It’s hard to believe that the new year is almost here. What goals will you achieve in 2026? More importantly, how will you achieve those goals? As a financial professional, you’ll need to start planning for the new year.
Considering all that comes with the holiday season, it may be hard to find time to think about what you want to accomplish next year. However, new year planning is crucial, because as the saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Laying down a plan – on paper – for the next year can make all the difference between crushing your goals or being crushed by them.
Why New Year Planning Matters
A written plan can help you visualize not only what you want to achieve, but how you will achieve it. It can act as a roadmap to your goals and provide you stops along the way to check in with your progress. A plan can also help keep you accountable when you lose momentum or feel like giving up. Writing your plan down (or typing it up) solidifies your goals and can make them feel more real. It’ll be harder to shrug them off down the road.
For financial professionals, having a plan is paramount. It can help keep you on track and ensure you’re hitting important milestones. It also gives you a framework for the upcoming year. Instead of scrambling for ideas last minute, you’ll know which projects need to be done when.
How to Create a Plan for the New Year
There are many ways you can go about new year planning, and it’s important that you find a process that works for you. Maybe it’s writing your goals down in a special notebook, typing them up on your computer, or just jotting them down in a note on your phone. As long as you have something to refer back to, it doesn’t matter where you keep it.
1. Reflect on the current year and previous years.
Taking a trip down memory lane can help you learn where you may have fallen short of your goals in previous years. Make a note of your big wins and losses and pay close attention to the actions and events leading up to them. What can you repeat as is? What should you adjust? What should you throw out entirely?
2. Consider your goals, then prioritize.
You likely have a lot of goals that you’d like to accomplish next year and beyond. It’s important to be realistic. Besides all the amazing things you want to achieve, you still have to put in the everyday work to run your practice. Find a balance between your responsibilities and your aspirations by prioritizing the goals that are most important to you and that are most attainable. Prioritizing can help you put your goals into perspective in the context of your larger business plan.
3. Be forgiving.
Let’s be honest: Not everyone achieves every single one of their goals. In fact, studies suggest that only 36% of people stick to their resolutions through January. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you encounter roadblocks or need to scale back your goals. Setbacks don’t have to mean failure, and every challenge is a learning experience.
4. Share your plan.
A plan is even more effective when you share it with others. Sharing your goals, and your progress as you make it, can help motivate you to keep moving forward. This has the added bonus of giving you someone to celebrate with when all of your goals are achieved at the end of the year.
Getting Started
The most important thing about new year planning is that you get started. Your plan doesn’t have to be perfect, and it’s okay if it changes along the way. Be flexible and realistic in the pursuit of your goals. With your plan, what matters most is that you create one in the first place.
