How do you keep your business moving forward while staying present during the holidays?

In this episode, I’m giving you practical business growth tips that will help you stay focused on what matters, stick to your Q4 plan, and begin preparing for 2026 without falling into hustle mode. You’ll leave this conversation feeling grounded, encouraged, and ready to finish the year with peace and purpose.

What We Cover in This Episode

• A weekly rhythm that helps you stay connected to your Q4 goals
• How to stop overcommitting and make space for what really matters
• Why rest is a strategy, not a reward
• The first step to preparing for 2026 — and how to do it without pressure
• What a "Vision Day" is and how it can help you start the new year with clarity and intention

Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome + why this episode matters right now

02:00 – Revisit your Q4 plan: what’s still aligned?

06:20 – Making room now so you can rest later

11:30 – Vision casting for 2026 without the pressure

15:00 – What faithfulness really looks like at the finish line

17:30 – Final encouragement + what to do next

Take the Next Step

Download the free Q4 Planning Guide from Episode 83 to revisit your goals and create a faith-filled plan to finish the year strong.

Grab the Audience Survey Template from Episode 84 to help guide your offers and hear from your people.

Want more support planning for 2026? Join the Vision Day waitlist and be the first to know when it launches!

Resources Mentioned

• Episode 83: Finish Strong with the Q4 Planning Guide
• Episode 84: Planning for 2026 with an Audience Survey
• Free Q4 Planning Guide: jantouchberry.com/q4
• Vision Day Waitlist: jantouchberry.com/visionday

Let’s Connect

DM me on Instagram @jantouchberry and let me know what your Q4 focus is — I’d love to hear what you’re walking out right now.

If this episode encouraged you, take a minute to leave a review. It helps the podcast reach other Christian women entrepreneurs looking for faith-driven business growth tips.

Next Episode: Coming soon — a conversation about vision, obedience, and laying the foundation for a God-led 2026.

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00:00

Hey there, friends. Welcome back to Her Faith at Work. My name is Jan Touchberry, and I'm the host of the show, and I am so glad that you are here. Can you believe that we are already into fall? Yep.

It is officially fall, September 21st. Now somebody can tell the Texas weather that because it hasn't quite figured it out, but it never does this time of year. So we're just waiting. My hoodies are waiting.

My Doc Martens are waiting. The leaves are turning. Hallelujah. The pumpkin candles are out. All the fall decor is up and looking fine. And somehow we are already talking about the final stretch of the year.

Can't believe it. So in episodes 83 and 84, the two just prior to this, we were having a little mini-series all about planning for a fantastic end to 2025 in your business. So in episode 83, we talked about taking stock of your year so far and creating a peaceful quarter four plan using the free Q4 planning guide that you can download.

If you haven't grabbed that yet, you can listen to the episode and download the guide. Just go to my website, jantouchberry.com slash 83. If you guys haven't figured it out yet, that's how I label all of my podcasts.

So you can always find them super easily. You just go to my website, jantouchberry.com slash whatever the episode number is. So in this case, it's slash 83. And then in episode 84, we dove into how to prime the pump for your 2026 goal setting.

And we introduced the idea of starting with an audience survey. This is something that I've used before. It's something that I use to guide my decisions and align my offers with who I am called to serve.

Because sometimes you think you know what your people want, but then you do a survey and you find out that you're a little off base or maybe a lot off base. So they are super, super helpful. If you wanna learn more about the audience survey and you wanna grab all the swipe files to create your own, you can just go to janetouchberry.com slash 84.

And then today, we're gonna wrap it all up with a nice bright red bow. We're gonna bring it all home. This episode is about helping you stay focused on what the Lord is calling you to do and how to also stay present as you move through Q4.

The goal would be to actually enjoy the holidays, serve your people well, and step into the new year of 2026 without scrambling. Hallelujah, amen. Are you ready to go? We're gonna dive in. We're gonna dive in.

We're gonna dive in. Truth time. When's the last time you raised your hands for a swift kick in the pants? Well, I'm the no-nonsense type friend who's going to tell you when you have food in your teeth.

