The end of the year is usually filled with vision boards, goal-setting, and talk of “what’s next.” And while I love a good planning session just as much as the next Type-A girly, I think we tend to skip over one of the most powerful parts of growth: deciding what to leave behind.

Because you don’t need to add more goals, more hustle, or more to-dos to make 2026 “your year.” Rather, you probably need to let go of the habits that are holding you back.

So here are seven business habits I think it’s high-time we ditch…and what to do instead.

Chasing Someone Else’s Definition of Success

We’ve been conditioned to believe success = hitting six figures, gaining thousands of followers, glorifying the hustle, etc etc. But success that isn’t yours will always feel empty.

2026 isn’t about chasing someone else’s highlight reel, it’s about defining success on your own terms. What do you actually want your business to give you: time, freedom, impact, creativity?

If you need help redefining success, revisit Building Spacious Success

Rigid Routines That Don’t Fit Your Life

Forcing yourself into the same checklist every day is a fast track to burnout. Life has seasons. Energy ebbs and flows. Your business should account for that.

Routines aren’t bad, but rhythms are better. Rhythms flex with your energy, your cycle, and your capacity.

For more on this shift, read Rhythms Over Routines

People-Pleasing and Overextending

Saying yes to everything isn’t leadership, it’s self-sabotage.

Boundaries aren’t barriers. They’re what allow you to show up fully for the work and clients that matter most. Protecting your time, your energy, and your capacity protects your clients too.

Need a reframe? Check out The Feminine CEO’s Guide to Boundaries, Balance, and Big Vision.

Ignoring Your Nervous System

Pushing through exhaustion, overriding your body, and leading from a dysregulated state doesn’t make you more productive, it makes you reactive.

Your nervous system is data. When you ignore it, you burn out. When you honor it, you make better decisions.

Your energy isn’t extra…it’s the strategy.

For a deeper dive, read Your Energy Is the Strategy

Skipping Reflection

It’s tempting to move straight from one quarter into the next, but skipping reflection keeps you stuck in autopilot. Without pausing to review, you’ll carry the same misaligned patterns into the new year.

Reflection is what separates a CEO from a doer.

Use my 5-Part CEO Reflection Framework to make this part of your process.

Overcomplicating Your Systems

More tools. More apps. More steps. It doesn’t make your business stronger, it makes it heavier.

Your backend should support you, not stress you out. Simplify your systems so they create space for you to actually lead.

I break this down more in How to Build a Bulletproof Backend.

Equating Busy With Productive

Busyness is not a badge of honor. Filling your calendar to the brim doesn’t make you a better CEO, it makes you distracted from what actually matters.

In 2026, it’s time to leave behind the glorification of busy and focus on aligned action.

For more on this, check out From Doer to Leader.

The Reframe

Growth in 2026 doesn’t come from adding more. It comes from letting go of the habits that no longer serve you.

Leave behind the hustle patterns, the overcomplication, the misaligned definitions of success…and create space for leadership that actually feels good.

Because when you stop dragging old habits into new seasons, you finally make room for the kind of success you actually want.

Ready to leave the hustle behind and build systems that support you in 2026? That’s exactly what we’ll create together inside my Vision-to-Execution Accelerator!