Shownotes
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Every December, entrepreneurs say they’ll “figure it out after the holidays.” But let’s be honest, waiting until January to plan your next move keeps you stuck in the same cycle year after year. If nothing changes, nothing changes. Reflection and strategic planning aren’t optional if you’re serious about growth: they’re leadership decisions.
In this episode of The Real Truth About Business, Michelle shares why the most successful service-based business owners treat year-end reflection as a non-negotiable. She dives into why assumptions and emotions can’t drive your strategy, how to analyze what’s really working, and why having outside perspective is key to creating a plan that actually delivers results. You’ll also get a peek into her annual Reflect, Refocus, Reignite planning experience and how it transforms her clients’ revenue and clarity every year.
Whether you’re a coach, consultant, OBM, VA, designer, copywriter, or ADHD entrepreneur, this episode will help you shift from reactive hustle to intentional CEO thinking, so you can enter 2026 with clarity, focus, and a plan that works.
You’ll learn:
- Why reflection and planning aren’t optional for real business growth.
- How to stop building your business on emotions and assumptions.
- The role of data and analysis in creating a sustainable strategy.
- Why doing planning with others accelerates insight and results.
- How to create space for creativity and smarter decision-making.
This is the real truth about business growth, especially for neurodivergent service providers who crave clarity, structure, and results without falling for every trend online.
Links referenced in this episode:
- Create a focused vision for 2026 at Reflect. Refocus. Reignite.
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Here's your Next Steps:
- Take the "Where's the Gap in Your Business Strategy" Quiz
- Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads or Facebook
- Visit my website to learn more and apply for the Focused Visionary Accelerator
- Sign up for my newsletter - Sunday Morning Brew - delivered every Sunday at 6 am
About the Host:
Michelle DeNio is a business strategist and growth advisor for service-based entrepreneurs, especially neurodivergent and ADHD business owners. Creator of the Focused Visionary Accelerator and host of The Real Truth About Business podcast, she helps clients simplify, focus, and grow sustainably. With 15+ years in business operations, she’s known for turning big ideas into simple, profitable action plans.
Transcripts
It's my favorite time of the year.
Speaker A:But every year around this time, you know, you start to see business owners slowing down, saying things like, I'll figure that out after the holidays, or I'll spend a day or two, late December, January, kind of planning.
Speaker A:And I get it, I got it.
Speaker A:You're tired.
Speaker A:Your brain is running on, you know, empty.
Speaker A:And you just, you've been running all year long.
Speaker A:And so it's kind of like you're, you're craving this space.
Speaker A:But I am here to tell you today, this is like, this is one of my, this is probably the strongest opinion I have when it comes to business.
Speaker A:Cause, you know, I'm not like a should type person, right?
Speaker A:But this is one that I feel pretty strongly about, is that reflection and planning in December is not something like you squeeze in, right?
Speaker A:You set intentional time for it.
Speaker A:You, you do not waver on it.
Speaker A:And it becomes the foundation for everything that, for everything that comes next, right?
Speaker A:It's, it's you setting the tone.
Speaker A:I think you know the saying, we've heard it a million times.
Speaker A:If nothing changes, nothing changes, right?
Speaker A: all the time I hear like, oh,: Speaker A: I'm recording this: Speaker A: I have so many big plans for: Speaker A:You start to get this renewed energy and this renewed sense of like all these big ideas.
Speaker A:But here's the thing, like you can't build a successful year off of assumptions and emotions, right?
Speaker A:And so that's why like the clients who take this reflection and planning season seriously, they carve out the time, they reflect, they analyze, they look at data, they put their CEO hat on, they plan strategically, like historically, they're the ones.
Speaker B:That are like doubling and tripling their revenue.
Speaker B:I've seen it.
Speaker A:I've got the stories, I've got the.
Speaker B:You know, I could introduce you to the people.
Speaker B:Like it is.
Speaker B:So it's such a non negotiable for me.
Speaker B:But anyway, I want to chat all things about it.
