How to Turn Last Week’s Insight Into a Sustainable 2026 Plan

Hey Coach,

Last week, we talked about why December is your secret weapon. 

Not a month just focused on family and downtime.
But one of the most strategically important times to reflect on the fall, spot patterns, and design a more sustainable coaching and recruiting year in 2026. 

If you missed it or want to reread it, you can find last week’s article (and all previsous articles) here: https://www.busy.coach/blog 

If you did the work last week, you took time to reflect and gather insight.
You answered some hard questions.
You probably saw patterns you already felt but had never written down. 

That work matters to your future success. 

But insight alone does not change anything.
What you do with it does. 

Today, I want to show you how to turn what you learned last week into a plan that actually holds up through the chaos of 2026. 

Not a complicated plan.
A sustainable one. 

Step 1: Choose One Direction, Not Ten Goals 

This is where most good planning breaks down and where most coaches get stuck. 

They look at their answers and think,
“I need to fix everything.” 

You get overwhelmed… and then do nothing. 

I know this feeling well. 

If I’m being honest, this past year was a real struggle for me in many ways. I was overwhelmed by everything I wanted to fix. My energy, my focus, my routines, my consistency, and a lot of things about work. I could see the problems clearly, but I wasn’t actually changing anything. 

There were too many things to do. I felt pulled in a million different directions. And instead of making progress, I procrastinated on all of it. 

It weighed on me and made me feel even worse, because I knew I was capable of more. 

I hit a breaking point, took a step back, and asked myself a question I ask my clients all the time: 

“If one thing was better in 2026, what would make everything else easier?” 

For me, the answer wasn’t a surprise. 

Even though there were a lot of work-related things I wanted to change, the shift I needed to make to get everything else back on track had nothing to do with work at all. And yet, changing this one thing had a massive impact on how I showed up at work. 

The one change I committed to was getting back to the gym three to four days a week. 

As work got busier and I spent more time driving my kids everywhere, working out slowly stopped being a priority. I kept telling myself I would get back to it when things slowed down. They never did. 

Once I made that one change and started to prioritize working out again, everything else became easier. 

My energy improved, which allowed me to get things done faster.
My mood evened out.
My focus sharpened.
I started eating better.
I slept better. 

Nothing else with work changed first.
But everything else started improving because of that one decision. 

Once I saw that pattern in my own life, the lesson became obvious. 

When you’re overwhelmed, the problem is rarely effort.
It’s focus. 

Trying to fix everything at once creates paralysis.
Choosing one direction creates momentum. 

That is the exact same mistake I see coaches make every year. 

They want better recruits, better communication, better staff alignment, better time management, better results. All good goals. But when everything becomes a priority, nothing actually changes. 

The coaches who get ahead are not the ones who do more.
They are the ones who choose the right thing to do first. 

That is why this question matters so much: 

“If one thing was better in 2026, what would make everything else easier?” 

Answer that honestly, and something shifts. 

You stop reacting.
You stop spinning.
You start building. 

That one answer becomes your anchor for the year. 

For most coaches, that one direction usually lives in one of these areas: 

• communication
  • recruiting
  • clarity with staff
  • time structure
  • energy management

Circle one. 

You’re not ignoring everything else.
You’re choosing the lever that makes everything else easier to manage. 

That becomes your anchor for the year. 

Step 2: Win the Month Before You Try to Win the Year 

A sustainable year is built one month at a time, not all at once. 

Ask yourself: 

“What does progress on this one direction look like in the next 30 days?” 

Not perfection.
Not a total overhaul. 

Just progress. 

One month.
One focus. 

This is how coaches stop feeling behind and start feeling in control. 

This becomes your monthly focus. 

Everything else still happens.
This is simply what gets intentional attention. 

Step 3: Turn the Month Into a Simple Weekly Target 

Now zoom in. 

Ask: 

“If this month went well, what would I be doing consistently each week?” 

Keep it simple. 

One or two weekly behaviors to prioritize.
That’s it. 

If your plan feels heavy or complicated, it won’t last.
Sustainable coaches build plans they can keep on hard weeks, not perfect ones. 

Step 4: Win the Day With One Non-Negotiable 

Finally, bring it down to today. 

Ask: 

“What is the one thing I can do today that supports my weekly target?” 

One action.
One win. 

Some days that might be: 

• writing a better message
  • following up with clarity
  • planning tomorrow before you leave
  • saying no to something that drains you

That one action compounds. 

By prioritizing the one thing, everything else you need to work on becomes easier to handle. 

Win enough days, and the week takes care of itself.
Win enough weeks, and the month moves forward.
Win enough months, and the year looks completely different. 

The Sustainable Loop 

Here’s the rhythm to remember: 

Clarity → Direction → Daily Action → Review → Adjust 

No guilt.
No panic resets.
No starting over every January. 

Just steady, intentional progress you can actually maintain. 

This is how coaches move from feeling reactive to feeling in control.
This is how you build confidence in your process.
This is how you become the kind of coach who leads with clarity instead of stress. 

Next week, we’ll continue building on this so your plan stays flexible, realistic, and sustainable once the season ramps back up. 

You’ve already done the hard part. 

Now let’s make it work. 

If you'd like to set up a call to walk through this planning process with me, book a call here: https://calendly.com/busy-coach

Win the day, 

Mandy Green

Here’s how Busy Coach can help you leverage your time and resources:

 To leverage your time: High Performance Coach and Recruiter 
 

 To leverage your staff: The Assistant Coach Accelerator
 

 To leverage your recruiting system: Recruiting Made Simple 
 

 To stay consistent on social media: Social Story Recruiting
 

 To plan with clarity and focus: The Busy Coach Planner — grab one here and start 2025 fresh, organized, and dialed in.