Don't Drift Into Another Year. Design One!

Don’t Drift Into Another Year. Design One.

Most people don’t actually plan a year.
They survive one… and then stumble into the next.

January arrives with good intentions, vague resolutions, and a quiet hope that things will somehow be different this time. But hope isn’t a strategy. And hashtags aren’t a plan.

If you want 2026 to feel meaningfully different — calmer, clearer, more aligned — the work doesn’t start on January 1.
It starts now, with honesty, reflection, and deliberate choices.

Step one: an honest year audit

Before you rush forward, you need to look back — properly.

Not the Instagram-highlight-reel version of the year. The real one.

Ask yourself:

• What were the three biggest wins of the year?

• What were the three biggest lessons (including the uncomfortable ones)?

• What consistently drained your energy?

• What consistently gave you energy?

This isn’t about judgement or self-criticism. It’s about truth. Because patterns repeat unless you notice them. And clarity is the foundation of change.

Close the loops you’re carrying

Unfinished projects, avoided conversations, delayed decisions — these don’t just sit quietly in the background. They leak energy.

Before stepping into a new year, it’s worth asking:

• What still needs finishing?

• What conversations have I been avoiding?

• What decisions am I procrastinating on?

• What needs to be completed… and what needs to be consciously archived?

Mental clarity often comes less from doing more and more from finally closing what’s already open.

Reset your relationships

The people around you shape your reality more than almost anything else.

Take stock:

• Who genuinely supported you this year?

• Where are boundaries being crossed?

• Which conversations need courage?

• Which connections need care… and which need distance?

Designing your life also means designing who has access to your time, energy, and attention.

Get your body back on side

Your goals don’t exist in isolation from your health.

Before you plan lofty ambitions:

• Is your body supported?

• Is your sleep working for you or against you?

• Are you fuelling yourself with intention or convenience?

You don’t need a full transformation overnight — just enough structure to stop sabotaging yourself before the year even starts.

Face the money reality

This is where many people flinch — but avoiding the numbers doesn’t make them go away.

Ask:

• What did I actually earn?

• What did I actually spend?

• Where did money leak without intention?

• What’s a realistic, values-aligned financial goal for the year ahead?

No shame. Just data. You can’t improve what you won’t measure.

Curate your digital environment

What you consume shapes how you think.

If your feeds are full of noise, comparison, outrage, or distraction, your nervous system never really gets a break.

Consider:

• What needs unfollowing?

• Who sharpens your thinking?

• What content makes you calmer, braver, more focused?

This is about designing your inputs, not just your outputs.

Now — and only now — design the year

Here’s where most people start. And it’s why most plans fail.

A better approach:

• Choose three meaningful goals (not thirty)

• Break them into quarterly milestones

• Identify the first action for each

• Schedule what matters early

• Build tracking systems that keep you honest

Planning takes a couple of hours.
Winging it wastes months.

If you are not yet a client, this is where Foundations comes in. If you are already working with me, then bring your audit and plan to the next coaching session, or shoot me an email beforehand so we can hit the ground running.

The Foundations Program exists for people who don’t want another year of accidental living.

It’s not about hustle.
It’s not about vague motivation.
It’s about creating a solid base — mentally, emotionally, practically — so everything else has somewhere stable to stand.

Inside Foundations, we:

• Audit your year honestly (without self-flagellation)

• Identify what to repeat, what to stop, and what to redesign

• Use strengths-based insight to understand how you actually work

• Turn reflection into clear priorities

• Build simple systems for momentum and accountability

• Design a year that reflects your values, not someone else’s expectations

Most people wait until they’re burnt out, stuck, or frustrated before asking for help.

Foundations is for people who want to intervene earlier — who recognise that wanting more clarity, growth, and alignment is not a problem to fix, but a signal to listen to.

Don’t start from zero

Most people will hit January 1 with:

• No plan

• No systems

• No preparation

Just hope and good intentions.

You don’t have to be one of them.

A bigger life doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s designed — thoughtfully, honestly, and with support.

If this resonates, Foundations might be the right place to start.

And if nothing else, let this be the year you stop drifting…
and start choosing.

Happy New Year - James xoxo