The challenge is that most business owners know something needs to change, but they don’t know where to start. “I need a clearer strategy” or “I want 2026 to feel more profitable” are real intentions, but they’re not objectives. And without objectives, you can’t break down the work into achievable steps. You end up spinning your wheels, feeling busy but not making real progress.
That’s where this framework comes in. It’s designed to take you from vague intentions to clear, actionable objectives, the kind that actually guide your decisions and help you feel like you’re moving forwards.
Why Vague Intentions Don’t Work
Here’s the thing about vague intentions: they feel good in the moment, but they don’t guide action. “Be more profitable” or “Grow the business” are aspirations, not objectives. They don’t tell you what to do on Monday morning. They don’t help you say no to distractions. They don’t give you a way to measure progress. When your intention is vague, you end up making decisions based on what’s urgent rather than what matters. You stay reactive. And after a few weeks, the momentum from January fades, and you’re back to where you started. Clear objectives are different. They’re specific enough to guide decisions, but simple enough to remember. They create a line of sight from what you’re doing today to where you want to be by the end of the year.The Five-Step Framework: From Intention to Objective
This framework works because it takes the pressure off trying to figure everything out at once. Instead, it breaks the work into manageable steps that build on each other.Step 1: Name Your Intention Clearly
Start by getting specific about what you actually want to change. Not the vague version, the real version. Instead of “Be more profitable,” try: “Understand exactly where my margins are and price with confidence.” Instead of “Grow the business,” try: “Increase revenue from new client work without burning out my team.” Instead of “Get better at commercial decisions,” try: “Stop signing contracts I don’t fully understand.” Your intention should feel important enough to matter, but specific enough that you can picture what it looks like when you’ve achieved it.Step 2: Define What Success Looks Like by End of 2026
Now, imagine it’s December 2026 and you’ve made real progress on this intention. What’s different? What can you see, measure, or feel? If your intention is to understand your margins and price with confidence, success might look like: “I know exactly what my three main service lines cost to deliver. I’ve updated my pricing to reflect the market and my value. I feel confident quoting new clients without second-guessing myself.” If it’s about reducing team burnout, success might be: “We’ve brought on a contractor for admin work. We’ve set boundaries around evening emails. My team feels like they have capacity again.” Be concrete. What would tell you, in December, that you’ve actually moved the needle?Step 3: Work Backwards to Find Your First Move
This is where it gets practical. Don’t try to jump straight to December. Instead, ask: “What has to happen before that?” If your success is “I know my margins and feel confident pricing,” what has to be true first? Maybe it’s “I’ve done a proper financial review and understand where my costs actually are.” Before that? “I’ve gathered all my financial data in one place.” Before that? “I’ve blocked time to sit down and do this properly.” Work backwards until you find your very first move, the thing you could do this month that would create momentum.Step 4: Build Your Stepping Stones (3-5 Concrete Steps)
Now you have your first move. From there, build out 3-5 concrete steps that take you from where you are now to where you want to be by December. These aren’t vague milestones. They’re specific actions with rough timelines. For example, if your intention is to understand margins and price with confidence:- January: Gather all financial data; do a full cost-of-delivery review for your three main services.
- February-March: Update your pricing to reflect actual costs plus your margin target; communicate the change to current clients.
- April onwards: Test new pricing with new client quotes; gather feedback and adjust if needed.
- By June: Feel confident in your new pricing; have signed three new clients at the updated rate.
- By December: Pricing feels normal; you’re tracking margins monthly; profitability has improved.
Step 5: Add Accountability and Check-Ins
Finally, decide how you’ll keep this real. Will you review progress monthly? Will you tell a trusted peer or mentor what you’re doing? Will you block time each month to check in with yourself? The best objective in the world doesn’t work if you never look at it again. Build in a way to stay accountable, whether that’s a monthly review, a check-in call with a mentor, or a simple note in your calendar.When to Go Deeper: The Strategic Reset Service
This five-step framework works brilliantly for getting clarity on your own. But sometimes, a business needs more than a framework, it needs expert perspective. If your intentions are complex, or if you’re facing a bigger strategic shift (a pivot, a scaling challenge, or uncertainty about direction), The Strategic Reset from our Pivot Points suite is designed exactly for this moment. It’s a focused, director-level session that helps you move from confusion to a clear, confident plan with real next steps. In recognition of how tough 2025 was, and to support businesses starting 2026 on the right foot, we’re offering 10% off any Pivot Points session booked by 16th January. This is a genuine investment in clarity and momentum for your year ahead. Find out more about The Strategic Reset and other Pivot Points services.Your 2026 Starts Now: The Power of Clarity and Momentum
Here’s what we know: business owners who set clear objectives and break them into achievable steps feel more in control. They make better decisions. They move faster. And they actually stick to their plans because the steps are small enough to feel doable. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need a clear direction and a first move. This framework gives you both. The question isn’t whether you have time to do this. It’s whether you have time not to. A year without clear objectives is a year of spinning wheels. A year with them is a year of real progress.Ready to Start? Here’s Your Next Move
You can use this framework today, right now, if you want to. Grab a notebook or open a document, and work through the five steps. Give yourself an hour, maybe two. By the end, you’ll have something you didn’t have this morning: a clear objective and a path towards it.If you work through it and feel like you need help deepening the work, or if you’re facing a bigger strategic question, that’s exactly what we’re here for. Whether it’s The Strategic Reset to clarify direction, The Profitability Puzzle to understand margins, or Through to the End for exit planning, our Pivot Points services are designed to take this thinking further.
Remember: 10% off any Pivot Points session if you book by 16th January. This is our way of supporting businesses like yours to start 2026 with genuine clarity and confidence. Explore Pivot Points services or book a discovery call.
Your 2026 doesn’t start when you’ve figured everything out. It starts when you decide to be intentional about your direction. So grab that notebook. Work through the framework. And let’s make 2026 the year you move from chaos to clarity.