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Anais Babajanian

Don't set goals for 2026 without fixing these bottlenecks first

Published 5 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader,

If you saw my LinkedIn post last week, you know that December has always been a strange month for me.

For years, I felt stuck in limbo—caught between the goals I didn’t hit this year and the pressure to set massive new ones for the next. I’d spend the holidays with an undercurrent of scarcity, waiting for January 1st to "start fresh."

But recently, my perspective shifted.

I realized that the anxiety didn’t come from missing the goals. The anxiety came from knowing that if I didn't change the way I was operating, the result would be exactly the same next year.

Think of your business like a bucket. If you poured water into it all year (marketing, sales, effort) but the bucket was full of holes (operational drag, confusion), the goal for 2026 shouldn’t be "pour twice as much water."

The goal must be "patch the holes in the bucket."

In this month's blog post, I’m breaking down the four specific areas where businesses usually "leak" revenue and time:

  1. The Strategy Gap: Are you working hard in slightly the wrong direction?
  2. Operational Friction: Where are your internal gears grinding?
  3. The Delegation Bottleneck: Are you actually the one holding the team back?
  4. The Customer Journey: Where are you losing people after they say hello?

I have put together a list of diagnostic questions for each of these four areas. These questions are designed to help you perform a ruthless autopsy on 2025 so you can build a foundation that actually supports your goals for 2026.

Read the full blog post here: Stop Setting 2026 Goals and Fix These Bottlenecks First​

Don’t dream up a new vision for 2026 just yet. Let’s fix the foundation first.

If you read the post and realize your "bucket" has more holes than you thought—I can help. I help business owners perform an operations audit so they can enter the new year with a clear, streamlined plan. Click below to book a call and let's get you set up for success in 2026.

As always, please feel free to reply directly to this email with any questions, suggestions, or topics that you'd like to see covered in subsequent issues.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a joyous new year!

Cheers,

Anais

P.S. If you enjoyed reading this, please send it to someone who might find it helpful as well. If you were forwarded this email, please consider subscribing to receive future issues and follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram for more business and leadership content.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." — Abraham Lincoln

Anais Babajanian

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