Speaker B:I mean, I could leave the episode right there and just say like it's a non negotiable, but we're going to dive in a little bit deeper on this one.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Because I do really want to talk about like, why I feel like that.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:If you're ready, you, I hope you're ready for this one because I'm not going to hold back on this one.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker B:We're diving in.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:Nothing changes if nothing changes.
Speaker B:I mean, we've heard this so many times, right?
Speaker B:But it's so true, right?
Speaker B:Like, you cannot change if you don't take different actions, right?
Speaker B:And so I. I just, like, let me back up, because, again, like, I'm going to get ahead of myself because I feel so frigging strong about this.
Speaker B:I run Biz Planning Week every single year I have.
Speaker B:I'm going on my eighth year doing it, right?
Speaker B:2026 would be my ninth year in business.
Speaker A:The first week of December for the past eight years has been Biz Planning Week.
Speaker A:I have clients that know it in advance.
Speaker A:They have it in their schedule.
Speaker A:It's just there, right?
Speaker A:It is there because in the reason I continue to do this every single year.
Speaker A:Like, every year, I think, nah, maybe I don't need to do it.
Speaker A:But this was, like, years ago.
Speaker A:Now it's like, no, I'm freaking doing business planning.
Speaker A:Like, and the.
Speaker A:Every year I want more and more people there because it is, to me, one of the biggest game changers in business is having that time to really sit down and reflect.
Speaker A:And what I see is so many people skip it, or so many people don't take it seriously.
Speaker A:And I understand there's time commitments and all the things, and maybe my timing doesn't work.
Speaker A:The first week of December is not a good week.
Speaker A:I mean, I understand there's always reasons why people can't sign up.
Speaker A:And I'm not saying that.
Speaker A:I'm not discrediting that, but I also see where people don't sign up because they don't see the value in it, or they don't see the power in it, or they feel like, I can do this on my own, right?
Speaker A:And I. I'm sorry, but, like, I just don't feel that way.
Speaker A:I do not feel that way.
Speaker A:I feel like this is one of the most crucial.
Speaker A:Like, if there was ever a program to invest into, and it's literally so inexpensive, like, this is it, okay?
Speaker A:Because again, nothing changes if nothing changes.
Speaker A:So that's what I want to talk about is, like, there's.
Speaker A:When we move into a new.
Speaker A:Without taking time to really sit and reflect and analyze and really look at what happened the year before.
Speaker A:We move into the year based on facts and assumptions.
Speaker A:And even if.
Speaker A:Or I mean, with assumptions and emotions, and even if you feel so strongly about them, like, you feel like, I know this is what happened.
Speaker A:I know this is where it's at.
Speaker A:I know this, right?
Speaker A:Like, without looking at the Facts and really diving into the, like the data, which I know everybody hates.
Speaker A:But again, like business owners that are serious and successful, really, truly, that are building sustainable businesses, they know their data, right?
Speaker A:They know the facts.
Speaker A:And, you know, if you don't take the time to really sit down and look at the data and understand all of what happened in your business last year, like, the same patterns are going to repeat.
Speaker A:And I see this over and over.
Speaker B:Year after year, where people repeat these.
Speaker A:Same patterns over and over.
Speaker A:And a lot of it's because they're doing it based on emotions and assumptions, right?
Speaker A:They're doing it on the things that, that feel good.
Speaker A:They're doing it on what they think is happening.
Speaker A:They're creating messaging based on what they think clients want to hear, not what is actually what clients want to hear.
Speaker A:Not is actually why clients are hiring you.
Speaker A:Not is actually why they're saying yes, right?
Speaker A:And so there's just so many things that you can uncover when you sit down and have the time and the creative space to look and reflect and really analyze.
Speaker A:Okay, but also, and I.
Speaker A:And now like the next argument or.
Speaker B:The next, I don't even want to call them arguments, but I understand.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:The next thing I hear all the.
Speaker A:Time is like, yeah, I've got my, I've got time set aside.
Speaker B:I'm going to work on that.
Speaker A:I'm going to do it myself.
Speaker B:I'm just going to work on it myself.
Speaker B:And I love, like, kudos to you.
Speaker B:If you're that person and you've got it scheduled in, like, that's step number one.
