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BrandTherapy #3: A quieter way to close the year

Andy Brenits

Principal, Brenits Creative

A Start, Stop, Continue list is one of the simplest ways to regain clarity at the end of the year. It helps you choose what to invest in, what to let go of, and what’s already working. And it often leads to calmer, more confident decisions going forward.

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Audio Note Length | 3 min 46 sec

As the year comes to a close, many business owners naturally start thinking about what’s next.

Before you dive into strategic planning, there’s a quieter, more valuable moment worth paying attention to: the moment to decide what not to carry forward into the next year.

One of the simplest ways I do that, both personally and professionally, is with a Start, Stop, Continue list. I don’t use it as a tool to surface insights before real planning takes over. Think of it as a pre-planning strategic exercise.

The strategy to try

Start, Stop, Continue isn’t about creating a better to-do list. It’s about making better decisions.

What makes this framework helpful is its restraint. It forces you to look at your business honestly and ask:

  • What actually deserves more intentional investment?
  • What no longer fits, even if it once worked?
  • What’s quietly effective and should be protected?

Used this way, it becomes less about marketing tactics and more about clarity, focus, and alignment. You can use it for any aspect of your business, too.

Why this matters

Most brand and marketing drift doesn’t come from bad ideas. It comes from accumulation.

Things get added. Very little gets removed.

Over time, effort spreads thin, energy gets diluted, and decisions become reactive instead of intentional.

The businesses that feel the most focused and sustainable are usually the ones that are just as disciplined about what they stop as about what they start. That discipline shows up everywhere: in their brand, their client experience, and their leadership.

Clarity, more often than not, is a subtraction problem.

Here’s what to do this week

Start by taking fifteen quiet minutes and writing down everything you did to market your business this year. Don’t judge it. Just get it out of your head and onto the page.

Once that list is in front of you, write three short follow-up lists:

  • Things to start
  • Things to stop
  • Things to continue

Don’t aim for completeness. Aim for honesty. Whatever comes to mind first is usually worth paying attention to.

If you want to pressure-test that thinking, or see patterns you might miss on your own, let AI help. Using your favorite AI tool (for example, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.), here’s a prompt you can use:

I run a [type of business] that [what you do] for [your primary audience].

Below is a list of everything I did to market my business in 2025:

[paste your list here]

Using this information, help me plan my marketing for 2026 with a Start, Stop, Continue list.

First, ask me a few short questions about each activity’s results (what worked, what didn’t, what felt draining or energizing).

Then, based on my answers, suggest:

– What I should start doing next year

– What I should stop doing

– What I should continue and protect

In the Start section, automatically suggest 1–3 new marketing ideas or approaches I haven’t tried yet, based on my business, audience, and preferences.

If something in that process feels harder to answer, or more consequential, that’s usually a good signal you’re looking in the right place.

That’s all we have time for today.

Until your next BrandTherapy session,
Andy

I’m Andy Brenits, a brand and business growth strategy advisor. I work with business owners and leaders who want clearer thinking around brand, marketing, and growth—before time, money, or momentum are wasted.

My perspective is shaped by nearly 30 years of experience across brand strategy, creative leadership, teaching, and in-house roles inside complex organizations. I write about how strategy actually works in the real world, with a focus on clarity, judgment, and better decision-making over tactics or trends.

These insights are for people responsible for meaningful decisions and long-term outcomes, building thoughtful brands and sustainable businesses one clear move at a time.

If that sounds useful, you’re welcome to subscribe to On-Brand/Off-Brand.

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