11 2026 Planning for Black Women Who Want More in their Career and Business

Happy New Year, love.

If you’re reading this, it’s officially 2026—and I know 2025 might have snatched your edges, your pocketbook, and maybe even your job. You are not alone in that.

This blog is based on a Black Woman Bliss Podcast episode where I walk you through how I’m planning 2026 after a wild year in my own life and business and how you, as a Black woman, can do the same in a way that feels aligned, soft, and strategic, not rooted in grind culture.

If you’ve been wondering:

• “How do I plan 2026 when last year drained me?”

• “How do I set goals that actually match the woman I’m becoming?”

• “How do I plan my 9 to 5 exit or a business pivot without losing my mind?”

…this is for you, Sis.

We’re going to walk through:

1. Why reflection (not just resolutions) is your first planning tool

2. How to redefine your life through your Black Woman Bliss vision

3. How to use the 12 Week Year to plan 2026 in aligned 90-day chunks

4. The systems that keep you accountable without burning you out

5. Why rewarding yourself is a non-negotiable part of your planning

And of course, I’ll share some ways you can go deeper with me inside the Black Woman Bliss Community and the Black Woman Bliss Training Portal.

Step 1: Start With Reflection, Not Resolutions

A lot of us jump straight into “new year, new me” mode without actually looking at what happened last year. But if you don’t pause and reflect, you end up planning from old habits instead of from your real life.

In the episode, I talk about how many of us are frustrated with our careers, our businesses, or our lifestyle—but we’re not truly asking:

• Why is this happening?

• What do I actually want?

• What patterns am I repeating?

For me, the pattern I kept seeing in 2025 was being busy instead of building—constantly creating new things instead of focusing on what would actually grow my business and ground my life.

So before you start writing 2026 goals, I want you to sit with these reflection questions from the episode:

• What do I actually want?

• Who am I becoming?

• What do I want to be known for?

• What do I want my career or business to look like?

• What do I want my life to look like?

• Based on how I’m currently living and working, is this aligned with the woman I’m becoming?

This is Discovering your Black Woman Brilliance all over again and getting honest about who you are, what you want, and what’s no longer sustainable in your life or work.

If you've had a hard time sitting in reflection, I recommend setting the vibe: grab your journal, go to a coffee shop, or sit somewhere quiet and cozy. In the episode, I share how one coffee shop reflection moment turned into a whole new thought leadership vision and a different way of doing business.

Step 2: Redefine Your Life Around Alignment and Joy

Once you reflect, the next step is redefinition.

In 2025, I had to admit that the way I was working (even in my own business) wasn’t fully aligned with the life I wanted. I had papers, journals, and notes everywhere, full of ideas, but not all of them matched how I wanted to live, work, and show up in community.

Through reflection, a few truths came up:

• I wanted more travel and teaching.

• I wanted less 1:1 coaching, even though it had been a major revenue stream.

• I wanted a business model that let me pour into Black women without burning myself out.

That’s what led me to:

• Limit how many coaching clients I take on

• Focus on growing the Black Woman Bliss Community to support more Black women

• Double down on thought leadership and career liberation work

This type of redefinition and redesign of your career and business is powerful. Your goal is to actually match your values, energy, and Black Woman Bliss persona instead of what everyone else says you “should” do.

Ask yourself:

• What in my life, career, or business feels aligned with who I’m becoming?

• What is clearly not aligned but I’ve been pretending I don’t see it because it’s scary to change it?

Step 3: Use the 12 Week Year to Plan 2026 (Without Hustling Yourself Into the Ground)

Once you’re clear on who you’re becoming and how you want to live, then we move into planning.

In the episode, I share that I’ve used everything: Notion, ClickUp, vision boards, SMART goals, all the planners. But the method I keep returning to is the 12 Week Year, which basically asks: “If I stopped dragging this out for 12 months, what could I actually move forward in 90 days?”

Here’s how I’m using it for 2026:

1. Big Picture Board

   • I created a big poster board with every month of 2026 written out.

   • I added clear milestones: rebrand, membership growth, Career Love platform build-out, personal goals, PhD steps—everything I truly care about this year.

2. 90-Day Focus (12 Week Year)

   • Instead of vague “sometime in 2026” goals, I ask:

     • What would I like to accomplish in the next 12 weeks?

