Creating Strategic Goals for 2026 Without the Overwhelm

Blows dust off those 2025 plans you never executed…

If you have ever opened last year’s “strategic plan” and felt personally attacked by your own optimism, S A M E.

We have all done it. Lofty sales goals. Unrealistic KPIs (sorry, we hate saying that as much as you hate reading it, but it’s necessary). Staffing plans that require Monopoly money. And a “simple roadmap” that somehow has 47 steps and a color coded spreadsheet you have not opened since the one time you posted it on LinkedIn to prove you were, in fact, “strategic.”

It sounded incredible in the moment. Then reality showed up with a calendar full of client work, a surprise expense, and that fun little thing called being human.

So yes. Let’s leave those overblown plans in 2025, right next to the Stanley cup from your “I’m going to drink a gallon of water every day” era and the Vision Pro from your “I’m definitely going to use it all the time” era that lasted exactly one week.

Strategic goals are not about writing down your biggest dreams and hoping the universe Venmos you discipline (if anyone has had this happen, please email us the info).

They are about choosing a few priorities that actually move your business forward and building a plan that works with your real life constraints like time, budget, team capacity, and your general desire to not spiral at 2:00 p.m. on a random Wednesday.

Because if your plan is too big, too vague, or depends on resources you do not have, it is going to sit on the shelf collecting dust and judging you quietly. Like a Peloton. Oops, we said it…

The 3 steps for goals you will actually finish

1) Identify Your Goals

Start with your top priorities for 2026. Not 12 priorities. Not “everything, everywhere, all at once.”

Your TOP priorities.

A solid approach is to pick goals that beat what you did last year, but are still realistic enough that you can cross them off and do a tiny victory dance in your kitchen like you just won an Olympic medal in “answering emails.” Get specific! Bonus points for measurable (realistic – yes, we’ll say it again) goals.

Think:

• “Increase revenue” becomes “Increase revenue by 10% by focusing on our top 2 services”

• “Grow social media” becomes “Post 3 times per week consistently and increase engagement by 15%”

• “Improve retention” becomes “Increase repeat customers by launching a quarterly email campaign”

Quick gut check: If you cannot explain the goal in one sentence, it is not a goal. It is a TED Talk outline. And you do not have time for that.

2) Define Clear Steps

Execution lives on the ground where your inbox is full and someone is always asking, “Do you have 5 minutes?” (They do not want 5 minutes. They want your whole afternoon. Be strong.)

Once you pick a goal, break it into manageable actions.

Ask:

• What has to happen monthly to hit this?

• What are the first 2 or 3 steps we can take in January?

• Who owns it, meaning who is responsible beyond “keeping an eye on it”?

Example:

Goal: “Launch an email marketing program”

Clear steps:

• Choose a platform and clean up the mailing list you created in 2021 (good intentions, no follow through, iconic)

• Build 3 templates: newsletter, promo, event

• Commit to 1 email per month (see, not scary, not a personality shift)

• Assign a person responsible, not “we will all help” because that is how things quietly die

Now it is not a wish. It is a plan. A real plan. The kind that does not require caffeine and denial to execute.

3) Set Metrics for Success

We love a vibe. But vibes do not tell you if something is working.

Pick 1 to 3 simple metrics per goal. Nothing fancy. Nothing that requires a PhD in analytics. Just enough to track progress and make decisions without guessing based on “it feels like it’s doing well.”

Examples:

• Revenue, profit margin, average order size

• Leads, inquiries, conversion rate

• Email open rate and click rate

• Website traffic to a key page

• Output goals like posts per week, videos per month, blogs per quarter

Then set a simple rhythm:

• Monthly check in: What moved? What did not? What is blocking us?

• Quarterly reset: Keep it, tweak it, or cut it, meaning not everything gets to come with us into Q2. Some ideas are seasonal. Some are just delusional. (Note – cutting something doesn’t mean you failed.)

The real secret: simplicity equals momentum.

When your plan is straightforward, your team knows what matters, decisions get easier, and you stay consistent. Consistency compounds.

Your 2026 plan does not need to be perfect.

It just needs to be executable in real life between meetings, customer needs, and whatever new crisis the universe schedules for Tuesday.

Because the goal is not to create the most impressive plan.

The goal is to create the plan you actually DO.