Questions to Align Your Career Goals for 2026 | Year-End Planning for Leaders

As the year winds down, it's time to pause and reflect on what's working and what needs to change. In this episode of The Career Refresh, executive coach Jill Griffin guides you through powerful questions designed to help you realign your career, sharpen your leadership, and set yourself up for success in 2026.

These aren't surface-level questions, they're the kind that make you stop, think, and confront what you've been avoiding. From identifying the one change that could create a ripple effect across your life to auditing your habits like a CEO, this episode will help you cut through the noise and focus on what truly matters.

In this episode, you'll explore:

• What would create the biggest ripple effect if you improved it in 2026
• How to identify what's no longer worth defending in your career or life
• Whether your daily habits actually align with the results you want
• The difference between real progress and just staying busy
• What a competent CEO would immediately eliminate from your schedule
• How to calculate the hidden cost of inaction
• Small, intentional steps you can take now to get ahead in the new year

Whether you're a senior leader, emerging executive, or professional ready for your next chapter, this episode offers the clarity and framework you need to end the year with intention,and start 2026 with momentum.

Perfect for: Leaders, executives, coaches, and ambitious professionals navigating career transitions, strategic planning, or personal leadership development.

Grab your journal, press play, and let's rethink your next chapter together.

Chapters

• 0:00 Why Reflection Beats Hustle
• 1:26 The Strategy Of Intentional Pause
• 2:32 The Ripple Effect Question
• 3:38 Anchor What Stays Constant
• 5:06 Stop Defending What No Longer Fits
• 6:18 Align Habits With Desired Results
• 8:02 Busy Versus Value-Creating Progress
• 9:04 Would You Relive This Year
• 10:26 What A CEO Would Eliminate
• 12:00 The Cost Of Inaction
• 12:37 One Priority To Get Ahead
• 13:24 Focus, Next Steps, And Close