     • If I could only focus on 3–4 priorities, what would they be?

   • The 12 Week Year helps you stop spreading yourself thin and actually move key things forward—without turning your whole life into a sprint.

3. From Identity to Actions

   • Rather than writing “be a thought leader” on the board, I wrote the actual actions that support that identity:

     • Create a body of work around career love

     • Do more research on career liberation

     • Build the Career Love platform and assessments

     • Apply for my PhD program

You can do the same with your 2026 goals:

• Don’t write: “Get a better job.”

• Write: “Update my resume and LinkedIn, apply to 20 aligned roles in Q1, join an interview coaching call, and attend 2 networking events.”

• Don’t write: “Grow my business.”

• Write: “Launch one core offer, nurture my email list weekly, and sign 3 clients in 12 weeks.”

If you want extra support breaking those 12-week moves down, the 90 Day Career Love Plan and 90 Day Business Love Plan are perfect step-by-step companions for your goals this year.

Step 4: Build Systems That Actually Support You

A vision is inspiring. A plan is powerful. But systems are what carry you when your motivation dips.

In the episode, I share some of the systems I invested in for 2025–2026:

• MyFitnessPal + Oura Ring – to track movement, sleep, and my energy so I’m not grinding on an empty tank.

• ClickUp – to organize my objectives and tasks across personal, business, and community projects so everything lives in one place.

• DataBox – a dashboard to track my analytics (social, email, membership, revenue) so I can see what’s working without manually checking 10 platforms every week.

Your systems don’t have to be fancy. They just need to be:

• Easy for you to use

• Visible and accessible

• Connected to your actual 12-week goals

This is a big part of Entering Your Black Woman Bliss Era: not just dreaming the life, but setting up real structures that protect your energy and help you stay consistent.

If you’re a member of the Black Woman Bliss Community, you already know the Black Woman Bliss Training Portal is built exactly for this: career and business frameworks, mindset lessons, and templates to help you plan and implement your goals step-by-step.

Step 5: Stop Using Will Power to Pursue Your Goals: Reward Yourself

One of my favorite parts of this episode is when I talk about rewards.

A lot of us treat willpower like punishment: “If I was really serious, I could just grind this out. If I don’t, it must mean I don’t have what it takes.”

Sis… no.

In the episode, I say plainly: we have to stop grinding through our goals. We need joy and reward in the process, not just at the finish line.

I shared my experience creating the Black Woman Bliss Training Portal! I poured so much energy into creating the Black Woman Bliss Training Portal including planning the framework, recording all the videos, making the presentations, editing, uploading, and building out the templates. It was a lot.

So I made myself a deal:

• I’d been wanting a pink tourmaline ring for a long time.

• I decided that ring would be my reward for finishing the training portal.

• I ordered it and let it sit as a reminder: “This is coming. Get the work done.”

It was symbolic and motivating. And you deserve that too.

Your reward might be:

• A solo spa day

• A new plant or piece of art

• A weekend staycation

• A piece of jewelry that reminds you of your evolution

The point is: you’re allowed to honor your work and yourself as you grow.

Want Support as You Plan 2026?

If you’re reading this like, “Okay sis, I’m not doing 2026 the way I did 2025,” you do not have to figure it out by yourself. Here are some aligned, Black-woman-centered ways to get support as you plan your next chapter:

FREE 7-Day Clarity Challenge

Come plan your 2026 with me and my mama in community starting January 11th.
For seven days, we’re walking you through reflection, vision, and aligned action so you can step into this year with intention—not chaos.

Join the challenge

9 to 5 Exit Blueprint (Pay-What-You-Want)

If your spirit is whispering “I can’t do this job another year…” this is for you.

The 9 to 5 Exit Blueprint is a guided exit plan for Black women who are ready to leave their job for their business. Inside, you’ll map out your exit strategy, business model, money needs, and next steps—without quitting on impulse.

Get the blueprint

Black Woman Bliss Community

If you’re craving ongoing support, not just a one-time download, come sit with us.

The Black Woman Bliss Community is where Black women are building careers and businesses we love together. You’ll get coaching, trainings, and sisterhood so you’re not navigating promotions, pivots, exits, or entrepreneurship alone.