So let's get right to it. This... is your infusion of sacred and secular, calling you higher into who God created you to be, exploring how intimately faith applies to every part of your life, and how you can live that faith every single day in the marketplace.

I felt the tension of separation of church and state. I've been one of the few women at a table of men for decades, and I've stood my ground. Are you ready to do the same? These tools, resources, and interviews are meant to do just that.

I'm Jan Touchberry, and it's time to share her faith at work. All right, friends, thank you for being here again today. If you, this is my weekly reminder, if you're not on my email list, you'll need to get there.

It's going to be so good. It is not a repeat of the podcast. I give you guys new things, new tools, new tips, new inspiration, all the things. You just go to jantouchberry.com slash newsletter and get on the list.

All right, so for today, I want to start here. Hopefully, you've already created your Q4 plan, whether that is through the planning guide that I mentioned in the introduction, which you can still grab, jantouchberry.com slash 83.

You can grab that guide, or you can just do it in your own journal. It's fine. I want you to grab it or pull that up if you're driving. Obviously, don't do that, but I want you to look at, when you get a minute, what you marked as still aligned, okay?

What did you mark as still aligned? Because here's what I often see. Women take the time to thoughtfully map out their quarter, and then life gets busy. October rolls in real fast, y'all, and we start responding to what's urgent instead of what's important.

Anybody but me? Yeah, everybody else's emergency becomes your emergency. Instead of you doing what you actually should do, you're taking care of it. of everybody else's emergency. We start adding things to our to-do list without checking in with what God already told us was our focus.

And how to... Why? Why does that happen? It's because we're not planning. You've got to plan some emergency time, right? Emergencies come up with your clients. They just are going to. But plan that in, for Pete's sake, as much as you possibly can.

Just know that it's going to happen. And the more you're planned in general, the easier handling those urgent things when they come up is going to be. I promise you. So here's just a simple rhythm. I want you to set aside five to ten minutes every Monday.

All right? Better yet, do it on Sunday night before bed. Sunday night before bed or Monday morning. First thing. Seriously, I want you to set a repeating calendar reminder on your computer or on your phone.

I want you to use that time to pray over your plan. Ask God to prioritize what needs your energy that week and what can't wait. And then I want you to choose. two things to prioritize three max y'all three max to prioritize for that week okay i'm trying really hard to adopt a new journaling practice that i do at night before bed i'm using a journal called how are you really it is the companion journal to the book that was written by jenna kutcher so she devised a journal she is like me she is not a journaler i i just don't enjoy it it's not something i just i feel like it's not my thing y'all i'm not going to apologize for it it's just not my thing so i found this journal because she kind of i identify with her on her journaling prowess or lack thereof and so i got the journal i've it's been sitting in my nightstand for a long time but i pulled it out and i'm determined i'm determined because i think if i get into a rhythm if i can get this habit to stick i think it's going to be really good it's a very simple journal which i need because as i said before i'm not really a big journaler and it's basically this she's asking this question how are you going to rate where you are at the end of the day how are you really at the end of the day and it's you just fill in a little circle it's one through ten and then she gives you space to talk about what she calls your big three you can use the space for three things that you were grateful for for that day you can use it for the three things you want to focus on for tomorrow you can do a hybrid if you want to the beautiful thing about this journal is that it is so adaptable and then after the big three there's just a few lines where you can write whatever you want to write um so i if you are looking for something that's simple that you that can help you get into that rhythm of planning before your week happens you might try this journal i'll drop the link in the show notes but it's the how are you really journal by jenna kutcher um there's also like a you can look back at your week and look forward to your next week so it's,

it's very practical. Anyway, as I said, I'm trying really hard to get into that rhythm to do that. So pray for me if you think about it. And if you do buy that journal, y'all, that is not an affiliate link.

I just am giving it to you because I love it. Um, if you do buy that journal and you're finding that it's working for you, will you just draw me a direct message on Instagram? Just DM me and let me know.

