Before You Plan for 2026: Start With These 3 Questions for Direction and Focus
Why slowing down long enough to reflect may be the most
strategic move you make this year
A Moment of Pause
The end of the year often prompts us to rush toward goal-setting. Organizations scramble to set priorities, teams huddle over strategy, and professionals everywhere start drafting plans for next year’s ambitions. After months of shifting expectations, uneven workloads, and more uncertainty than expected, jumping into planning can feel premature.
This year shook professionals across sectors, especially those with decades of experience who faced job cuts. Black women, in particular, were hit hardest by the job losses and instability of 2025. And many people are still trying to figure out what the next year will demand personally and professionally.
Before rushing to set 2026 goals, pause to reflect on what this year revealed. In my work with leaders and professionals navigating transition, I’ve found that clarity comes from honest reflection, seeing what has changed, and acknowledging what no longer works.
Start With Better Questions
If you’re stepping into a new leadership role, recovering from a setback, or considering a career pivot, your journey forward begins with asking yourself more powerful questions. To get started, here are three questions to help you focus before you start planning for next year.
1. What did this year reveal about what you need?
Each year teaches us something new, and this year was no exception, forcing many of us to take a pause and reflect. Maybe you learned you need stronger boundaries, found you do better in quieter settings, or noticed that your old work no longer fits who you are becoming as a leader.
For those who lived through layoffs or job changes, your questions might go even deeper:
What do I want now?
What opportunities am I ready to go after for myself?
Who do I want to share this next chapter with?
Clarity starts with acknowledging what feels true now, without judgment.
2. What drained you, and what sustained you?
We often set goals based on ambition, not energy. But energy sustains us. As you review 2025, ask yourself:
What work, environments, or conversations drained you?
What expanded your thinking or brought you back to yourself?
Where did you feel most aligned and supported?
Your answers guide you. They reveal what to release, what to protect, and what to pursue next year.
3. What version of yourself are you ready to become?
Transitions require us to choose who we are becoming. For some, this means stepping into the spotlight. For others, it's telling your story more clearly, finding new growth, or deciding how you want to work and live.
Reinvention begins with a decision to choose yourself with more intention than before. The goals, strategy, and timing will come. The real work is deciding what kind of leader you want to be and what you will no longer bring with you into 2026.
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Looking Ahead
I’m spending this month exploring these questions for myself and with the professionals I support. There is power in pausing long enough to understand the year you’re leaving before entering a new one. I hope these questions offer you a chance to reconnect with yourself.
In my Substack essay, I share more reflections on how reinvention helps us reset with greater purpose.
If you are looking for guidance, I am offering a limited number of New Year Reinvention Strategy Sessions in January and February for ambitious professionals, leaders, and entrepreneurs, especially women of color, who want private support to design a more aligned 2026 and craft a focused 90-day plan.
Early next year, I will also host a Reinvention Experience for those eager to explore these themes in community.