Join the community

Curious About My Systems? My Tech Stack

If you’re a systems girlie (or trying to become one), I’ve shared the actual tools I use to run my life and business—from project management to community platforms and tracking.

Peek my tech stack

12 Week Year (Book I Mentioned)

If the 12 Week Year framework resonated with you and you want to go straight to the source, this is the book I referenced when talking about planning in 90-day cycles instead of waiting on the whole year to change.

Grab the book

Want to Work With Me 1:1?

If you’re feeling like, “No, I need Mercedes in my business/career for real,” use this form so we can explore coaching together and see what support is the best fit.

Coaching Connection Form

FAQs: 2026 Planning for Black Women

1. How should Black women start planning 2026 after a hard year like 2025?
Start with reflection, not “fixing.” Ask what you actually want, who you’re becoming, and what’s out of alignment in your life, career, and business. From there, set goals that honor your energy, values, and Black Woman Bliss. 

2. What is the 12 Week Year and why is it helpful?
The 12 Week Year is a planning method that treats 12 weeks like a full “year” of focused execution. Instead of vague annual goals, you pick a small number of priorities to move forward in 90 days, which helps you stay accountable, focused, and honest about your capacity.

3. How can I plan my goals without burning out?
Plan from your real life and energy, not from grind culture. Build systems (like ClickUp, dashboards, or simple trackers), consider your lifestyle needs, and give yourself meaningful rewards. Don’t try to do everything in one quarter, choose what truly matters and let the rest wait.

4. I want to exit my 9 to 5 in 2026. Where do I start?
Clarify your vision, financial goals, and business model. In the episode, I share a 9 to 5 Exit Blueprint you can download to map your exit strategy, business foundations, and purpose. Pair that with the 90 Day Business Love Plan and the Business Love content in the Black Woman Bliss Training Portal. 

Transcript: 

Mercedes Swan (00:00.184)
Happy New Year, beautiful. It is officially 2026. And even though I know 2025, snatch a lot of our edges, our pocketbooks and our jobs, said very unironically, I just wanted to take a moment to just share a little bit about the journey and talk about 2026 planning because even though we have faced these challenges, I honestly know that we can get it, okay? As Black people, we can pull it together.

Okay, and we can go into 2026 with clarity and just see ourselves fully transformed and doing the work that we love by 2027. I wanted to share this video as a point of hope and just to share a little bit about what I've been going through like my journey of just all the things that I've been planning this year and how I'm setting myself up for success in 2026 and I wanted to invite you along for the journey to just yeah learn a little bit more.

So in 2025, I went into it with a lot of big goals and I'm gonna be honest, like I achieved a lot of them, but there were some things, some goals that I just didn't hit and I think that's okay because it was my first year of full-time entrepreneurship and there were a lot of lessons, there were a lot of things that I shifted and changed and learned about myself because I do feel like in 2025, there were a couple of ways that I really like, like I shrunk my vision because it was a little bit scary in some places and if you hanging out with me, you know, okay, I've shared a little bit.

About this with the community. I'm going into this with just a renewed just sense of Direction and I want to share that with you And so what we're gonna cover in this video is really three major things this process of using self-reflection and reflection about what's going on your life as a planning tool Because I think that really is what we fail to do We don't look at what we're doing how we're behaving What's actually showing up in our lives and we play and we don't because we don't do that. We don't

plan accordingly to what we really want and need in our lives, okay? But I'm gonna take it a step further. We're also gonna talk about actual planning, yes. And then I'm going to share with you the 12 week year, which is how I've gone through my planning processes here. And we will wrap it up with talking about how to actually create systems, whether that's rewards, software, or other tools that are gonna help you actually achieve your 2026 goals. I got a lot, okay? So hang around to the end. I'm actually gonna share an exciting announcement that I have.