Speaker B:Great, Amazing.
Speaker B:I'm so frigging happy for you, like, because you're already ahead of the game that you actually have it scheduled in.
Speaker B:But here is also why I feel strongly about being inside some business planning program, whether it's mine or something someone else's, right?
Speaker B:But obviously mine, right?
Speaker B:Because I love it.
Speaker A:I'm gonna, of course, promote.
Speaker B:My program is reflect, refocus, reignite.
Speaker A:December 2nd through 4th, always the first week of December.
Speaker A:You know, the link is in the show notes.
Speaker A:But here's why I say it's better to do it alongside somebody because.
Speaker A:Because we are too close to our own businesses to ask the hard questions.
Speaker A:90% of the time when we ask ourselves a question, we give surface level answers, right?
Speaker A:Because either we're too close to it or we don't know how.
Speaker A:We don't know how to dive deeper, right?
Speaker A:We don't know how to ask ourselves those questions.
Speaker A:If we did Right.
Speaker A:Like, then we would never need mentors and we would never need other people to help us.
Speaker A:But like, we do need those people.
Speaker A:We need that outside perspective to help uncover the gaps and opportunities.
Speaker A:The number of times, times I, you know, in all the years I've run biz planning, one of the biggest pieces of feedback that I always get is Michelle, I've heard this information before, but I've never had anybody dive deep like this.
Speaker A:I've never had anybody dive into this angle of it.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Because most people stay at surface level and you know, it's.
Speaker A:That gets, that's a step, right?
Speaker A:Like that's step one.
Speaker A:But if you really truly want to like double your income next year, triple your income, I mean, not, I mean, some people are tripling it, I've seen it.
Speaker A:Some people are doubling it.
Speaker A:Some people are even maintaining like half having just average, you know, at least steadily increases.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Like, not all years are like doubling your income.
Speaker A:Like, some years are just an incremental growth and that's great.
Speaker A:Some years are same looking revenue wise, but you are making more profit, right?
Speaker A:Something like that.
Speaker A:So, but anyways, we're just, we're too close to our own businesses.
Speaker A:Like, we're not going to ask ourselves the hard questions.
Speaker A:We're not going to dive deeper because we just don't think that way.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:And the other thing is, is like brainstorming alone, it keeps you in your comfort zone, right?
Speaker A:Because there's not somebody else there to kind of give you a different perspective.
Speaker A:There's not somebody there, somebody else there to kind of challenge you and say, like, but what about this?
Speaker A:Or what about thinking about it from this perspective?
Speaker A:Or how can you take this and do more with that?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Because in general, our subconscious mind wants to keep us safe.
Speaker A:And so our subconscious mind is going to keep us in our comfort zone.
Speaker A:And even if you think you're pushing.
Speaker B:Yourself outside of your comfort zone a.
Speaker A:Little bit, I'm just telling, it's not the same as working through something and.
Speaker B:Going through and really looking at everything and putting a plan in place with somebody else that can really look at and ask you the hard questions like we talked about, right?
Speaker B:And so I just, like, I feel so strongly about the having that time set aside because here's what I also see happen is we have the best intentions to make it a better year, right?
Speaker B:And we.
Speaker B:Or the other thing that I see happen is that people do actually plan.
Speaker B:They sit down, they create these big vision boards, they create their goals, they've got all these big thoughts.
Speaker B:But there's like, again, there's no data to support it.
Speaker B:There's no facts to say, like, yes, this is possible, or this is what you've gotta.
Speaker B:It's possible, but you've gotta do this level of work because you're starting from this point, right?
Speaker B:So many people don't even know what their starting point is.
Speaker B:So how can you grow if you don't even know where you're starting from?
Speaker B:And also being able to look at and see, like, is it possible?
Speaker B:Is it capable and not possible?
Speaker B:Anything is possible.
Speaker B:I'm not saying that.
Speaker B:I'm saying, is it possible within your capacity?
Speaker B:Is it possible in your current state of, like, where you are with your offers and your pricing and your clients and all those things?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And so I really think that if you don't.
Speaker A:I don't want to just keep saying, like, don't you need to do this?
