Better Never Stops: It’s Time to Business Plan

Every October I shift gears – it’s time to slow down, take stock and intentionally plan what’s next. Both my business and my life are up for grabs (so to speak), because they are so intrinsically intertwined that it is impossible to pull them apart. My life fuels the creativity and drive behind my work and my work makes my life more fulfilling, focused and funded.

My annual planning process follows the same rhythm:

1. I reflect on the year to date and the ‘word’ I chose as my North Star to guide my year – did my word work and was I true to it; what products have worked best/ worst; what products/ clients have I loved most; have I lived my best personal life; are my relationships where I want them to be; is my physical and mental health where I want them to be; am I happy; am I a good person; how have I shown up in my life and in my business?
2. I map my products, retire what needs to be retired and set targets for the rest.
3. I choose my one ‘word’ to guide the following year.
4. I dream up one new business experiment to bring my one new ‘word’ to life.

Clarity, Curiosity, and Growth  

My P&L is picked over with a fine tooth comb and, in addition to slicing and dicing the dollars, I ask myself what truly moved my ‘joy needle’:

• *What worked brilliantly?
• *What energised me?
• *What drained my energy?
• *Which products felt aligned and which did not?
• *Am I still building a business and life that excite me?

Reflection takes honesty and so I never do this process alone – because let’s be honest, sometimes I lie to myself. I have my cadre of trusted business women who I rely on for their honesty and to keep me on the straight and narrow (like the time they very appropriately talked me out of writing a tell all book about finding love in mid-life…), I present my numbers (they do the same) and I ask for their complete honesty. And sometimes that can sting. But it’s worth it. Their answers, my financials, and my own brutal introspection show where I got it right, where I got it wrong and where I completely (but only temporarily) lost my mind.

Reflection #1 – this one stings  

My word for 2025 was ‘Now’. I chose it because I wanted to be more present and focussed on today and less focused on chasing what was ‘Next.’ The intention of the word ‘Now’ was to ground me in what already was, to be a powerful reminder and incentive to enjoy, relish and luxuriate in the moment.

Did it work? No.

While I did notice a little more of the everyday magic, in all honesty I have never been good at clearing my mind, lying on a yoga mat and finding peace, smelling the roses etc, and so living in the moment was always going to be challenging. As a chronic goal setting, overthinking planner – it was never going to work.

Moreover, ‘Now’ didn’t really light me up or contain any magic juice that mysteriously moved me forward. Sure, awareness came – kind of, but momentum plateaued. Being present matters, but I missed the spark of progress and I often cheated and kept falling back into my ‘Next’ mindset.

So all in all, a bit of a failure. My lesson – choose a better word.

Reflection #2 – this one sings   

My product experiment for 2025 was a massive joy and win for me. I decided to be brave and to share more of my Life List/ midlife reinvention story online – to try and grow my social media community a little. I started the year with under 2000 followers on Instagram and a little more than that on Facebook. I didn’t even have a TikTok account and had no idea how to use one.

Opening up publicly about being a midlife woman, empty nesting, designing and living my best life, buying a palazzo in Sicily with my partner, downsizing and moving into an apartment in the city and so on, was daunting at first. But now I’m hooked. The angry trolls aside (there are a few folk out there who seem to think I am a rich, old American with very loose sexual morals – none of which is true…), the support and enthusiasm my posts have received have blown me away. Something clicked. Midlife women (and many men) resonated. My audience has grown fast, organically, and with a deep connection.

As I write this I have just over 115,000 followers. By the time you read this I am sure it will be more. Somewhere between posts about business lessons, buying $6 towels at K-mart and renovating a Sicilian palazzo, I became – very unexpectedly and quite probably accidentally – a midlife influencer. Who would have thought? (Follow me @Katechristieloves on IG and @katechristieloves on FB!).

The social media experiment taught me that when business and life align authentically, that’s where the real magic juice happens. Sharing my story gave people permission to look at their own Life List goals and dreams differently. And it reminded me that when you create from a place of joy and truth and intention to inspire, the right people find you.

My Word for 2026: A ‘Better’ choice  

For 2026 a new word found me [almost] effortlessly: Better.

‘Better’ feels right. ‘Better’ is action led, hopeful, and dynamic. ‘Better’ is a word in motion – bringing with it a powerful sense of momentum. After a year of ‘Now’ (ho hum) – a word rooted in presence, I wanted a word rooted in progress. To be fair, my partner very much helped me to find my word. Thank you darling – you make life better.

Plus, being a bit of a wordsmith, I love that the word ‘Better’ is a zero-derivation word – it changes its part of speech (like a noun to a verb) without changing its form:

Better as a verb: to improve, to evolve, to strengthen[Text Wrapping Break]Better as an adjective: of a higher quality, more meaningful, more intentional[Text Wrapping Break]Better as an adverb: how I show up, how I lead, how I live

And better still – ‘Better never stops’. With ‘Better’, there’s no finish line – only momentum and forward movement, be it incremental or monumental. ‘Better’ doesn’t require perfection, it simply invites constant growth. And that’s what I love about it. In both business and life, ‘Better’ will hold me accountable to keep refining, tweaking, pushing, progressing, championing, growing, inspiring.

‘Better’ is also my reminder that things in my life and in my business don’t have to undergo a complete overhaul to be profoundly improved. Sometimes it’s just one small shift – done a little ‘better’, that changes everything. And that feels good.

My experiment for 2026: One to Many  

While I will keep being myself on social media (only ‘Better’…), my product experiment for 2026 is to turn my 1:1 Time Management Business Coaching program into a recorded, on‑demand, one‑to‑many program for entrepreneurs  and business owners. It will allow me to support more people, at a lower price point, in more places, in multiple time zones, at their pace, and at any stage of their business time management journey. Supporting entrepreneurs and business owners everywhere to create more time and freedom to design their own best business/life.

It feels very right – making my expertise more scalable, sustainable, and accessible. Plus, it will give me back more of my own precious time to invest in continuing to make my own Life List happen.

More reach. More freedom. More flow. That’s ‘better’.

Your Next Steps  

You have 2 months to plan for 2026. Business and life don’t automatically improve just because the calendar resets. They get better because you take the time to pause, look back, and make deliberate choices about what comes next.

Here are 4 simple steps you can take right now:

1. Reflect on 2025 – both work and life.
2. Map your products and services. Retire what’s run its course (or which takes too much of your time, energy or freedom), and set your 2026 targets for the products and services you will retain.
3. Choose one word to be your guiding North Star for 2026.
4. Create one new business experiment/ product/ service to bring that word to life.

Business and life planning isn’t about writing another list of resolutions. It’s about making intentional, well‑considered moves that support the life you want to live and the business you want to build. It’s all about purposeful design. Improvement won’t happen in one monumental leap. Improvement will happen in the simple steps, the daily decisions and the progress forward.

Better isn’t a destination – it’s a daily practice. And better never stops.

Written by Kate Christie. Have you read?
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