5 Questions to Rethink Your Next Chapter

As we get close to the year's end, I want to slow things down. Not with another goal-setting framework or a longer to-do list, but with something deeper.

Below are 5 questions designed to help you reflect, reset, and lead with more intention before stepping into 2026. These aren’t the kind you breeze through and forget. They’re the kind that make you stop and think, “Wait… what do I actually want next?”

Grab your journal. Or your notes app. Notice which question lands hardest. The one that makes you uncomfortable? Juicy. It may hold the key.

The 5 Questions

1. What would create the most impact? If you could only improve one thing about yourself in 2026, what would have the most impact? Your focus, your boundaries, or your energy management? You don’t have to know how yet. The right answer feels both exciting and a little uncomfortable.

2. Are your habits aligned with your intentions? You can’t expect peace if your calendar is chaos. You can’t expect clarity if you never pause to think. Aligned habits feel supportive and energizing. Misaligned ones drain you.

3. What stays constant when everything changes? When the world feels uncertain, what remains steady in you? Your integrity, your values, your curiosity, or how you treat people? Those are your anchors.

4. What’s no longer worth defending? What belief, habit, or relationship are you still protecting even though it no longer serves you? If it costs energy but gives no growth, it’s probably time to release it.

5. How would the scientist, the artist, and the monk in you approach 2026? The scientist in you experiments and learns. The artist in you imagines and creates. The monk in you pauses and listens. Each has wisdom to offer. Which one needs more space next year?

Your Next Step

Pick the question that made you pause. Write it down. Talk about it with your mentor, coach, or sit with it on a quiet walk. Decide what you’ll do next.

Ready to go deeper? Visit jillgriffincoaching.com for coaching resources, leadership tools, and ways we can work together.