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hey, friends. Welcome back to the Career Refresh. I am your host, Jill Griffin. And I am here to talk to you about closing out the calendar year. Look, you may be on a fiscal, that's fine too. It's always a good time to do some reflection. And I just want to slow things down a little bit. This is not a long to-do list. We're not doing a deep goal setting framework. I want to do something deeper today. I want to ask you a few questions. So it's going to require you to grab that notes app or perhaps a journal. And these are not the kinds of questions that you breeze through and just sort of yes, no, and maybe get through them and forget it. This is the kind that I want you to stop and think and really think through. Huh. Okay. So based on that, what do I actually want here? We're exploring questions to design that are designed to help you reflect, reinvent, reset, and realign as you step into 2026. And again, if you're not planning on the calendar year, I don't care. Do this quarterly. Really pause and think through. So grab your coffee or your tea or something stronger if that's your jam. And I'm going to say, get that journal or that notes app and let's dig in. All right. First question. Well, first strategy. Let's talk about strategy first, right? Reflection really is a strategic advantage, right? It's about being intentional and intentionality. So it's going to help you get clear on what deserves your energy and what's draining it. It's when you have a chance to pause long enough to ask yourself better questions, you have an opportunity then to guess what? Make better decisions. So you stop reacting and you start leading. This is leading your career, your team, the project you're on, aspects of your life, the relationship with your family and friends. This is where you get to step into that leadership role. So as we move through these prompts, I want you to notice which ones land with you and in what way are they landing? Like, whoa, that was a hard question, or huh, I thought that was going to be hard or it really wasn't when I really gave myself a beat to pause and think about it. So getting, also getting curious if anything's making you uncomfortable as you're answering this question, or if you find yourself avoiding a question. That's really where it gives us a moment to get curious, maybe take a breath and see what surfaces. All right. So the first question I have for you is in 2026, what would create the biggest ripple effect? So this could be if you could only improve one thing about yourself or your career, what would create the biggest ripple effect to sort of that rising tides floats all boats, right? What would create the biggest ripple effect across the various areas of your life that you are focusing on? Right. So maybe it's improving your focus, maybe it's boundaries, communication, uh, your energy management, your time management. When you straighten out one area, sometimes other areas really begin to shift. So the thought that I would leave you with to reflect on is that what's the one small consistent action that will have exponential impact, right? What is going to scale, right? So there's that idea of one by one by one. If you take one action and cruise, increase 1% effort, you get 1% better. Doesn't sound like a lot, but over time that starts to multiply and compound. That's where I want you to start with. All right. Next question. What stays constant for you when everything else changes? And these questions are based on a lot of work that I've been doing with my mentor and my own self-reflective work. So really thinking through what's constant when everything else changes. When everyone's talking about change from AI to restructuring to new leadership, market shifts, geopolitical shifts, socioeconomic shifts, shifts, shifts, shifts, shift, shifts, right? There's a better question. What can you prioritize that stays constant no matter what? Your integrity, your values, your creativity, your curiosity, the way you show up for people. That's what I want you to think about. What stays constant. And I'd leave you with a thought that, like, when things feel really chaotic, when you're anchoring on what's constant is going to give you a chance to feel, right? You need to be the architect and anchor in this period, right? You need to anchor in, but also be creating and designing what's next. When you focus on something that's constant, like that anchoring, you have a better chance of showing up with grace and excellence versus like swirl, drama, and panic. Okay. Next question. What is no longer worth defending? Is there a belief, a habit, a relationship that, you know what, you are still protecting and it is not serving you? I am not suggesting that we, you know, cut what can be untied if it's a relationship, but is there something around you that is no longer serving you? Sometimes we outgrow things and we keep defending them out of loyalty or we feel bad. It's our friends from when we grew up, or a friend from college, or someone we're dating or spending a lot of time with. Have we outgrown it? Is there something we need to think through and really get clear on why are we still defending this person-placed thing, idea, belief, habit? It might be based on our old identity. And I want you to think about your leadership identity today. What is the identity that you've built and what are you committed to moving forward? So I would offer you a question that's like really thinking through if growth requires releasing old versions of yourself, what feels safe to release now? What can you release? Is there something that's keeping you small that is time to release? And again, we're not talking about destroying anything. We're just saying, can you untie it? Can we put something on pause for a little bit? All right. Next question. What habits are aligned with your results and the goals that you've set out for yourself? So you can't expect calm and clarity if your calendar is chaos or your workspace is chaos. Um, aspects of your home don't suit you. You can't expect to be calm and peaceful and be able to navigate that if you're surrounded by chaos. You can't expect connection if you're always distracted. I mean, how many times have you been out with friends or family members and people can't put down their phones and yet you're sitting here going, I mean, I've had that happen where I'm at a table and I'm the only one who's not on my phone and I'm like, what's what's happening right now? And I've said, hey friends, can we all put down our phones for a little bit? Because I don't I don't need to sit here by myself, right? So are you looking at daily habits? Are there things that are in your life that you want to save? Are there things you want to say? Are there aspects of things that you're settling for? So really questioning yourself. What are the systems that support your goal? And what are the systems or things that sabotage your goal? Because in this place, there's nothing neutral. We're either supporting or sabotaging. We're either, you know, growing or shrinking. Next question: Are you moving forward or are you just running in circles? Another way of saying, are you growing or shrinking? So progress isn't just about motion, it's also about the direction, right? This