Year End – Year Ahead Planning Kit for 2026
- David Stamation
- Jan 3
- 5 min read
David Stamation, Executive Life Coach
This approach tends to resonate most with people who are capable, driven, and tired of setting goals that don’t stick.
Beyond Tips and Hacks and Into Process and Transformation
This planning kit grew out of lived experience, not theory. Over the past year, life asked me to slow down in ways I didn’t choose through health challenges, shifting priorities, and moments that forced me to listen more closely to what my body and life were asking for. What became clear is that rushing ahead, even with good intentions, often creates more noise than clarity.
I wrote this because I’ve seen how much changes when we give ourselves time to pause before deciding what’s next. Starting earlier long before, the calendar flips creates room to reflect, to feel what’s true, and to separate what matters from what merely demands attention. When planning is given space, it stops feeling like pressure and becomes a conversation with yourself about how you actually want to live.
I’ve approached planning this way for years, and it works. More importantly, when done this way, setting intentions for 2026 can feel uplifting leaving you light on your feet rather than burdensome from the start. Too often, goals are set under pressure, which drains energy before momentum even begins.
What I’m inviting here is a conscious pivot: from planning as a reflexive task to planning as a ritual. Rituals ground us. They feel reverential, honoring, and steady. In contrast, reactive planning often carries shame, irreverence, and a lack of grounding.
Let’s get to it.
What follows is a consolidated and updated approach I’ve written about over the years The Year in Review and The Year Ahead refined for 2026. You can download the Planning Sheet at the end of this article.
Reflections for 2025
Reflecting on your past year isn’t nostalgia it’s remembering. It’s noting what did or didn’t happen without self-criticism, self-attack, or judgment. This remembering becomes valuable data you carry into 2026, helping you refine, adjust, or release what no longer fits.
Reflection matters because we forget. And what we forget tends to repeat.
Look Back Before You Look Forward
Meaningful progress starts with reflection, not projection. In this context, projection is the habit of rushing into the future based on pressure, expectation, or hope without fully digesting the past. It’s setting goals from who you think you should be, rather than from what actually happened and how it felt.
A Year in Review isn’t about regret; it’s about awareness. When you take time to understand what unfolded, where energy was gained or lost, and what the year taught you, your next steps become clearer and more grounded.
Reflection separates what looked good on paper from what truly mattered. It reveals +/- patterns, energy drains, and moments of alignment you want more of. Only then does goal-setting stop being aspirational and start becoming intentional.
If you study just one topic this year, let it be intention-setting. It shapes everything.
Practical Reflection Prompts
Use these insights as your foundation. When you look back with honesty and compassion, you don’t just plan better, you move forward with clarity and purpose.
What worked this year, and why?
What didn’t work, even though I tried hard?
Where did I feel most energized? Most depleted?
What did I learn about myself?
What am I ready to release before moving forward?
Want a deeper dive on looking back? Read, How to do a Year in Review that Feels Good, and Year-in-Review Reflection Guide.
Clarify What You Actually Want
This is where many people get stuck. We’re often experts at naming what we don’t want yet struggle to name what we do want. The work here is translating those inversions into clear desires blended with emotional fluency.
This clarity boosts confidence and creates a navigational core that keeps you aligned, even when things get noisy.
Want a deeper dive on looking back?
Momentum Over Motivation
Goals often fade not because we lack motivation, but because they aren’t anchored in something meaningful.
Aspirations define the bigger picture, the direction and meaning behind what you’re working toward. Goals are the concrete steps that move you there. One provides context and purpose, the other offers structure and action. When they’re aligned, momentum replaces willpower.
Visualization matters. Alongside intention-setting, it’s one of the most potent tools available. Picture the outcome vividly, like a detailed screenplay. How do you feel? What are others saying about you? Who’s with you?
Want a deeper dive on looking back? Read, Getting Goals Started Momentum or Luck?, and Kickstart Your Goal Setting Journey.
The North Star Tool for 2026
This has been one of the most meaningful evolutions in my own work.
My North Star steadies me. It calms the low-level anxiety that I’ve missed something or should be doing more. When it’s clear, I can feel it in my body and I relax. I stop reaching. I say ‘no’ more easily to what doesn’t belong, without guilt or second-guessing.
The biggest shift has been in my relationships. I listen better. I’m clearer in my commitments. That same clarity carries into how I serve my clients and into the quality of my friendships. When my direction is clear, my energy follows.
The North Star isn’t a goal to chase. It’s a steady orientation, something I return to when life feels busy or uncertain. And when it’s clear, priorities simplify, energy returns, and momentum becomes sustainable.
If your life is moving quickly but without a clear sense of direction, this may help. Read more here How to Stop Chasing Goals and Start Living with Purpose.
Setting 2026 Goals, Aspirations, and Resolutions
This is where the earlier marinating begins to pay off. You name what you want, then craft goals or actions that support it. Clarity and simplicity are key. The shorter and cleaner your plan, the more potent it becomes.
Boil it down. Then boil it down again until you’re left with power words that activate your emotional sensors and bond you to where you’re going.
Notice how different this feels from past goal setting:
Do I want this, or is it for someone else?
When I think about it, does it feel energizing or de-energizing?
If this step feels elusive, or procrastination creeps in, revisit Finding Clarity on Your Desires and Goals, Getting Goals Started - Momentum or Luck?, The Year Ahead - Planning Guide II.
Download the Year End - Year Ahead Planning Guide (PDF)
Many clients use this planning sheet as a starting point before coaching.
Want Support Going Deeper?
If you’d like help slowing this process down, clarifying your North Star, or turning intention into sustainable momentum, coaching can be a powerful next step. We’ll work together to make planning feel grounded, embodied, and aligned rather than forced.
If that resonates, reach out to explore coaching with me.
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