Three Things to Leave in 2025 If You Want 2026 to Be the Year It Works
Dec 29, 2025
If 2026 feels like a do or die year for your business, you’re not alone.
Inside a recent annual planning session with women in the Inner Circle, a clear theme kept coming up: 2025 was hard. And for many, 2026 feels like it has to be different—or some tough decisions will need to be made.
As a business mentor, that energy excites me. There’s clarity there. There’s readiness. But as a human being, I also know how heavy that pressure can feel. So in this episode, I shared three very simple—but very important—things that cannot come with us into 2026 if we actually want change.
These aren’t mindset hacks. They’re leadership decisions.
If 2026 Has to Be Different, These Three Things Have to Stay Behind
You don’t need to become a new person in 2026. You don’t need more discipline, more sacrifice, or a complete personality overhaul.
What does need to change are a few behaviours that quietly drain your energy, your confidence, and your momentum.
1. Stop Not Asking for What You Need
This is one of the biggest leaks I see with women in business—and it’s one of the hardest to fix.
So many women are trying to build sustainable businesses while hoping that the people around them will just figure it out. That partners will notice. That clients will understand. That support will magically appear.
It doesn’t work that way.
I recently coached a woman who felt completely underwater. She had admin piling up, emails unwritten, work backed up—and on top of that, the holidays, family responsibilities, and life.
When I asked her one simple question—What do you actually need?—her answer surprised her.
She didn’t need a new strategy. She didn’t need more productivity tips.
She needed 24–48 hours alone to catch up.
The solution wasn’t complicated. It was a hotel room. Two nights. A clear ask to her partner.
The real issue wasn’t time. It was permission.
Women—especially mothers—are often praised for handling everything. Asking can feel like failure. But the real cost of not asking is resentment, burnout, and under-earning.
People cannot meet needs you’ve never named.
If having help with dinner, childcare, admin, or quiet time would change your energy or your business—you have to ask for it. And in 2026, we are asking without apologizing.
2. Stop Confusing Busy With Momentum
Busy is not a flex.
I spoke with a client who told me she was at her desk from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. When I asked what she was doing during those hours, it was mostly emails, social media, and “working.”
She was serving three clients.
What she really had was an illusion of productivity.
Sitting at your desk all day doesn’t automatically move your business forward. In fact, it often creates anxiety rather than momentum.
Here’s the truth: if busy were the answer, you’d already be where you want to be.
Endless tweaking, constant content creation, overposting, overplanning—these things often feel safer than being bold. Being busy can be a way to avoid visibility, selling, or decision-making.
In 2026, we are choosing momentum over busyness.
Your business probably doesn’t need more hours. It needs fewer priorities.
Simplify. Post less. Email less. Do fewer things better. Use the time you get back to build relationships and actually sell.
Ask yourself honestly: Where am I busy instead of brave?
3. Stop Hiding
This one matters more than most people want to admit.
I recently saw a story about the Fyre Festival founder—the man who became the subject of a Netflix documentary after one of the most public business failures ever.
And yet… he’s back. Launching another festival. Selling again. Being visible again.
Is he the role model? Absolutely not.
But the audacity? It’s worth noticing.
If someone who publicly failed on a global scale can get back up and sell again—and you’re holding back because you’re worried about what someone from high school might think—we need to shift something.
You cannot build a visible, profitable business while staying small.
Hiding often comes from fear of judgment, fear of being too much, fear of success changing relationships. But if people don’t know what you do, who you help, or how to work with you—that’s not protection. That’s stagnation.
Being seen is not ego. It’s service.
People can’t find you if you keep whispering.
In 2026, we are showing up. Saying the thing. Selling the offer. Taking up space.
The Questions to Take With You Into 2026
As you close out this year, I want to leave you with a few questions:
- What have I been avoiding asking for?
- Where am I being busy instead of being brave?
- Where am I hiding to feel safe—and what is that costing me?
You don’t need to reinvent yourself next year.
You just need to stop disappearing.
If you do that—if you ask clearly, act intentionally, and allow yourself to be seen—2026 will be different.
And I cannot wait to see what you build.