is where sometimes people get caught in busy work, right? They're like, well, I'm doing things. It's like, no, you were productive and you were doing things, but were you creating value? Because you could be productive and busy, and you could be productive and adding value, and you want to be productive and adding value. So progress isn't just about being busy, it's about that direction. So asking yourself, am I growing or am I just getting better at being busy? Am I in a space filler? Am I avoiding something? And now I've decided to start deleting out um emails from my email box. Although, on if any of you are on Google Works Suite, you know, they added that cancel manage or manage subscription, which has been really amazing. Just to go delete, delete, delete, delete, delete. Very gives me a lot of joy to keep that clean. So really thinking through, are you growing or are you actually just getting better on being busy? Right. If you think about it through a working uh workout analogy, are you just lifting more reps or are you increasing the weight level and the impact on your body and challenging yourself in a new way? So just be cautious that sometimes momentum can look like movement and sometimes it's not. But you really want to think about is this action or behavior or relationship that you're in, is it actually growing you or is it shrinking you? Question six Would you be grateful or horrified if this year repeated, right? I know for some of you, you're in both camps, right? So here's the thought experiment. If 2025 repeated five times, the same rhythms, same challenges, the same socioeconomic impact, geoeconomic uh geopolitical impact, all the things, same, same, same. If it repeated, how would you feel? How, and I don't mean that you have control over the socioeconomic or the geopolitical. I'm saying your reaction to them, how that those conditions outside of your control, how they impacted your life and work. That's what we mean. If that all repeated, would you be really grateful or would you be like, this is not working for me? Right. And that answer, your answer, is going to tell you whether the path you're on is sustainable or whether you need to think about areas that you can shift. So I would think through, and then maybe it's not a yes or no, maybe it's a little of each. So really think through for your future self what you want to repeat and what needs to move. And ask yourself, yeah, I'd live this year again, or no, I wouldn't, and therefore this is what I need to do accordingly. Next question What would a competent business executive, leader, CEO eliminate from your life? If a no-nonsense businessperson, CEO, executive leader, executive coach, might know one, uh stepped in to your life to run it for a week, what would be the first thing they would eliminate? Are there unnecessary meetings? Is there overcommitment? If you are a freelancer or self-employed or a consultant, are you in scope creep? Are you over-delivering based on what you were supposed to deliver? Are there relationships that are draining you? Is there some wobbleness? Is there some doubt that maybe is described or you that you're not really sure how to describe, right? Is there something going on? Right. So, so a business leader is going to look at the return on energy, not just the return on investment. When I work with nonprofits and go in and help them with their strategic planning, I do a mixture of the strategic planning along with the team dynamics so that if we're not hitting the goal, we're looking at the dynamics. If we need to hit the goals, what's the strategic plan? So when I do that, I look on level of effort versus level of impact. Because a lot of times there's things where they're precious and we have to keep doing this. But when we look at the level of effort something was versus the level of impact, there's an inverse relationship and it's a really big inverse relationship. And that's what you want to get clear of. Is there something that is leaking your energy and you want to audit your time and think about things differently? So I want you to think about that as through the lens of a, you know, really hardcore CEO. Okay. Next, what is the cost of inaction? So we often talk about like how busy we are or the cost of action, but is there a cost to doing nothing? Sometimes there isn't. Most of the time there is. So there's opportunities that you might be missing because you're waiting for the perfect time or the right title or for someone to make an introduction. So I just ask you is there a greater risk of staying where you are versus moving forward? What are you losing by waiting? What are you gaining by moving forward? Really give that some thought. Last question. What could you prioritize right now to get ahead? So in the final weeks of the year, as we're closing out 2025, what could you focus on that would get you ahead in 2026? It doesn't need to be big. This is that one action, 1% better, like that consistent action that needs to be intentional. Maybe it's a difficult conversation, maybe it's a relationship you need to invest in or a skill that you want to hone or something that you've been ignoring. Is there something, a decision that you've been postponing? Again, momentum builds when you start small, one action, one behavior, 1% better, and you stay consistent. So is there something you can start today? All right, friends, of these questions, was there one thing that struck you the most? Was there an area that started to show itself as being consistent as an area of opportunity? What's the one thing that made you pause, that stirred something unforgettable? This is your signal to focus there. So I'm going to tell you to like jot that down or type it out in your notes app and bring that to, you know, your next thought session with yourself. If you're doing any self-coaching for yourself, if you have a mentor, a partner, a team, a coach, those are the things that you want to think through if you need support and think through how are you going to be intentional and start with this one thing that you can move forward. Being in that reflection, being in that place of it's a strategy, it's intelligent, it's being intentional. And that intentionality is what creates the results that you want. It's what separates leaders from achievers, right? Achievers are good. I got it done. That's that busyness. We want to get you into leadership. This is the people who are showing up at all levels and all titles of being a leader and are leading with clarity and intention. So it doesn't need to be a total reinvention. You don't need to blow up all aspects of your life. It's just thinking through reinvention, realignment one question at a time. All right, friends. If today's episode was helpful for you to pause, reflect, I'm going to ask you to share it with a friend. This is how we get the word out, a colleague, a teammate, somebody who's also thinking about their next chapter. And if you want to go deeper, go to my website, JillGriffinCoaching.com, and there are tools and resources and how we could work together. And let's keep the conversation going. Again, I'm Jill Griffin and I appreciate you spending time with me today and on your goals. So until next time, stay in possibility, be intentional, and always be kind. I'll see you soon.