The 2026 Planning Framework
It's January, which means most people are either:
Pretending they're going to completely transform their life this year
Already feeling guilty about the goals they're about to set and abandon by February
Neither approach works - I know because I've tried both.
Instead, here's the planning process I actually use for my business and my life. It contains no motivational bullshit, just the stuff that works.
Why most goal setting is useless
Let's be honest about what usually happens...
You sit down full of optimism and a vague sense that this year will be different. You write down some goals. Maybe "grow revenue by 50%" or "get fit" or "spend more time with family."
Then January hits. You're busy and life happens. Kids get ill and your goals sit in a notebook somewhere.
By March, you've either completely forgotten about them or convinced yourself they were unrealistic anyway.
The problem isn't that you're lazy or uncommitted, it’s that most goal setting frameworks are crap. They give you a destination without the map (and you know I’m all about the map).
So this is what I do instead...
A framework that actually works
For both professional and personal categories, you need 4 connected components:
1. Big Goals
These are your year long, ambitious targets. If they don't scare you a little, think bigger.
What makes a good Big Goal:
Specific and measurable (not "grow the business" but "reach £500K in revenue")
Ambitious enough to be slightly uncomfortable
Something you can clearly define as achieved or not achieved by December 2026
2. Checkpoint Goals
Work backwards from your Big Goals to create specific milestones.
If the Big Goals are the summit, you can't reach them without reaching these points.
What makes a good checkpoint goal:
A specific milestone on the path to your Big Goal
Time bound (typically quarterly or by a specific month)
Something that proves you're on track
These break down the year into digestible chunks. I can see in March whether I'm on track or delusional.
3. Daily Systems
These are the 2-3 daily actions that create tangible, compounding progress.
Here's the brutal truth: Your goals tell you where you want to go, but your systems determine where you actually end up. This is actually my favourite part - I know how powerful creating great habits and systems can be.
So, what makes a good daily system:
Simple enough to do consistently
Directly connected to progress on your checkpoint goal
2-3 actions maximum (more than that and you won't do any of them)
These three things, done consistently, create the conditions for reaching that revenue goal. They're not exciting, but they work.
4. Anti Goals (so important!)
Anti Goals are the things you refuse to let happen while chasing your Big Goals - these are the things I could list in the 10’s.
It’s also the bit nobody talks about but it's crucial.
It's easy to get tunnel vision on a goal and sacrifice everything else to reach it. Hit the revenue target but destroy your health for example.
Anti Goals force you to define what winning actually looks like. Not just the metric you hit, but the way you hit it.
What makes a good Anti Goal:
Specific things you refuse to sacrifice
Clear boundaries you won't cross
The version of "success" that would actually feel like failure
Three things that make this actually work
Ideas are cheap but execution is ‘expensive’.
Even with your Big Goals to motivate you and your Daily Systems all planned out, you still might fail to execute.
Here are three approaches that will help you actually follow through:
1. The ABC System (my favourite, and not mine)
This one changed everything for me and it removes the all or nothing thinking that kills consistency.
Establish three levels you operate at for every day:
A: Most ambitious, perfect case
B: Middle ground, base case
C: Minimum viable level
On days when you feel great, you hit your A. On days when you feel ok, you hit your B. On days when you feel bad, just hit your C.
You’re moving forward whatever you do and that’s the most important thing. Some days I know I can’t take on the battle - my attention isn’t what it should be, I’m due on a period, whatever it is, it happens - and on those days I’ll walk away from whatever I’m doing knowing tomorrow is a new day.
If I fight it, I end up completely depleted of any energy and mentally I feel useless - I now refuse to put myself into that place.
2. The 3 day check
With whatever habit you're trying to build, never allow yourself to skip more than 2 days in a row.
Missing one day won't hurt your habit building, but missing a few will. This requires a fair bit of self motivation. If you struggle with this then get yourself a buddy to check in with, someone willing to spot for you and vice versa.
Remember - a shit effort is better than no effort…always.
3. Monthly Check ins
Here's the thing nobody tells you about annual goals: you will get off track. Things move and change and life happens.
Not because you're lazy or uncommitted, but just because life can be unpredictable. Things that seemed important in January feel irrelevant in June.
The people who succeed aren't the ones who set perfect goals and execute flawlessly…they're the ones who notice when they're drifting and make course corrections.
This is why monthly check ins are essential. Not because you're a control freak (I mean I am 100% one of these), but because small corrections beat big rescues.
Make 2026 different
I'm not going to pretend this is easy, it's not.
Building systems takes discipline and maintaining consistency takes effort. Course correcting when you drift takes honesty.
But you know what's harder? Reaching December 2026 and realising you spent another year busy but not productive.
Most people will set goals this month and forget them by February. They'll have the same conversations they had last December about how "this year will be different."
Please DO NOT be most people.
Make 2026 the year you actually do the thing instead of just planning to do the thing.
So, what to do next:
Block out 2-3 hours this month. Sit down with a notebook or a Google Doc. Work through each section properly:
Establish Big Goals for professional and personal
Establish Checkpoint Goals for each Big Goal
Establish Daily Systems
Establish Anti-Goals
Set calendar reminders for monthly check ins (last Friday of every month, these are non-negotiable)
Even better, do it with a small group. Having other people pressure test your thinking makes everything sharper. It's harder to bullshit yourself when someone else is asking "but why do you actually want that?" or "is that really ambitious enough?"
Good luck and here’s to an amazing 2026!