Mercedes Swan (02:21.774)
about a challenge that I'm doing. So hang around, I'm gonna share with you how that's actually really gonna help you with your 2026 goals. So yeah, let's get into it. By the way, sis, if you don't know me, my name is Mercedes Swan. I go by the career love coach and I'm a career and business coach for black women. And my goal is to help as many black women as I possibly can begin to build a career, business and lifestyle that she truly loves as she moves through life, right? In a way that's like aligned.

and soft and strategic and not based in hustle and grind. So if you're here and this is what you were looking for, go ahead and stay around girl because I got some good stuff for you, okay? We're gonna get into it. So of course I am starting this off with reflection as I promised you, right? Because I think that's a huge issue. For many of us, we don't truly reflect on what's going on in our lives, right? We might be frustrated with something. We might see that what we're experiencing isn't what we want.

but at the end of the day, we aren't really digging into why this is happening, what it is that we really want. And often those things take us back through cycles of relearning things that we should have already learned and redoing things that we shouldn't be doing as we move forward to the life that we want, right? Because we are just repeating cycles. And so I'm going to share a couple of questions that I've been asking myself, but for me,

And my cycle that I'm thinking about right now is why am I always repeating the process of being busy, right? Instead of building, of creating a new thing, doing something else, da da da, yeah, right? So that's a cycle that I'm trying to break for myself right now. Understanding that the constant turn of really creating and doing new things and re-envisioning a lot of stuff is not necessarily what's going to help me build my business to where I want it to be.

And I'm always somebody that has had big goals, right? I went and got my master's degree. My next big goal is to go get my PhD, to build a business, to scale my career. All of these things. Live the personal life that I want to financially and otherwise. And so big goals that require a lot of work are not a huge thing for me, right? That's not a problem. Like I'm gonna get the thing done. Okay, but what does it mean to actually live in alignment and reel those things back? So I'm gonna share like a couple of the questions that I've been continuously asking myself.

Mercedes Swan (04:36.473)
through 2025 and I will continue to ask that through 2026 to make sure that I'm actually aligned and clear about what it is that I want. Here they are, write them down, pause the video, whatever you gotta do. What do I actually want? Who am I becoming? What do I want to be known for? What do I want my business to look like? And if I was still in my nine to five, that would be like, what do I want my career to look like, right? Okay, I still got you career girlies. What do I want my life to look like?

And based on what I'm experiencing and doing in my life, are these things aligned with the woman that I want to be and the woman that I am becoming, right? I talk a lot about becoming because a lot of us stay stuck in who we were. So I want, that's a key piece of really getting clear and actually doing the work. Cause if you don't know who you want to be or who you're becoming, then you can't align anything, okay? So if you are having a hard time and you are trying to rush through,

the clarity part, the reflection part, that's gonna hold you back in 2026. Let me just tell you right that right now, 2026 is going to continue to snatch your edges. That's all I got to say about that. And I'm not even gonna lie to you. Sometimes you actually have to get out of your own way and do something that's completely different. I literally had an epiphany in a coffee shop. So I went to the coffee shop because I said, I really need to do some planning. I really need to get all of these things that I have for the training portal and my community done. So I'm gonna go to this coffee shop.

to really think things through. When I got there, I started thinking about all of the things that weren't aligned because I spent some time reflecting on what wasn't feeling right and why. And the more that I was sitting in it, I started to explore more things about myself and what I wanted. And then as a result, as a result, I left that coffee shop with a huge vision of thought leadership and how I wanted to shift my life to prioritize my joy and what I wanted.

and how I wanted to show up in community that was different than how I was showing up in the past. And so those things were all things that came to me in that space. And sometimes we don't give ourselves the time to reflect because we are trying to grind and figure it out.

Mercedes Swan (06:43.01)
But I promise you that taking time to reflect is going to do you so much good as you go into 2026 and do your planning. As we wrap up this section and just my thoughts on that and my own reflections, like I want to bring you into this reflection, like actually practice here right now. So take this time, like I don't care if you got to pause the video, go grab your journal, I don't care. Drop it in the comments if you feel comfortable. But like here's the question that I want you to think about and ask yourself.

What in my life, career, or business feels like it is in alignment? And what in my career, life, or business does not feel like it's in alignment with who I am becoming? It's not what you want right now or what you're thinking you can deserve right now. It's who you're becoming. And I really want you to think about that. Okay, so let's go ahead and say that you're clear sis. I'm just kidding. Like that's a lot. I got it, I got it.

