The Strategic Planning Series for 2026, Week 2
Week 2: Health & Energy Capacity
Building for Decades, Not Months
January hits. You decide to get healthy.
You find a workout program online. Push yourself hard that first day. You're so sore for the next four days you can barely move. That's discouraging.
Or you start tracking every calorie. It works for two weeks. Then life gets busy and the whole system falls apart.
Or you try the latest diet trend. It's unsustainable. You quit. Then feel like you failed.
Here's the problem: You're treating health like a project with a finish line.
But health isn't something you complete. It's something you integrate into your life.
And here's the deeper question: What's your health FOR?
Is it a number on the scale, or is it the energy you have to show up for what matters: your work, your family, your life?
This plan is about taking the ego out of health goals. Not because PRs or marathons are wrong. If that motivates you and fits your life, great. But most people chase someone else's definition of "fit" and ignore what they need: sustainable energy and capability.
The question isn't "what intense program can I force myself through?" It's "what can I sustain as part of my lifestyle?"
Not for three weeks. For three years.
That's what this week is about.
The Health Strategic Framework
Strategic health planning has five parts:
Reality Check: Where you are right now
Strategic Direction: What winning looks like for you
2026 Outcomes: What you're measuring
Action Plan: Your routine for movement, recovery, nutrition, stress
Guardrails: How you know you're slipping and how you get back on track
This isn't about more workouts or stricter diets.
It's about strategic clarity on what health is for in your life.
Part A: Reality Check
Before you plan where you're going, acknowledge where you are.
Answer these honestly:
Current strengths: Not physical strengths. What's working? Where do you have consistency or capacity? Do you have a gym membership or a time during the day that makes exercise a routine?
Current constraints: Physical limitations? Time constraints? Energy levels?
Stress & recovery capacity: How's your sleep? How does stress affect your sleep, eating, or movement habits?
Emotional factors: Do you celebrate with food or drinks? Do you lose motivation after a hard day?
You can't design a plan for the person you wish you were. You design it for who you are, then build from there.
Part B: Strategic Direction
Define what "winning with health" means for YOU this year, not what it means for someone on Instagram.
Answer these three questions:
Physical capacity I want to have: What do you want your body to be able to do by the end of 2026? Think capabilities, not metrics. Examples: I want to play with my kids without pain, I want to have energy throughout the day.
Lifestyle rhythm I want to live in: What does a sustainable health routine look like in your life? Be realistic about your schedule, family demands, and energy. Is it 20 minutes a day, or two hours? Morning or evening?
What your health is important for: Why does your health matter? Do you need energy for work, or more with your family after?
Notice how none of these ask how much weight you want to lose, or how strong/fast you want to get. These tie into your identity work from week 1. The why is far more important than the what. The what is far more impossible when you know the why.
Part C: 2026 Outcomes
Set 2-3 specific outcomes you'll measure this year.
These should be realistic, meaningful to YOU, and focused on sustainability.
Examples of useful metrics:
Consistency: "I move my body 4+ days most weeks"
Energy levels: "I wake up feeling rested most mornings"
Capability: "I can play with my kids without getting winded"
Recovery quality: "I bounce back from hard days without feeling wrecked"
Not useful:
"Lose 20 pounds" (why 20? does that number mean anything for your energy or capability?)
"Look like I did at 25" (you're not 25, and that doesn't tell you if you're healthy now)
The test: Does this metric tell you if your health is serving your life?
If yes, track it. If no, ignore it.
"If nothing else happens this year but THIS, I'll call it a win."
What's the one outcome that makes 2026 a health success for you?
Part D: Action Plan
This is your routine. Perfection isn’t the goal. A perfect plan is one you stick to.
Answer these four questions with specifics:
Movement: What will you do? How often? When? Example: "Walk 20 minutes every morning before work. Lift weights Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday evenings."
Recovery & Sleep: What time will you go to bed? What helps you sleep better? Example: "In bed by 10:30pm on weeknights. No phone after 10pm. Read for 20 minutes to wind down."
Nutrition: What will you eat for your main meals? When do you eat? Example: "Eggs and toast for breakfast. Protein + vegetables for lunch and dinner. Meal prep on Sundays."
Stress Management: What will you do when stress builds? How often? Example: "10-minute walk when I feel overwhelmed. Call a friend once a week. Sunday night planning session to reduce weekday chaos."
Write down specifics. Times, frequencies, actual activities.
Tip: Start with activities that feel natural or enjoyable to you. If you've never boxed, a boxing class probably isn't sustainable. If you hate running, don't build a plan around running. Choose what you'll show up for.
Tip: Use AI to help you build a quick plan. Describe your situation, constraints, and goals—let it suggest a starting framework you can adjust.
The rule: If you can't sustain it when life gets chaotic, it's not a plan. It's a fantasy.
Part E: Guardrails
Everybody slips. We get sick, overwhelmed, busy. You need a plan B in place when life gets messy.
Start by identifying your warning signs. These are flags that signal your optimal routine isn’t working.
Examples:
Skipping workouts 2 weeks in a row
Eating fast food 3+ times a week
Feeling irritable or exhausted constantly
Skipping meals or relying on caffeine to function
Write down 2-3 signals that mean you're losing consistency.
When you catch those warning signs, what's the bare minimum you can do to stay in the habit instead of shutting down completely?
This isn't your normal routine. It's what you do when life is chaos and you just need to not quit.
Minimum Examples:
10-minute walk
One real meal
In bed by 11pm
Move your body 3 times (any activity, any duration) this week
Eat protein at 2 meals per day
The point: When you're slipping, hit your minimums. Don't try to do your full routine. Just stay in the game until you bounce back.
Write down your minimum day or minimum week right now.
What Matters
I used to be a college wrestler. Every workout was intense. Every session had a purpose: get faster, get stronger, get better.
Now I'm a dad who wants to play with my kid when I get home from a long day. Without knee pain. Without being too exhausted to show up.
What "healthy" means changed. The plan had to change too.
That's the point: your health plan should fit the season of life you're in and what being healthy means to you right now.
The best health plan isn't the one that gets the fastest results.
It's the one you'll still be doing three years from now.
You can't copy someone else's routine and expect it to work for your life. Different schedule. Different body. Different priorities.
You can't sustain a system that only works when conditions are perfect. Life won't stay perfect.
The health plan that lasts is the one you design for yourself. Built around your schedule, your constraints, your goals.
That's what this framework does. It removes the guessing and the comparison.
What's left is a plan that fits your life.
What's Next
Next week: Relationships & Partnership.
We'll cover how to run your closest relationship like a strategic partnership and why alignment matters more than romance when you're both building something.
Until then, work through the five parts for health:
Reality Check: Where am I now?
Strategic Direction: What does winning look like for me?
2026 Outcomes: What am I measuring?
Action Plan: What's my routine?
Guardrails: How do I know I'm slipping and how do I get back on track?
Write it down. Make it yours.
See you Tuesday.
Run Your Life Like a Business: The Strategic Planning Series for 2026
This is Week 2 of 8. If someone you know needs to hear this, forward them this email.