how you contributed to the outcome, both positive and negative.

My clients often find this to be a very revealing exercise. In some cases, things didn’t happen because they simply failed to continue as a priority. In other cases, things happened because they worked consistently in the direction of their goals. Recognizing how we contribute to success provides us with tools to move forward into planning 2026.

There may be things you choose to leave behind in 2025. Not everything undone needs to move forward. Leave behind what no longer serves your purposes.

You now have a stable platform from which to work moving forward.

Part Two

The second part is a visioning exercise.  I call it the view from the top of the mountain. Other coaches have different names for it but the process is the same. Some call it magic wand thinking!

Close your eyes and imagine yourself one year from now at the close of 2026. What goals have you achieved. What are you doing? Who is with your? How are you feeling? What can you do now that your goals have been achieved? What else did you accomplish? Imagine the tastes, smells, sights, sounds that are all around you now that you have accomplished your goals. Make this vision as vibrant and as detailed as possible.

The world of high performance sport and the research in neuroscience that has followed, has revealed that your brain can’t tell the difference between what you imagined you did and what you actually did. If you imagine yourself getting up and running 5 am each morning for 28 days straight, then when you actually do get up at 5 am and go running, your brain is convinced this is something it has done before. Rather than feeling fear or conflict, if feels familiarity and comfort.

Once you are really clear on what the end of 2026 looks, feels, tastes, smells like, turn around and look back towards the beginning of the year. Look at the path that has brought you to the top of the mountain. What did you accomplish and when? What did you do halfway through the year? A quarter of the way? Three- quarters of the way?

Stepping Up – to identify the work that needs to be done

This second step requires stepping up to the real work that would need to be done if you are to accomplish your goals. Pull out a calendar. When would the work happen? What else do you have on your plate? Do you have other commitments that might impede your progress? What things might you have to let go? Stepping up includes creating a financial plan for your goals. Match up your financial resources with your calendar so that the funds you need are available when you need them. If you are planning for your business, map out what income and expenses will happen in each month.

Stepping In – to create a plan

The third step is where the detailed planning takes place. While its title is “Stepping In”, I like to think of it as “leaning into” the work.  In the Twelve Week Year, Moran and Lennington identify that most people work best with 90-day deadlines. Conveniently that creates three-month time frames. With a clear and detailed vision in your mind for the end of the year, what will you have accomplished at the 3, 6, 9 month markers of the year? Create a detailed plan for the first 90 days. Each subsequent 90 day block is less detailed. You will have a chance to review and revise at the end of each 90 day block for the next three months.

Stepping Through – the gremlins that stand in our way and try and pull us down

While planning for 2026 to be successful is essential, equally important is to planning for the gremlins. They will show up. I’ve identified four key gremlins that tend to show up consistently for my clients. They include Fear of Criticism, Fear of Failure, Dislike of a Task, and Impatience. I’ve created a cheat sheet with tricks to conquer all four of the gremlins. Click here for your free copy.

Planning for 2026 success will include a plan for the gremlins. Put this in place a head of time and you are armed for when they show up. You won’t be surprised – you will be prepared. Preparation matched with planning leads to success.