Looking back and ahead - 12 reflective prompts to set achievable goals for business and life in 2026
By Kim Kiel, High-ticket Sales and Messaging Expert and Member of The Prosper Network
The end of the year can feel like a whirlwind, especially for entrepreneurs sandwiched in the squeeze of life.
Between wrapping up loose ends at work, closing a few final sales, and trying to create magic for our whole family (young and old), the holiday chaos pulls us in every direction.
Maybe you’re heading into 2026 feeling dishevelled, discombobulated and disorganized (just me?!)?
As we wind down 2025 and unwrap fresh 2026 calendars to look toward the year ahead, it’s a good time to pause and reflect.
Reflection helps us uncover the wisdom of the past year and set intentions for what's to come.
Here are 12 prompts to help you honour your wins, release what didn’t serve you, and set intentions for the year ahead.*
Make yourself a cuppa, grab your fave journal pen, light a candle or cozy fire, and settle into a comfy spot to ask yourself these questions.
Reflective Journal Prompts for 2026
Prompt 1: What were your biggest wins in 2025? Think about your favourite moments over the year. Another way to explore this is to ask what you are grateful for in 2025? List your gratitudes, wins, and celebrations for life and business.
Prompt 2: What worked in 2025 - what do you want to KEEP doing in 2026?
Prompt 3: What do you want to STOP doing? What do you want less of in the coming year? (in your personal life and your business)
Prompt 4: What do you want to add INTO your business or life? What do you want MORE of?
Prompt 5: What are you going to do in 2026 to care for yourself?
Prompt 6: What would make 2026 amazing for you and your business? Why?
Prompt 7: We're in a time of incredible abundance and opportunity. The universe is limitless with potential outcomes and possibilities. More resources are available for you to tap into than ever before. From this place of limitlessness: what could be possible for you in 2026? If you knew you couldn’t fail, what is the biggest, boldest, raddest vision you have for yourself and your business?
Once you’ve spent time reflecting, dreaming and visioning, it’s time to set some goals and next steps. We’re going to get a little more nitty gritty.
Prompt 8: What are your specific business goals this year? (Ex: Increase sales into a course, into a mastermind, fill your 1:1 client calendar, grow your team, grow authority, decrease costs). List out your goals for 2026.
Prompt 9: What support do you need to achieve those goals and make 2026 amazing for you and your business? (Ex. business coaching, community, networking, tech support, marketing, sales)
Prompt 10: Keeping your biggest, boldest, raddest vision of yourself in mind, what are 1 or 2 PRIORITIES for the next 3 months?
Between now and the next quarter, what do you need to happen to move toward hitting your goals? What steps do you need to take to move toward your goals? You’ll have to reverse engineer to find out what to do first and then next.
Prompt 11: Given your 3 month priority business and life goal(s), where should you focus your time, energy and budget? Consider:
Visibility and Marketing: Nurturing your current email list, growing your email list, getting in front of partner audiences, speaking on stages, focusing on local business before scaling out online, hosting events.
Leads and Sales: running ads, hosting events (webinars), joining communities, improving conversions, perfecting sales calls.
Systems and Support: timeblocking, project management, getting an assistant, marketing/tech/financial support, new tech platforms
Support with the household and personal goals: setting up meal planning, meal delivery service, housekeeper, laundry service, carpooling for kids activities, therapy or self-care sessions booked, fitness programs
Prompt 12: Add it to your calendar. Take some time to add tasks or events to your calendar.
Block time for thinking/planning/doing in your business.
Block time for client calls and work.
Add your self-care appointments (doctors, therapy, yoga, fitness, massage, facial, walks)
Get your kids’ school holidays and activity schedule locked in for the quarter or the year
Add your parents’ medical appointments and need
Add in anything else that will help you move closer to your goals and create the biggest, boldest, raddest vision you have for yourself!
Don’t forget to revisit these reflective prompts throughout the year.
Keep in mind, you don’t have to take action on everything at once. These prompts are meant to guide you back to clarity at your own pace. I return to them throughout the year with clients inside my messaging incubator, Pivot to Premium, quarterly. They offer steady direction and reflection throughout the seasons of life.
Growth accelerates when you’re surrounded by women who understand the path you're walking. Inside The Prosper Network, you’ll find a community of women entrepreneurs with diverse identities, backgrounds, and lived experiences, all building businesses that honour both ambition and real life.
If you’re looking for a place where your goals are held, your leadership is seen, and your vision is nourished, I’d love for you to join me inside The Prosper Network.
* I want to shout out a couple folks who inspired some of the prompts and questions: Kara Lowentheil, who shared her reflective practice on her podcast Unf*ck Your Brain a few years ago, and Jenifer Horvath a certified coach I’ve had the pleasure of working with.
Kim Kiel is a high-ticket sales and messaging expert who helps women entrepreneurs sell premium offers with more ease and less stress. For more tips and strategies on entrepreneurship and marketing, subscribe to the ill communication podcast.
Learn more & connect with Kim:
kimkiel.com | LinkedIn