I would love to know. Um, and if you're needing a little prayer support in this journey of journaling, let me know that too. So here's what I do know. No matter what system you find that works for you, you got to find a system because when we try to do too much, we end up getting discouraged.

And when we don't have a system to help us, it's just going to be all over the place. And on the converse of that, when we stay faithful to just a few aligned things, that's when we're actually going to see the fruit and it's peaceful.

Hallelujah. So here's the other thing that I want you to remember. Your plan is not set in stone. A plan is just a tool. It's meant to serve you. It's meant to serve your peace and not pressure you, OK?

Whip those tools into shape. Use them like they are meant to be used as tools, not as taskmasters, OK? So if something on your list no longer feels aligned, I want you to ask yourself a couple of questions.

Number one, has it shifted for a reason? Like, why is it not feeling aligned? Did God release me from this? And I just didn't give myself permission to let it go? You know, sometimes that happens. So go back to your plan, revisit it, revisit what you said, and stick to it, OK?

Now, I think this is something that is super important, but I know I'm going to get eye rolls. Yeah, right. It's just not super practical, Jan. But I want to talk about margin. So someone told me the other day that there are 12 weeks left in this year.

I don't know how that happened, but it seems to happen every year. It's like I was literally just talking to somebody that was saying, why does the first part of the year always seem to drag on, and then the last three months speeds by lightning?

It's crazy. Like, how? So if we want to be present in December with our families, our friends, for church communities, all the functions that happen during the holiday season, we have to plan for that now.

Now is the time. And the biggest mistake that I see is trying to squeeze in a new launch or one more project before the holidays. I am guilty of that. That is my M.O., y'all. I don't want to do that this year.

So if God has called you to something specific during that time frame, by all means, walk that out. But if you're launching out of fear, if you're launching out of pressure or comparison, it might be time.

to pause. And here are a few things that you can do right now to make some space. First, let's talk about client work. I want you to create a plan and then I want you to communicate your plan to your clients.

Communicate your November and December availability early. Let people know when is your last delivery date for any of the holiday or the work that you have to do before the holiday break. Let them know.

And then I need you to reverse engineer this last 12 weeks of the year. Reverse engineering will be your friend when you're talking about getting all the things out and done that you need to get out and done before the holidays start.

Because what you don't want is for people to be in the other room enjoying each other while you're in your office trying to finish up the things that you didn't plan well for now. I want to talk about content because so many conversations about this.

We are on the hamster wheel of content creation and I'm refusing to bow down to that anymore. It has become an idol for so many of us. We feel like we're tied to it, that we have to do it, that we're not going to have a business if we don't do it.

And I'm here to say that I want to buck the system or create a new system better yet in November and December. Start batching, pre-scheduling anything that you want to share in November and December.

Or this is a radical thought, y'all. Let's give ourselves permission not to post during that time, unless you want to. Not because you have to, post because you want to. Radical thought, I know. Don't stone me.

I was just reading about the concept of co-marketing and something called pod dropping. I'd never heard of pod dropping before. Co-marketing is relatively new to me too, but I've done more research on that than pod dropping.

So this is new thoughts, new thoughts. It's basically when you take content that you've already created, like a blog or a newsletter or a podcast, that has gotten good traction on it. And then you find someone who's in an aligned industry, an aligned industry.

You're helping each other, right? So somebody in an aligned industry and agree to share the content on each other's platforms. This is actually a brilliant concept. And you can bet I will be teaching more on it as I get a handle on it in my own business.

There are so many benefits of it. But can you imagine how easy your holiday season would be if you could co-market with someone and pre-schedule your content for the last six weeks of the year, using content that you've already created, y'all?

Come on. Anybody with me? Anybody want to do that with me? I'm in. I'm in. All right. And then the last thing that you need to look at is household planning. I want you to take some time and look at your family calendar and block off your key days now.

What are the days that you need for your family, right? Family gatherings, events, days of rest, yeah. If it's on the calendar, it's more likely to happen. Block the sucker out. You are not available for anything else.

