Business Planning for Coaches: How to Set Life-first Goals for 2026| Ep.72
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Create your Coaching Business Plan for 2026 (the Life-First Way)
If you’ve ever set big business goals in January…
and then felt behind, overwhelmed, or exhausted by March — you’re not alone.
The problem usually isn’t your discipline, your motivation, or even the size of your goals.
Most business plans are built around output — not around real life.
In this post, I’m going to walk you through a simple, life-first process to plan your 2026 business goals so that your coaching business supports your life, instead of consuming it.
This is especially for you if you’re a purpose-led coach who wants freedom, flexibility, and fulfilment and a business that actually pays the bills.
What Is a Life-First Coaching Business?
“Life-first” isn’t a nice slogan or a vision board of working on your laptop by the pool.
A life-first coaching business is one that is strategically designed around your real life:
Your family and relationships
Your health and energy
Your natural rhythms and seasons
Your financial needs and goals
For some coaches, it might look like:
Working school hours and taking school holidays off
Building in location freedom, so work fits around travel
Designing a schedule that honours health needs or energy fluctuations
Working in deep-focus blocks and keeping some days meeting-free
A life-first coaching business is unique to you. There is no one correct version.
The key is this:
You start with your life vision first, and then reverse-engineer your business plan around it.
The 3 Pillars of a Life-First Coaching Business
Before you set your 2026 business goals, you need to understand three core pillars:
Time
Income
Alignment
These pillars become the foundation of your business decisions
Pillar 1: Time – How Do You Actually Want to Work?
Time isn’t just about how many hours you “should” work. It’s about designing your work to fit your real life.
Ask yourself:
How many hours per week do I actually want to work in 2026?
Which days are protected for family, rest, or other commitments?
When do I work best — mornings, afternoons, or a mix?
How much time do I need for:
Client delivery
Marketing
Sales
Admin and behind-the-scenes work?
If your business requires more time than your life can realistically give, burnout is already built into the plan.
Your 2026 goals have to fit inside the container of your time — not the other way around.
Pillar 2: Income – What Does Your Business Need to Provide?
Many business owners end up setting revenue goals as a semi-random number that “sounds good”.
A life-first business asks a different question:
“What do I want in my personal bank account each month — and what does my business need to generate to support that?”
This is where a Profit First type of approach is helpful. You look at:
Your personal income needs
Your business expenses
Your tax obligations
Then you work backwards to find the revenue your business needs to bring in.
Also ask:
What does this income do for my life?
Is it about safety?
Freedom?
Growth?
Does this number stretch me in a healthy way, or completely overwhelm me?
It’s okay for your income goals to stretch you.
It’s not helpful if they ignore your season of life and the phase your business is in.
Pillar 3: Alignment – How Do You Want the Journey to Feel?
Alignment is the most important pillar.
It’s not just about how you’ll feel once you “arrive” at your goal. There will always be a new goal.
It’s about how you feel in the process of building your coaching business.
Reflect on:
How do I want my workdays to feel?
What do I want more of — calm, spaciousness, creativity, connection, fun?
What do I not want to repeat in 2026 — constant rushing, anxiety, chaos, overcommitted weeks?
You don’t just live with the outcome of your business.
You live inside the process, every day.
Defining your alignment values gives you an anchor for decisions:
Which marketing strategies you use
What kind of support you invest in
Which opportunities you say yes or no to
The 3 Phases of Business: Launch, Grow, Scale
Before you set your main 2026 goal, it’s helpful to know which phase of business you’re in:
Launch – Building foundations
Grow – Refining and systemising
Scale – Leveraging and expanding
Phase 1: Launch
You’re in the Launch phase if you are:
Clarifying your niche and messaging
Creating and validating your first signature offer
Learning how to attract and sign clients
Building the basic systems to deliver a great coaching experience
Your main focus here is:
“Get the foundations working and learn what actually works.”
Phase 2: Grow
You’re in the Grow phase if you:
Have an offer that’s working
Have already signed some clients
Want to make your marketing, sales, and systems more efficient
This is where you might:
Create simple email funnels and lead magnets
Refine your messaging
Add repeatable processes
Possibly start experimenting with ads or outsourcing
The focus here is:
“Do more of what works — with better systems and less friction.”
Phase 3: Scale
You’re in the Scale phase if:
You’re at or near capacity with your current model
You want to grow your impact and income without working more hours
At this stage, you might:
Add leveraged offers (group programs, courses, memberships)
Build a small team
Increase automation and improve your client journey
Important: Not everyone needs to scale, and that’s okay.