We're gonna be here if you were okay, and you can't keep going forward You have to start thinking about like really redesigning your life based on this new level of alignment and I will say the biggest pitfall of that is actually ignoring what's in alignment versus what's not in alignment because you don't see a way through and so for me I had papers and folders and journals and notes and documents and like all over the place just like notes and notes and notes like I I wish I like I wish I had pulled it out like it was just staff

of like all this information that I was writing down all of these ideas but it wasn't clear to me because I wasn't seeing this new energy of being that I wanted to be in like redefining how I want to be in community redefining how I want to be on social media like what matters to me in life and like what I'm focusing on and I think that's what I want you to start to think about because that's the only way that you can begin to actually redefine life so for me a couple of things that were coming up was traveling and teaching and really not

having as much time and space and coaching, right? Which is very, very different than how I show up online and how my, for my business, how my offers are, or even in career, right? Like leaving my career was one of the first steps in getting closer to this reality where I'm able to travel and where I'm able to like have full autonomy of my time and I can actually like pour into Black women in the way that I feel like this community needs it.

Mercedes Swan (09:01.123)
but also in a way that like respects my boundaries and how I want to show up and me being able to feel good and whole, right? So those are all things that I had to begin to redefine. And so I'm going to like call some of those out for you because they might be things that you're thinking through as you're building your business or you're defining what the next step of your career is. The first thing is that I decided that I didn't want to take on as many one-on-one coaching clients. At some point I had decided that, okay, maybe I don't want to do any coaching at all.

or maybe I do wanna do some coaching, but that meant for me that I had to really redefine my relationship with coaching, which for my business has always been, always has been a huge revenue generator for my business, so leaving that felt like a very scary thing, right? But in 2026 and beyond, I'm really gonna be limiting how many coaching clients I take on, and I'm going to be building out my community so that it provides more access to information.

while not enabling me, while not resulting in me being super burnt out in coaching. Unfortunately for the world, that does also mean that I'm gonna be continuing to raise my coaching prices, right? Which I did increase them at the beginning-ish of 2025, and I probably will continue to increase them in 2026 because I do have to honor myself and my energy and how I show up for clients in that space.

while being able to build the other things that I want to build and the impact that I want to have on the world, right? And I also want to be, as I mentioned, moving into more thought leadership. And so I have this entire new branch of career love that I'm going to be building out, which is really going to be focused on career liberation and how I'm shifting the workplace through re-envisioning our relationship and how we show up at work and what does it mean to actually be liberated.

while having a nine to five, which I think many people don't focus on. And I mean that from like, yes, the perspective of black women who want to experience career liberation or quit their jobs or want to have more autonomy in their work and control and feel empowered in their jobs.

Mercedes Swan (11:01.22)
but I also mean that from an employer standpoint of really understanding how to create a more liberatory workplace. So these are all really exciting things that I'm excited about doing, but I wouldn't have got to those things if I wasn't okay redefining my life based on wanting to have more autonomy, more time to think, more time to...

Create something that's accessible and still protect my time, right? These are things that you have to consider as you're defining what your values are and how you're moving. If you're clear about that, right? What you want your life to look like.

then you can then move into planning, then it's automatically aligned because you know what you're doing and where you're going. You feel me? You feel me? We got this, okay? We got this. So before we go on to the next section, I know that so many of you in my community are black women who are actively building a business, right? Like you know that you go to your nine to five, but this isn't it for you. You want more flexibility, you want more freedom. You want to be able to make the life changing decisions as they have redefining things, okay?

like me, okay? I've seen you see me, okay? And so a little while back, maybe like a month or two ago, I had actually created a nine to five exit blueprint for black women to really access this to actually define, hey, what would I do if I were to go ahead and exit my nine to five? What do I need to be doing in my business? How do I need to be thinking about building a business? My exit strategy, everything else, my purpose, all of those things. And so...

That conversation continues to come up in my community and online spaces and all of the things and like, I feel you. I didn't want to either, okay? So I actually created a nine to five exit plan that you can get below. It is a downloadable PDF and you can pay whatever you want for it. It is a minimum of a dollar. You can download it, get access to all of that information to actually start doing some exit planning for yourself. You can go to my profile and get access to it. And yeah, I hope it helps you begin to plan out your night.