And I want you to really hear this. Rest is not laziness. Rest is obedience. The Lord commands it in the Bible. Rest is making space for Him to speak to us. And so for Pete's sake, can we just get it through our heads that rest is something that when the Lord values it and He tells us to do it, we should probably be writing it into our calendar.

Okay, moving on. I felt like that was a little bit of a beating. Sorry if that felt harsh. OK, now I know that 2026 in some ways can feel a little bit far out, but I want to just lightly touch on planning.

Preparation for 2026, so we're not actually going to goal set right this second. It's actually a beautiful time to those start collecting your thoughts without having the pressure of full blown goal setting.

OK, you don't have to do that quite yet soon, but not quite yet. So I recommend starting with a simple practice. Create a note on your phone or a fresh journal page labeled 2026, or better yet, take advantage of the sales that are happening right now and get yourself a fresh journal.

I love me Erin Condren Mail Day at the end of every year because I get my fresh journal and it just makes me smile from ear to ear. And then once you have your mechanism, I want you to just start dropping anything in that God stirs up in you over the next several weeks, maybe as a word, a verse, a business idea, a shift in how you want to show up.

These things are gold. And when they're written down, you can begin to pray over them and discern what's yours to carry and what you just need to leave here in 2025. Now, if you want to take it a step further, consider planning a vision day.

This isn't a big strategy session. It's a quiet, intentional time, maybe two, three hours where you sit with the Lord. You reflect on what he's done and ask him what he's inviting you to do next. Light a candle, make some tea or your favorite pumpkin spice, whatever, grab your Bible and your journal and then get ready to listen.

I will be sharing more about how we can do vision days. together in community with each other. So keep an eye out for that. If a vision day sounds like something that your heart needs and that will serve you well.

And if you are thinking, heck yes, sign me up, you can go get on the wait list for all the vision day information that is going to be coming. So you just need to go to janetouchberry.com slash vision day, and you can get on the wait list for that, or you can check the show notes for the link.

All right. This is your reminder. Faithfulness doesn't always look like finishing everything. If you're feeling discouraged or behind, I want to speak this over you. God finishes what he starts and he is not asking you to sprint.

He's just asking you to stay with him. So if your energy is low, if your to-do list feels heavy, come back to the simple question, what does obedience look like this week, Lord? And then listen. It's not about how can I get it all done.

Turn that around and ask what one thing would honor what God has called me to right now. Some weeks, faithfulness might look like showing up and doing the work, but some weeks it might look like resting so that you can hear Him again.

There is no gold star for you at the end of December. Sorry friend. But there is so much goodness waiting for you when you walk in peace and partnership with the Lord. So take the pressure off and stay present because He is going to be faithful to lead you when we are faithful to sit with Him and hear His voice.

All right, so I just want to recap before we close. Number one, you're going to reconnect with your Q4 plan every week and you're going to keep it simple. Number two, you're going to make space. Now for rest, for margin, and for the people you love during the holidays.

And then number three, you're going to start capturing your 2026 thoughts. Now, slowly and prayerfully, there is no rush. Don't forget, if you have not already grabbed the free resources that I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, you can go to janetouchberry.com slash 83 or slash 84 and download your goodies.

And then if this episode encouraged you, would you please do me a favor and just shoot me a DM on Instagram? It's just at janetouchberry. And let me know what stood out to you. Or better yet, leave me a quick review on your favorite podcast platform because that helps the show reach more faith-driven women just like you.

Thank you so much for being here again this week. See you next time. Thanks for joining me for another episode of Her Faith at Work. If the Lord put someone on your heart that you think needs to hear this message today, will you just smash that share button?

And if you haven't already followed the show, I would love for you to do that. Super extra points if you hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. That helps the algorithm pick us up and drop us right in the air pods of people that need to hear what the Lord is saying to them today.

I hope you'll come back for the next episode of Her Faith at Work. The podcast comes out every Wednesday and if you look down in the show notes, I've even got a couple of free downloads for you that I think you will really enjoy.

With that, have a great week. See you next time. See you next time.