Why leaders need space to think NOW before 2026 arrives

As the year draws to a close, many business owners feel the same mix of pressure and uncertainty. It’s easy to blame everything on ‘Rachel from Accounts’ but the reality is that there always has and always will be external challenges to navigate that you don’t agree with. 

I am not saying it is easy. It rarely is running a small business but blaming others when you can and should be cracking on won’t get you anywhere. 

There’s a sense with many I speak to that 2026 will be big, demanding, competitive and full of potential. If you can get yourself and your business into the right headspace, you can capitalise. 

But that pressure often sits on top of something else. A lack of clarity: 

• Uncertainty about what the business really stands for 

• Uncertainty about who you really want to serve 

• Uncertainty about the message that should define you 

• Uncertainty about what “success” even looks like for you in the next 12 months 

From my experience, it’s rarely because as a leader you lack ambition or skill. 
It’s usually because you are exhausted from reacting, delivering and keeping everything moving. Spinning every plate. 

When you’re always buried in firefighting and tackling the ever-increasing to-do list, it’s hard to see where you’re actually heading.

Many leaders don’t plan enough because:

• The day to day never quietens enough to think

• Planning feels overwhelming when clarity is missing

• The vision in their head never becomes a shared message

• They fear getting it wrong

• Strategy time gets replaced by “urgent” tasks

• Stepping back feels indulgent when the pressure is high

Yet the cost of not planning is emotional as much as operational.

Your team feels directionless. Your marketing feels scattered. Your opportunities feel harder to win. Your decisions feel heavier.

And as the leader, you feel alone, navigating the future without a road map.

Taking time out to plan isn’t about productivity.

It’s about grounding yourself before the demands of a new year arrive.  It’s about refining your proposition so you’re not guessing.

It’s about sharpening your messaging so you stop blending in.  It’s about reconnecting with your own leadership so you can guide others confidently.

2026 will be challenging for sure, but it will favour the leaders who enter it with crystal clear clarity instead of noise.

Isn’t it about time you stepped back long enough to truly think?

What’s stopping you?