Mercedes Swan (12:54.192)
Okay girlies, so we're finally getting into the planning and the systems of it all and I know this is the part that you're probably here for but I promise you this is, this is, this is like you gotta get everything else first. Okay, I just don't jump into this. I need you to get clear first. Okay, I'm just saying that.

based on personal experience, okay? Don't move the plan. You can listen to this if you want, but don't move the planning until you're ready, ready, but let's talk about it. I'm just letting you know, I'm just gonna have my notes a lot more because I feel like this one is a lot more specific and tactical. But I feel like for a lot of us, we set a vision or we set our 2026 goals, but then we don't have a plan or any teeth behind it. We don't actually have implementation.

that's coming behind what it is that we say that we want to do, or they're just not aligned with what we actually want so we don't do them, or we don't believe in them. There's a lot of reasons that we don't do them. Setting, by getting clear about how you want to redefine your life and then setting clear, measurable goals based on them is really what is going to be most effective. So.

I have used a ton of different planning tools. I've used Notion, I'm using ClickUp right now. I've used VisionBoard, I've used SmartGoals, I have used like so many different planners. So I've used a lot of different things to like keep me motivated. But one of the things that I have really consistently kept going back to over the last couple of years is the 12 week year planning period. And it's not that like...

The 12 week year is like anything that's like revolutionary or like quarterly planning is something that's like gonna blow your mind. But it's this idea that we often, when we set like non-specific goals and we just say, we're gonna do this in 2026, right? We don't have things that are like monthly or quarterly.

Mercedes Swan (14:41.515)
or in a 90 day or 12 week period that's going to help us stay accountable in moving forward. And so I realized that sometimes I would set these goals and then I would either like over or underestimate the time that it would take to do things like my training portal. my gosh, we're gonna talk about that later. Okay, setting my training portal up and like actually completing it was a lot of work. And I think that had I done the 12 week year earlier in 2025,

I definitely would have had a better time at really planning out my time. So what I've done this year is for the first time ever, I did one of those big poster boards and I put every month of the year on that poster board and I set very clear milestones for the things that I'm very clear that I want to accomplish in 20 and 2026. I put that on that board and it is going to be my guiding light as I move forward to make sure that I'm staying aligned in what I said that I wanted to do and how I'm moving forward. Right. So there's a lot of pieces about rebranding and my membership and

coaching and the CareerLove platform that I'm building out and even my personal goals, okay? So there's a lot on there that I know is really going to help me move forward and why I think the 12 week year is a really great tool for you for planning.

is that it asks you to accomplish what you would have accomplished in a year in 90 days. And that doesn't mean we're gonna hustle and grind with that, but it means that you're then making sure that you are setting really ambitious and focused and prioritized goals. Because of course you can't do everything in 90 days, but like what is it that you really wanna accomplish and how could you do it in 90 days? And on top of that, you're not waiting for the whole year, you have it time bound. So I know I'm going into it a lot, but 10 out of 10.

Like you don't even have to buy the book. There's enough information online. But like if you want to buy the book, like do it. Like to be clear, I do want to take a second to like just really be clear about things that I'm including on that board, right? So when I told you it like, I want to be a thought leader. Like I'm not writing on that board, I want to be a thought leader in 12 months, right? I'm writing that there are several things that I need to do to be a thought leader, right? Which is to begin creating a body of work around career love.

Mercedes Swan (16:47.856)
which is to begin to do research in that, which is to start building out my platform and the assessments that are gonna come with that, right? It means pursuing my PhD. Okay, so those are things that are very aligned, right? And that might mean, okay, I have a website for this. That means I've created the, that I've applied for my PhD program. Like I would love to hear from you, like what is...

A couple of big goals that you have this year, I would love for you to share them below. I think that sharing them is a part of accountability, but I also think it's alignment of saying you have to be able to admit this to the world, what you want to accomplish and what you want to do in 2026. So the last piece of this, okay, the last piece of this, boo.

