As we wrap up 2025, I want to invite you to pause before you jump into goal setting, business planning, or strategy for 2026.

In this episode of How to Grow My Small Business, we’re talking about the one thing you need to do before planning for next year—and it has nothing to do with sales funnels, marketing statistics, or even your client work.

If you’re a small business owner, Christian entrepreneur, or faith-led leader who feels:

• discouraged about how this year went

• unsure whether it was a “good year” or a “bad year”

• stuck replaying mistakes, missed goals, or stress

• ready for growth but emotionally exhausted

This episode is for you.

I walk you through why our brains are wired to remember the hard things more than the good, how that affects how we evaluate our business and our lives, and how one simple reflection exercise can completely change how you remember this year—and how you plan the next one.

• Why your brain remembers stress, mistakes, and fear more than wins

• The science behind negative memory bias and how it impacts entrepreneurs

• How faith and awareness help reframe how we evaluate our business year

• The one exercise you should do before setting business goals for 2026

• Why reviewing your photos and calendar can shift your mindset instantly

• How false narratives (like “I didn’t do enough”) quietly sabotage confidence

• Why reflection should come before goal setting and strategic planning

• How to ask God what He wants for your business in the next season

• Faith-based encouragement for business owners coming out of a hard year

• Christian entrepreneurs and faith-led business owners

• Small business owners reflecting on the end of the year

• Entrepreneurs planning goals for 2026

• Business owners struggling with burnout, discouragement, or comparison

• Leaders who want to grow their business without losing perspective or peace

Before you plan what’s next, take time to remember what actually happened.

Your brain won’t automatically remember the good—you have to lead it there on purpose.

This one step may completely change how you view 2025 and how you move into 2026.

How to Grow My Small Business is a podcast for small business owners who want practical sales strategy, sustainable business growth, and faith-based encouragement without hustle culture.

Hosted by Lindsay Fletcher, business growth strategist and sales coach, the show covers:

• sales and follow-up strategies

• lead generation for small businesses

• faith-based business growth

• integrating faith in business

• mindset, time management, and leadership

• building a business with Jesus at the center

• Biblical business strategies
• Christian entrepreneurship
• growing a sustainable business

If this episode encouraged you, make sure to follow the podcast so you don’t miss the final episode of 2025 and what’s coming next.

If this episode resonated with you, share it with a fellow small business owner who needs encouragement heading into the new year.

And remember: You are not behind. You are not failing. And there was more good in this year than your brain is letting you remember.

🎧 Listen to Episode 98 now and take this one step before planning 2026.

TIME STAMPS:

Episode 98 – One Thing You Must Do Before Planning 2026

• 0:00–1:00 – Welcome, episode 98 celebration, faith-based business encouragement

• 1:01–2:10 – End-of-year reflection question: How was this year really?

• 2:11–4:30 – Why our brains remember the bad more than the good (science + survival)

• 4:31–6:20 – The danger of letting your brain define the story of your year

• 6:21–7:30 – The ONE thing to do before planning for 2026

• 7:31–11:30 – Lindsay walks through personal 2025 memories (family, business, faith)

• 11:31–12:40 – Challenging the false narratives we carry about ourselves

• 12:41–14:10 – Why reflection must come before goal-setting

• 14:11–15:40 – Asking God what He wants for your next season

• 15:41–end – Gratitude, encouragement

Episode 97 – Do More of What Works: How to Stop the Hamster Wheel and Grow on Purpose

Are you exhausted from doing all the things in your business… but not really seeing the results you want?

In this episode of How to Grow My Small Business, we’re wrapping up 2025 with a straight-talking, faith-fueled strategy session on one simple idea:

If you want different results, you have to do more of what works—and stop doing what doesn’t.

I share a powerful story Alex Hormozi told about a real estate agent who’s making roughly $13,000 an hour from Facebook Lives (yes, really)… and the wildly simple advice he gave her to scale.

Then we pull that principle into your business and walk through:

• How to identify what’s actually working

• How to spot what’s not working (even if you like doing it)

• How to evaluate every task through a simple “sell or serve” filter

• Why stewardship—not hustle—is the real growth strategy for Christian entrepreneurs

If you’re tired of running on the business hamster wheel and ready to act like the CEO and steward of your time, money, and gifts, this episode will give you the clarity (and the nudge) you need.

• 💡 The $10M Facebook Live example that proves you don’t always need a new strategy—you need more of what works

• 🧮 How to track where your leads and sales are actually coming from (without a complicated system)

• 🎯 The two questions I want you to ask about everything in your business:

  • Does it help me sell?

  • Does it help me serve?

• 🛑 Why some of your favorite activities might be secretly holding your business back

• 📈 How cutting just one low-ROI activity and reinvesting that time or money into a high-ROI one can create exponential growth

• 🙏 What it looks like to move from “managing” your business to stewarding it as a Christian entrepreneur

• Free Live Workshop: 3 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Business 📅 December 10, 2025 – 11:30 a.m. Central 👉 RSVP (and get the replay if you can’t join live): threethings.lindsayfletcher.co

I’ll be teaching the three things that would have saved me years of spinning my wheels:

1. How to set a simple, realistic plan

2. How to get leads

3. How to follow up in a way that actually leads to sales

I’m Lindsay, a business and sales strategist for faith-led small business owners who want to grow without burning out. On How to Grow My Small Business, we talk about:

• Sales that feel natural (not slimy)

• Business growth rooted in stewardship and strategy

• Time management and focus for real-life entrepreneurs

If you’re ready to build a business that actually works—and serves the people God’s called you to—hit follow so you don’t miss the next episode.

🎧 Listen in, then send this to a friend who’s ready to stop doing “all the things” and start doing more of what works.

Gabe Cox is back for a 2nd guest interview on How to Grow My Small Business with Lindsay Fletcher.

Gabe & Lindsay discuss pursuing goals in business and life without hustling. They also discuss Gabe's book "Mind over Marathon".

Gabe Cox is a goal planning and business strategist and the founder of Red Hot Mindset. She helps entrepreneurs personalize and take action on a game plan that works with their capacity in different seasons so that they don't have to sacrifice everything to hit their goals. She teaches how to market your business without relying on social media so that you can ditch the hustle culture for good.

You can connect with Gabe at https://redhotmindset.com and you can find her book at https://redhotmindset.com/mind-over-marathon/