AN ANTI-HUSTLE, ANTI-GRIND 2026 VISIONING EXERCISE
Plus: redirected ambition notes.
This week, I’m sharing how I approach planning as a solopreneur building a calm, sustainable fractional practice—and how I help small business founders do the same. It’s about redirected ambition, anti-hustle goal setting, and why protecting yourself is strategic, not soft.
PLANNING 2026 WITHOUT THE GRIND
I love goal setting. Spreadsheets, models, turning fuzzy ideas into actionable plans—it’s meditative for me.
What’s changed isn’t my love of planning—it’s what I’m willing to plan for.
There’s a misconception that stepping off the career ladder is losing ambition. Not true.
I haven’t lost mine. I’ve redirected it.
Before: sharp, singular, and pointed at career and output. Hustle, grind, proof, validation.
Now: pointed at life. Time, health, creativity, relationships, rest, pleasure—and yes, meaningful work I love.
My business is the engine, not the sacrifice. It funds travel, family, creativity, investment, and rest. That is ambition too.
AN ANTI-HUSTLE EXERCISE FOR 2026
Do this slowly. No multitasking. Forget metrics at first.
How should your business feel?
Calm, grounded, predictable, nourishing
If a goal overrides these feelings, it’s not a goal—it’s future resentment
Visualise an ordinary workday
Not launches, not peak days
How many hours, when, where, what work
Could you live this day 4–5 times a week? If not, adjust
Income, sans drama
Baseline: covers life, savings intact
Comfortable: ease in work
“Enough is enough”: beyond this, costs outweigh benefit
Capacity first
Max hours per week, max clients, max initiatives
Non-negotiable time off
Protect your most valuable asset: your brain
Future patterns
What problems do people come to you for naturally?
What’s working consistently?
Capture messy notes, half-formed ideas—they become sustainable offers
Life first
How should your body feel?
How present with loved ones?
How should your home and environment feel?
Your business plan must respect these answers
MINI CHATGPT HACK
Drop all notes into ChatGPT and ask:
“Synthesize this into a short paragraph that reflects my ambition for life, not just work. Calm, grounded, sustainable — not hustle-driven.”
That paragraph becomes your filter, not a mantra. Opportunities that don’t align? Say no. You’ve already decided where your ambition points.
Ambition doesn’t disappear when you stop climbing—it grows up. Sometimes the most radical act is building a business that supports life, not contorts it.
That’s not lack of drive—it’s redirected ambition.
WORK WITH ME
Future Fractional is now accepting applications. For current or aspiring fractional executives who want a business that supports life and income.
Book a discovery call here or connect on LinkedIn.
Keep building the version of work that actually works for you. I’ll be here cheering (and occasionally nudging).
Until next time,
Mary Alice