Okay, is actually like staying motivated. It comes down to systems of accountability, which means you do have a system, you do have a way to track your goals, and you do have something that keeps you motivated like a reward, right? And so I'm gonna walk you through a couple of the things that I've done this year, but these are the things that I really feel like will set you apart from whether or not you're able to accomplish your goals or not, like said with love. Okay, so really quickly, like a couple of the systems that I have been using,

in really Q4 2025, but like I will be moving. spent a lot of time setting up my systems and just things that were gonna help me be accountable and moving forward. So in 2026, continuing from 2025, I am going to be continuing to use like my fitness pal.

for tracking so that I can keep losing weight. I also got a little aura ring to help me with that because I noticed that when I'm able to actually track and see, you know, how I'm moving and how that impacts my calories and my mood, like 10 out of 10. The next one is that I am now, I've transitioned to ClickUp for tasks. So now I have objectives in ClickUp. I have clear tasks broken down in like personal business, some of the challenge stuff that I'm doing with my mom.

Mercedes Swan (18:46.65)
So I have just a way that feels very easy to access all of the things that I'm accomplishing, including my content. And then the last thing that I implemented, which...

The price! The price was pricing, okay, but that's fine. I invested in a data box in Q4 of 2025 because I want to be more intentional about my analytics and analyzing what I'm doing and what's working and what's not and have that out of bird's eye view. But I do not want to be in a space where I'm...

analyzing these things constantly myself. I invested in DataBox, which is a tool that I can create dashboards and I can track my business data and all of those things so I can see what's really going on for social media, for my emails, for people in my membership and kind of engagement and all of these exciting things. So.

There are things that are definitely going to help me continue to be really focused on my priorities by having a dashboard that I'm going to use. So data box 10 out of 10, even though y'all, yoo hoo, y'all girl, you made me good at my coin, my coin purse. Okay. So one of the things that I'm not bringing into 2026 is I created a bingo card last year because everybody's making bingo cards. And I was like, oh, that seems cool. Like I'll be able to scratch off like my accomplishments and stuff. And I just realized that that

That bingo card was just very overwhelming for me to go back and check the bingo card and check off the bingo card. And doing little things like being able to record things here, check off things here are really like helpful for me, right? So that's why that big visual board is helpful for me because I can see it, can cross it off, like gives me a dopamine hit. For the bingo card, okay, it's like either I had like too little or too big goals and it was just not, it wasn't helpful throughout the year. So we're not doing bingo cards every year. So.

Mercedes Swan (20:29.457)
I'm to say like, just find what works for you and what's gonna motivate you to actually like focus and check in on your goals, right? And I listed a variety of options just now of different things that I'm doing. They don't gotta be for you, but that's what's working for me, okay?

The last thing that I will say and that I will share is that a lot of us do not, I don't know if we don't believe in it, but we just don't do it, which is this idea of rewarding ourselves. Like, you know, I feel like we think like rewards are for children, right? Or rewards are like stupid things that we get at work. You get a piece a day.

I just think more of us need to do that. I think more of us need to reward ourselves and think about that as a way to move forward with our goals. I feel like we use willpower as a way to penalize ourselves and judge ourselves. we didn't willpower ourselves through that. And so I guess I'm not a good, I don't have what it takes, because I didn't willpower on my way through that. Let's stop raw dogging stuff. Let me stop.

But no, but for real, let's actually stop raw dogging our goals because we do need to be able to actually connect with our goals and feel good about it so that we continue doing goals like.

Why would we do something that is uncomfortable and we don't like, right? I said earlier that I was gonna tell you about my training portal that I was creating, right? So I created something called the Black Woman Bliss Training Portal. It's included in my membership. includes every, like literally everything that I know in my brain about career development and business development in a streamlined way that you can go through all of the lessons and be able to say, hey, I have a career strategy or I have a business strategy and then actually do the mindset work and the implementation work around that.

Mercedes Swan (22:05.186)
right? So because of that it was so many videos like so much stuff that I had to get out of my brain and actually put it in a framework which is a Black and Bliss framework if you know you know and that like that took a lot out of me just from the ideation and the thought process of putting all of that together but then also to record the video make the presentations record the videos edit them post them add the templates and the resources and then share that out with community I was like GROWW! I can't.

