Courage & Clarity – Episode 167: The Ultimate 2026 Business Plan: 4 Gaps Between You and Consistent Revenue

Host: Steph Crowder
Date: December 2, 2025

Overview:

In this episode, Steph Crowder shares her signature approach to annual business planning with an eye on the upcoming year, 2026. Rooted in her popular “Year on the Wall” training, Steph identifies and breaks down the four most common planning gaps that prevent entrepreneurs—especially female founders—from achieving consistent, reliable revenue. With her signature mix of inspiration and tangible strategy, she highlights the importance of reflective, holistic, and identity-based business planning.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power and Personal Origin of “Year on the Wall”

• Steph introduces “Year on the Wall” as a visual business planning methodology she originally created for herself (04:20).
• She emphasizes that mapping out the whole year visually (digital or paper) brings a sense of possibility and clarity:

  “Every time I do it for myself, I just end up feeling like my dreams are actually possible. I’m like, ‘Oh, wow, okay, this can actually come together.’” (14:15)

2. Why Consistent Revenue Eludes Many Entrepreneurs

• Many entrepreneurs—even high earners—struggle because they're stuck thinking “week to week, launch to launch, vibe to vibe” (10:15).
• Truly stable revenue comes from systematic, high-level planning rather than always reacting to immediate demands.

The Four Biggest Business Planning Gaps (16:10–50:55)

Gap 1: Planning Forward Without Looking Back

• Description: Entrepreneurs often rush ahead to plan the next year without reviewing what actually happened in the past year (16:35).
• Key Exercise: Reflect honestly on what worked, what didn’t, and what major life events affected the business.
• Notable quote:

  “You’re not gonna get where you wanna go by hating yourself. … You have to love every part of the way that it’s unfolded for you.” (20:10)

• Danger: Without reviewing data/patterns, you'll inevitably repeat mistakes or fail to recognize momentum already built.
• Takeaway: “If you don’t do this step, you may end up planning 2026 from fantasy instead of reality.” (24:40)

Gap 2: Planning What You’ll Do Before Deciding Who You’ll Be

• Description: Jumping straight to goals and action steps (“the doing”) instead of anchoring them in identity (“the being”) (27:15).
• Key Insight:

  “Planning the doing before the being is actually backwards… If you like the idea of, you know, that turbocharge in Fast and the Furious—this step can be that turbocharge.” (28:10)

• Identity-Level Planning: Foundational work includes defining your vision, a ‘Word of the Year’, and outlining “life buckets” (self, home, relationships, work/wealth).
• Impact:

  “If you’ve had a plan and it’s felt like crap, it’s probably because you skipped the identity work. … The deeper I go into business, the more I see that this is the non-negotiable part, even if it doesn’t sell.” (32:35)

• Result: Planning from identity brings coherence and sustainability; without it, plans feel like a punishment or quickly become rigid and unsupportive.

Gap 3: Planning Launch by Launch Instead of Architecting a Year

• Description: Many even successful entrepreneurs never step back to map launches/promotions for the whole year (35:05).
• Story: Steph recounts a mastermind friend, a multi-six-figure business owner, confessing,

  “‘I never look at my whole year.’ … This friend of mine is not alone at all.” (37:00)

• Consequences of Piecemeal Planning:
  • Creates “feast and famine” instability.
  • Destroys momentum—every launch feels like starting from scratch.
  • Makes it hard to align launches with your personal life, energy, and rest needs.
• Insight:

  “If you don’t know where your launches sit in the next year, things are going to be out of alignment.” (44:50)

• Integration: Steph advocates starting by plotting personal commitments and non-negotiables first—then layering business launches/major projects—so life and business actually fit together.

Gap 4: Creating Content That Doesn’t Build Demand

• Description: Many entrepreneurs post frequent content, but it doesn’t strategically support sales or audience readiness (49:00).
• Explanation:

  “Your content needs to be warming people up. It needs to be shifting their beliefs, building desire, deepening trust, preparing them to buy. … When your content matches your sales arcs… suddenly everything will click.” (50:10)

• Three Content Types:
  • Warm-up
  • Decision
  • Momentum-building
• Problem: Content and sales systems often operate separately. When not aligned, offers become unclear and sales inconsistent.
• Result: “Your audience knows the problem and they self-select … they start to understand the path … and they’re educated on your offer. … That’s when your content starts generating revenue instead of just being valuable content that doesn’t move people.” (53:05)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On learning from the past:

  “It is wild, absolutely wild, how much we forget that happened.” (17:25)

• On business planning as a scaffolding:

  “The objective is you want to put together a plan that is like a scaffolding. It allows you to be flexible but not be making decisions when you’re in the eye of a storm.” (13:15)

• On identity-driven planning:

  “If you’re trying to build a 500k business with 150k habits, your plan will feel heavy before you even start.” (30:00)

• On integrating life and business:

  “You never want to have to make that decision between something you really want to do with your family versus making the money that you want to make. … You can have it all, it can all fit. But not if you’re not planning in advance.” (42:35)

• On nervous system regulation:

  “When your year has rhythm—you really do feel your nervous system settle.” (55:30)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 04:20: Steph shares the origin of Year on the Wall
• 10:15: Why most entrepreneurs are stuck in short-term thinking
• 16:10: Introduction to the four planning gaps
• 16:35: Gap 1: Planning forward without looking back
• 27:15: Gap 2: Planning what you’ll do before deciding who you’ll be
• 35:05: Gap 3: Planning launch by launch instead of architecting a year
• 49:00: Gap 4: Creating content that doesn’t build demand
• 55:30: Signs your year/business has “rhythm”
• 59:10: Invitation to Year on the Wall training and closing encouragement

Tone & Language

Steph’s tone throughout is warm, grounded, motivational, yet very pragmatic. She mixes tough love (“You’re not gonna get where you wanna go by hating yourself,” 20:10) with empathetic honesty and a strong bias toward real-life, flexible strategy.

Summary Table: The Four Planning Gaps

| Gap | Symptom/Consequence | Key Remedy | |-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------| | 1. Not Looking Back | Repeat mistakes, fail to appreciate progress | Honest reflection and celebration | | 2. Planning Action Before Identity | Rigid or unsatisfying plans, burnout | Identity-level planning, vision, “life buckets” | | 3. Piecemeal/Launch-Only Planning | Inconsistent revenue, business/life misalignment | Map entire year, integrate personal life first | | 4. Content Not Driving Demand | Audience confusion, ineffective offers/sales | Align content with sales arcs and launches |

Final Thoughts

If you want your 2026 to be more intentional, consistent, and aligned, Steph’s approach urges you to pause and integrate reflection, identity, holistic annual architecture, and intentional messaging. Whether or not you join “Year on the Wall,” these four gaps are crucial places to audit in your business planning.

“You don't have to wing it for another year. You really can learn how to architect it in a way that's going to bend with you and be flexible, so it won't be so rigid that it's out the door by the second week of January.” (1:01:15)

For more:
Year on the Wall Training (yearonthewall.com)
Courage & Clarity Podcast archives