Speaker A:Or you're not going to have a great year, because there's always.
Speaker A:There's always the exception to the rule.
Speaker A:But I guess what I'm trying to say is, like, think about the possibilities.
Speaker A:Think about the opportunities.
Speaker A:Like, what do you have to lose?
Speaker A:And going through a planning week with a bunch of other entrepreneurs that are thinking bigger, with a bunch of other entrepreneurs that can kind of give you outside perspective and push you to think bigger and deeper and sharing their inspiration that can inspire you.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Like, there's so much energy with being in the room, and that alone makes it worthwhile, in my opinion.
Speaker A:Like, just being in the room with people that are thinking bigger, right.
Speaker A:That are cheering you on, that are like, celebrating alongside of you.
Speaker A:Like, the end of year is such a powerful time to celebrate, to reflect, to really look back and really understand while also creating that new vision for the year, for to really think forward and really look at, look at what's ahead and look how far you've come.
Speaker A:Like, it's so powerful.
Speaker A:And I'm telling you, like, it definitely makes a difference.
Speaker A:Okay, I have a client right now that, you know, attended business planning last year, decided to join the focus Visionary from it, knowing that she needed some accountability and further strategy, but she was able to, like, figure out exactly where she was spending her time that was not moving the needle and how to create a plan to do the things that were moving the needle.
Speaker A:And I'm pretty sure she's doubled, if not tripled, I don't know her number exactly yet, but tripled her revenue from last year.
Speaker A:Um, I had another client who increased her revenue like, on one particular, just in one area of revenue growth, like over 700%.
Speaker A:Like, because she doubled down on what's working.
Speaker A:I mean, this is the power of business planning and reflection.
Speaker A:It's why I continue to do it for eight years in a row.
Speaker A:Like, if I did not see the power in it, of course I wouldn't keep doing it because it's a massive amount of my time every single year.
Speaker A:But it is, like, even just in the creation of it this year.
Speaker A:Because every year I tweak it just a little bit based on what I'm seeing in the industry and all the different things.
Speaker A:And even in just the creation of.
Speaker B:It, I'm getting so many downloads and so many ideas and so many things.
Speaker A:That I can improve upon in so many.
Speaker A:I'm seeing where things are just working and where there's some areas where they're not working.
Speaker A:Like, that's just in the creation.
Speaker B:That's not even me sitting down and doing it yet.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Like, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker A:Like, it just opens up your mind, okay?
Speaker A:Because when you have those three days.
Speaker B:Set aside and it's not all day, it's like an hour and a half.
Speaker B:But I.
Speaker A:Or it's really like 60 minutes, but I encourage everybody to spend a little.
Speaker B:Bit of time afterwards working on it and reflecting on it.
Speaker A:But just like being able to think differently and plug all of this information.
Speaker B:Into your brain that really gets it ruminating.
Speaker B:And then the best part is, is, like, the reason I always do it in December is because most do take some time off.
Speaker B:And so I always tell them, like, just let it ruminate, let it sit there.
Speaker B:Like, let the creativity process run, right?
Speaker B:Like, let's not try to control the entire narrative.
Speaker B:Let's see what else comes up.
Speaker A:Because there's just so much that can.
Speaker B:Come up when you just give yourself the space for it to come up.
Speaker B:So anyway, I'm going to end this one here because I just think I've said what I wanted to say.
Speaker B:I think you really need to think about whether or not you've got the time set aside for reflection, collection, planning.
Speaker B:If you want to do it yourself, try doing it yourself.
Speaker B:I, I mean, at that, at this point, like, I just think every single business owner that is serious about making changes and growing and taking radical responsibility for their results next year or in the year to come, or whenever you're listening to this, like, you have to take the time to celebrate and reflect on what's going.
Speaker B:You have to look at the facts and you have to have a vision and a plan to move forward.
Speaker B:Like, those three things are non negotiables if you're not taking the time to celebrate.
Speaker B:Like, to reflect and look backwards, to understand the facts and eliminate the emotion and assumptions and actually create a clear vision with a focused and intentional plan to execute to create that vision and let it come to life.