So for a while I've had a pink tourmaline ring on my vision board. If you know, I'm an October baby and I love buying me an Opal, but for some reason I just finally wanted to actually get a pink tourmaline ring. And so I was like, I'm gonna do it, right? So I said, okay, fine. I've wanted this for a while. Let me use this to motivate myself. I'm gonna go pick out the ring. I'm actually gonna order the ring. That ring is gonna look at me every single day until I get this training portal done.

and I'm going to know that it's coming and I'm like, get it done. And so that was my motivation to like get it done. But it was something that was also symbolic to me to like recognize myself in this leap and all that I'm creating and to just honor the work that came with that and to build what I'm building. And yes, to reward myself, but also to motivate myself. So I just want to share that like that's a really great tool. Like if you don't like all the data, I love data. I'm a data girlie. Like you can tell that I want a data box. So I did it. That being said, like that might not

be the process that excites you. So just find whatever is gonna help you move forward, whatever is gonna help you feel excited about what you're doing. It's absolutely gonna help you move forward with your 2026 goals. By the way, the last thing that I will say is that all of our rewards, if you choose to do a reward, it's not always gonna be the same. So pick a reward that feels good to you, right? It could be a spa day, getting a plant. I used to get little knickknack things like little toys, like I have a little galaxy light over there that I love. know, keep in mind that there are so many different.

options that you could do or use or leverage to motivate yourself. So with that being said, if there's something that you think would motivate you to actually accomplish your 2026 goals, it does not feel punitive. Okay, no, we're not doing that over here. Go ahead and drop it in the comments. Okay, drop in the comments. This video is way longer than I thought this video was going to be. Apparently had a lot to say. That being said.

Mercedes Swan (24:17.809)
Here are some steps that I want you to follow as you're moving forward with your 2026. So number one is to reflect on your alignment. What is happening in your life that's what you want and what you don't. Step number two is actually begin to redefine your life around that alignment. Step number three is to actually add a structure to your life in a way that helps you plan out your goals. And for me, that's a 12 week year and you could try it out. And the last thing is to actually

start to embed systems and things that are going to support you in implementation if you haven't done that already. Okay, okay, okay, okay. I have one more exciting thing to share with you, but before I do that.

Please let me know what out of this video you're taking with you. Like what reflections helped you move forward because that's something that's important. I want to know what you're taking for this, okay? That's important for me. But I also want you again to like take some time for reflection. That being said, this is not, this one video is not enough time to really get clear on all that you want to accomplish, all that you want to do, your vision.

Everything that you need to shift in your life, whether that's your mindset or what you're actually doing, your behaviors, your actions, all of those things. This video is not enough. Even though this video is maybe longer than I thought it was gonna be. It's not enough, okay? Because I do really want black women to be able to lean into a vision because I think many of us have had a rough year in looking at the world and experiencing what we're experiencing, the layoffs and the turmoil and just like the political unrest, right? There's a lot of challenges that we see.

which means that for a lot of us, meant that we didn't feel safe dreaming this year in 2025, right? And even though I launched in 2025 dreaming, there was a lot that really set me back in terms of emotionally managing myself and all of this turmoil, right? I say all of that to say that I know that if we're able to instead focus on what we want differently in 2026, then it means that we can actually create a runway or a pathway to actually make change by building the business.

Mercedes Swan (26:16.306)
by supporting other black women, by launching a business or building a career around what it is that is our purpose. I think those are the things that actually get us out of this feeling of hopelessness and distress or even depression, right, which is what I've dealt with in the past. And so because of that, I just know that this is a special time to do this. So me and my mom are hosting a free, it's completely free, you can join, free seven day challenges for black women to come together in a safe community to dream again.

To get clear on what it is that is our vision, to dream and think more abundantly, to actually begin to shift our mindset so that we can actually explore these things and pursue these things with confidence, because that's honestly a lot of it. The mindset is a lot of it. And just being able to do that in a space, in community with other black women who have gone through that journey.

Like me and my mom are very clear about our purpose and who we're here to serve and why. And that has been a journey to get that clear. And I do want that for other black women. Like I don't want sleeping on our potential and sleeping on our purpose because I do believe that the more of us walking in our purpose means that the better the world gets when we can all have impact. Like the right people doing the right things with the right intentions is the world that we need right now. So.

Anyway, I hope that you join us. The challenge is starting on January 11th, so please do not wait to sign up. Like, it's happening at the time of this in less than seven days when I'm recording right now. I'm seven days away, okay? So, sign up now so you don't miss it and just get plugged into the community, say hello, share a little bit about your goals, but I just know that this challenge is gonna be amazing because I know that so many black women are going to be leaving.