How to set an impact plan for 2026

Tips from Social Enterprise Champion, Sally Irwin, for social enterprises looking at their impact. Published 23 February 2026.

Step 1: Set Your North Star for 2026

Before goals, before metrics, before to-do lists – you need a North Star.

Your North Star is one clear statement that guides how you lead, make decisions, and show up across the year. It anchors your actions when things get noisy. You are probably used to setting your North Star for your organisation – but what about you as a leader – let’s give that a go!

It might sound like:

• “Lead with clarity and calm to build a sustainable, high-performing organisation.”

• “Shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive system-building.”

This isn’t about perfection – it’s about direction.

When your year gets busy (and it will), your North Star becomes the filter for decisions that matter.

Step 2: Define Your Intentions – Not Just Your Goals

One of the biggest planning mistakes leaders make is jumping straight to goals without setting intentions.

Intentions define how you want to lead and what success feels like across three critical areas:

• Personal Leadership – How do you need to show up differently this year?

• Your Business / Organisation – What must be fortified to support sustainable performance?

• Your Impact – Where will your leadership create value beyond short-term results?

This shifts planning from “doing more” to leading better – and it creates alignment between performance, people, and purpose.

Step 3: Choose 3–5 Annual Rocks That Truly Move the Dial

If everything is a priority, nothing is.

Here are 4 key tips for setting your Annual Rocks - the 3–5 big goals that, if achieved, will make 2026 a success. Not incremental tweaks – but meaningful, high-impact shifts.

TIP 1: Set goals that are High-Impact Focus

Leaders are moving away from long, competing to-do lists and towards 3–5 non-negotiable goals that create the greatest lift across business performance, people, and personal leadership.

The question isn’t “What could we do?”
It’s “What are the 1–3 decisions or actions that would materially change the year?”

TIP 2: Link Goals to a Success System - Goals don’t fail because of lack of ambition – they fail because they’re disconnected from reality.

The strongest organisations now link every major goal to a clear success system that considers:

• Strategy and direction

• Capacity and resourcing

• Leading indicators (not just lagging metrics)

• Culture, capability and leadership health

When goals have a clear line of sight to business viability and leadership capacity, execution improves – and surprises reduce.

TIP 3: Plan at Three Speeds: Horizon, Rhythm and Habit
Top-performing leaders are planning across three interconnected timeframes:

• Horizon goals – 12–24 month outcomes that define where you’re heading (your ROCKS)

• Rhythm goals – 90-day priorities that create momentum

• Habit or behaviour goals – repeatable actions that embed change

This creates both strategic direction and day-to-day traction – without relying on heroic effort.

TIP 4: Connect Goals to Meaning and Your ‘Why’
Neuroscience is clear: goals linked to identity, meaning and emotion have a 2–3x higher execution rate.

Leaders are increasingly naming goals that feel like a must, not a should. Goals anchored in purpose are easier to sustain – especially under pressure.

When goals connect to who you are as a leader, not just what you do, commitment deepens.

The Bottom Line - Great goals don’t just sound good in January.
They are focused, resourced, meaningful and designed to work in the real world.

When goals are anchored to purpose, supported by systems, and paced for capacity, leaders don’t just achieve more – they lead better.

Step 4: Create Capacity with Anti-Goals

This is where many leaders feel real relief.

Anti-Goals are the things you will stop doing to create space for what matters most. Because new goals without subtraction lead straight to burnout.

Ask yourself:

• What am I over-committing to?

• What no longer serves my strategy?

• What am I tolerating that’s draining energy?

Anti-goals focus on what you want to eliminate to free up capacity.
E.g., No more 90-minute meetings, stop undercharging or reduce people-dependence on the founder

Ask: “What will I stop doing in 2026 that creates the most value?”

Step 5: Lock in a 90-Day Focus

Big goals fail without short-term traction.

Your 90-Day Focus turns intention into action by identifying 3–4 concrete priorities for the first quarter. This is where momentum is built – and confidence follows.

Think:

• What must happen in the next 90 days to set the year up well?

• What is the minimum viable progress that gets this moving?

Progress beats perfection – every time.

Step 6: Reflect Before You Reset

Before you rush into the year, pause.

Reflect on:

• What you’re proud of from the last year

• What you’ll do differently

• What you’re consciously letting go of

Reflection is how leaders learn faster and lead wiser.

Step 7: Choose Your Words to Live By

Finally, choose one or two words that will define your year.

Words like Focus, Momentum, Courage, Intention or Reset become quiet accountability partners – reminding you how you want to lead when pressure rises.

Small practice. Big impact.