Speaker B:Like, what's going to change?
Speaker B:Like, what do you think is going to change?
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:And I just.
Speaker B: e got all these big ideas for: Speaker B:I've got so many new ideas for things I want to do in, you know, the new year.
Speaker B:And I can.
Speaker B:But like, that's great.
Speaker B:But like, how can we execute them from a place of like educated decisions versus just like working off of ideas?
Speaker B:And it's not that those new ideas and that creative process isn't wonderful, but like, it moves faster and you get results faster when you know exactly what you're working with and what you're starting with.
Speaker A:So I'm sorry, not sorry.
Speaker A:This is the one time I will say, I do not feel like this is optional, right?
Speaker A:Like, I just do not feel like this is optional.
Speaker A:If you are serious about growth, reflection and planning are not optional.
Speaker A:It's a leadership decision.
Speaker A:It's a CEO decision.
Speaker A:It's a radical responsibility.
Speaker A:Taking ownership for your results, taking ownership for your business and doing that and just finding the time to really give your brain the space to think and really see what is going on.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:So your action steps, one, go, sign up for, reflect, refocus, reignite, if you haven't done so already.
Speaker A:Two, if you really feel strongly that you do not want to join that program or, or you maybe you've already done something like that similar and you feel like you're good to go.
Speaker A:If nothing else, I want you to schedule time in your calendar right now.
Speaker A:Between now and December 31st.
Speaker A:Whenever you're listening, I want you to.
Speaker A:Or even if you're listening after December 31st, schedule at least three days.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:This is not like a one day thing.
Speaker A:Maybe it's a one day, but then you need a second day to kind of reflect on it.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:This is like a schedule the days, two days minimum.
Speaker A:I would prefer three days, you know, And I want you to at least get the time on your calendar, right?
Speaker A:Get the time on your calendar and do not negotiate on this.
Speaker A:Set a boundary and keep it.
Speaker A:Create that boundary and really give yourself that time.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:And then your second action step would be if you to start writing down what worked, what didn't, and what do you want to do next year?
Speaker A:What is currently working in your marketing, what is currently working with clients, what is currently working with your offers, your time, your revenue.
Speaker A:Really think thinking about what is actually going well.
Speaker A:Don't focus on all the things that are broken and that you want to change.
Speaker A:Like what really went well this past year, Start there.
Speaker A:If nothing else, start there.
Speaker A:Just go back every single month.
Speaker A:Go back through your calendar, kind of look back through your emails, dig through your memory bank, look at all the things that are lighting you up and just really think about like what really worked well.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:And then I want you to share that plan with somebody, right?
Speaker A:Share that, talk about it.
Speaker A:Tell somebody else your plan.
Speaker A:Somebody who can hold you accountable, somebody that can maybe challenge your thinking.
Speaker A:Because again, like, just getting an outside perspective can be so helpful.
Speaker A:Like, there's so much power.
Speaker A:I mean, I just, I've been in a mastermind all year.
Speaker A:That's how I was able to launch out the missing piece.
Speaker A:And it's not because anybody really like told me what to do.
Speaker A:It's just that they challenged my thinking enough to allow me to create that on my own.
Speaker A:That suggestion was not a suggestion from anybody else.
Speaker A:It was just simply a question and a conversation that allowed me and got me thinking deeper.
Speaker A:That created that answer for me.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:It created the answer and it's working.
Speaker A:So again, like, there's just.
Speaker A:There's power in having somebody else that can challenge your thinking or at least have conversation with you about it.
Speaker A:So anyway, reflection, planning, not optional.
Speaker A:If you are truly serious about your growth, I really want you to sit with this one and think about and consider it and really think about what am I doing to truly sit down and plan my business.
Speaker A:And again, if you've never taken any type of planning program or course, it's very hard to do on your own, right?
Speaker A:Like just get.
Speaker A:This is one.
Speaker A:This is one time where I really feel strongly that you, like you, you invest into this to really learn how to do it well so that you are not was your time and so that you can speed up your results.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:I love you guys.
Speaker A:I believe in you and I will.
Speaker B:Talk to you soon.