Your goals should come back to your three pillars: Time, Income, and Alignment.
Step 1: Choose Your One Main Goal for 2026
Now that you know your phase and your pillars, choose one overarching business goal for 2026.
Examples:
Launch and fill your first signature group program
Sign a consistent number of 1:1 coaching clients each month
Stabilise your income at a specific monthly level
Move from 1:1 only into a more leveraged offer model
This goal is your anchor for the year.
Step 2: Run Your Goal Through the 3 Pillars
Take that one big 2026 goal and ask:
Time
How many hours per week will this require?
Does that fit the real life vision I have for 2026?
Income
What personal income does this support?
What revenue does the business need to generate to sustain this?
Alignment
How do I want to feel while I’m working towards this goal?
Does this goal allow for that?
What might need to shift for it to feel more aligned?
Visualise it like a pyramid:
Top: Your main 2026 goal
Middle layer: Time, Income, Alignment
Base: The specific actions and milestones that will get you there
Step 3: Break It Into 90-Day Chunks
A year-long goal can feel vague and overwhelming.
A 90-day plan feels doable.
Why 90 days works:
It’s long enough to create real results
It’s short enough to stay focused and flexible
Start by asking:
Broadly, what would I like to achieve in:
Q1 (Jan–Mar)
Q2 (Apr–Jun)
Q3 (Jul–Sep)
Q4 (Oct–Dec)
Then — and this is key — only go into detail for Q1.
Life happens. You’ll learn, adjust, and refine as you go. You don’t need a perfectly rigid plan for the whole year.
For Q1, get clear on:
What is the core outcome I want?
What actions will move me toward that outcome?
What does consistency look like week-to-week?
Step 4: Ask Two Powerful Questions
Two questions I love (from Tim Ferriss and The One Thing):
1. “What would it look like if this were easy?”
We tend to overcomplicate everything — especially high-achieving, integrity-driven coaches.
This question helps you:
Strip away unnecessary complexity
Let go of perfectionism
See the simplest version of your plan
Ask this about your overall 2026 plan and about your Q1 actions.
2. “What’s the one thing that would make everything else simpler?”
Often, there is one key domino that makes everything else easier:
A clearer offer
A real sales system
Consistent marketing
The right support or mentorship
A simple weekly structure you can actually follow
When you identify that “one thing”, it becomes your top priority.
Step 5: Choose Your Word of the Year for 2026
Once you’ve:
Defined your main 2026 goal
Checked it against Time, Income, and Alignment
Broken it into 90-day chunks
Identified your “one thing”…
Choose a Word of the Year as your anchor.
This word should capture:
How you want 2026 to feel
Who you are becoming
The energy you want to bring into your business
Examples:
Calm
Bold
Grounded
Spacious
Focused
Devoted
Consistent
Use it as:
A decision filter: “Does this feel aligned with my word?”
A reset button when things feel off
A reminder of your life-first values
When Your “One Thing” Is Support & Structure
For many coaches, the honest answer to
“What’s the one thing that would make everything else simpler?”
is:
“Having a clear plan and the right support.”
That might look like:
A structured framework to build your business foundations
A strategy session to get eyes on your 2026 plan
Ongoing 1:1 support through your Launch, Grow, or Scale phase
If you’d love support with your life-first 2026 business plan, you can explore:
The Launch Kit – A complete, life-first system to build your business foundations, signature offer, and core strategy
Strategy Sessions – 90-minute 1:1 deep dives into your plan, offer, and next steps
1:1 Coaching Containers – Tailored support for the Launch, Grow, or Scale phases of your coaching business
Want a Simple 2026 Planning Worksheet?
If you’d like this whole process in Google Doc Planning Template you can fill out,
DM me WORKSHEET on Instagram [@leoniebusinesscoach] and I’ll send it through.
You don’t need a complicated 20-page plan to make 2026 powerful.
You need one clear goal, a life-first foundation… and a plan that you can actually stick to.
Hey There, I’m Leonie
I’m the girl who can’t sit still and loves a good life pivot. Ex-architect turned business owner turned business coach, and a UK expat living in New Zealand. I’m also a travel lover, recovering perfectionist, and life-first advocate. Here, I share simple, spacious strategies to help purpose-led coaches and experts launch, grow, and scale businesses that actually feel fun to run.
THE SPACIOUS BUSINESS BLUEPRINT
Discover the simple 1-page, 7-step roadmap to attract consistent coaching clients, create a spacious strategy, and build a business that works for your life — without the hustle or overwhelm.
