You’ve probably heard the saying that “nothing worth having comes easy.” Like many things in life, a fulfilling and engaging career takes active effort and deliberate planning. Coincidentally, those are skills that we’ve spent years honing as business analysis professionals.
As Business Analysts (BAs), we also spend much of our time thinking about what drives the most value for the businesses and organizations we work for. Which is excellent – that is our role, after all. But with 2026 right around the corner, now is the perfect time to think about driving value in your own career and life. So with this article, let’s take a moment to talk about how you can actively plan for the future with a few of the business analysis skills you’ve (probably) become very familiar with.
Reflect on Past Years
Hindsight is always 20/20 (hey, there’s another one of those famous sayings), so it’s essential to take the time to look back and assess your accomplishments, analyze the challenges you’ve faced, and identify any skill or knowledge gaps.
Assess Your Accomplishments
Reviewing what worked well for you is a great way to take stock of your strengths, and you can do that by assessing your accomplishments. While you’re at it, take a moment to celebrate them too – you’ve earned it! While doing this exercise, look at what you’ve accomplished in your career (whether it’s related to business analysis or not) and take a look at opportunities that you may have not seized and those that slipped by. These can provide valuable lessons, too.
Here are a few example questions that you can ask yourself while you reflect:
- What were your biggest successes this year and in years past? Think beyond just finishing a project to what you accomplished through that project. Did you simplify a complex process or facilitate a challenging workshop that brought everyone to a consensus? Did you land a new job? Think about what motivated you and how you felt after accomplishing that feat.
- What were the aspects of your job or the projects you worked on that you enjoyed most, and why? Understanding what energizes you can help you find fulfillment in your work.
- What opportunities did you miss, and what held you back? Maybe you wanted to lead a discovery session, or you wanted to apply for a new role, but felt you lacked the confidence. Remember, this isn’t about regret—it’s about learning.
Analyze the Challenges You Faced
We can learn a lot by looking at our past wins, but we can take just as many lessons (sometimes even more) by looking at the challenges we’ve faced. When looking back at the difficult situations you’ve come up against, try to identify the obstacles you faced. Were they external (like a stubborn stakeholder, a change in the market, user demands, or shifting priorities) or internal (were you having difficulties managing competing priorities, motivating yourself, or something else)? Be honest but try to avoid blame. This exercise is about gaining an honest perspective on the challenges you faced.
Once you’ve identified those challenges and their potential causes, take a look at how the situation was handled. Was it resolved successfully or poorly? If poorly, what could have been done differently?
Identify Gaps in Skills or Knowledge
Using your own self-assessment or constructive feedback that you’ve received from peers, mentors, or managers, try to identify any gaps in your knowledge and skills. Use the assessments you just completed when looking at your achievements and challenges to help you decide if being more knowledgeable or skilled in a particular area would have helped you achieve your goals more easily or navigate challenges more smoothly.
Ask yourself what skills you relied on most, and which ones you could strengthen. You may be a rockstar at data modeling, but want to improve your presentation skills. If you’re unsure, don’t be afraid to ask peers or mentors for direct feedback; it’s often the fastest way to get a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses.
Define Your 2026 Goals
Clearly defining your career and professional development goals is your next step. Having only a vague idea of your goals makes it difficult to identify and take the steps needed to reach them. But as we know, defining and documenting your ideal future state with clarity and specific details will help you identify the user needs (in this case, your needs) that will help you get there.
First, define your ideal future state. Perhaps it’s becoming proficient in a specific software or coding language, or maybe you’d like to be a confident presenter and meeting facilitator. You define the skills and knowledge to help you shape your ideal career. Then, create your goals. The key is to make your goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Let’s look at a few examples:
Technical Goal: “By June 2026, I will become proficient in SQL by completing an online course and using it to write at least two ad-hoc queries per week for my project team.”
Soft Skill Goal: “I will improve my stakeholder communication skills by leading the requirements elicitation for a new module and presenting weekly progress updates to the project sponsor throughout Q2.”
Certification Goal: “I will earn my CBAP certification by November 2026. I will dedicate one hour per day to studying and will utilize resources like The BA Guide courses and practice exams to prepare effectively.”
Build Your Action Plan
You’ve looked back at your accomplishments and the challenges you’ve faced in your career thus far. You’ve solidified your ideal future state and created the SMART goals to get you there. Next, it’s time to build your action plan. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Prioritize Your Goals & Tasks
We’re all aware of the value of prioritizing user needs. This is another BA skill that will come in handy here too! Much like you would for requirements in a project, you should prioritize your goals based on a few criteria, such as their value, dependence on other goals or tasks, and time/effort required.
Create a Timeline
Because many of us are visual learners, it can be helpful to see a visual model of the steps we need to take or the length of time we expect to reach our goals. Use the SMART goals you created to lay out a visual timeline with monthly milestones (and maybe even a few rewards) to keep you motivated and track your progress throughout the year.
Tools for Success
Make a list of the tools you’ll need to complete your goals. This could include planners or planning software, goal-setting apps, specific resources like the BABOK or courses from The BA Guide, and more!
Stay Accountable and Flexible
As you embark on this professional development journey, remember to keep yourself on track by staying accountable and flexible. Without someone to report back to, it can be easy to miss a study session here or there, but if you do, remind yourself of the benefits and ideal future state you’ve defined. Check in regularly with the timelines and SMART goals you set for yourself. Tell a colleague, friend, or family member your goals if you need to. This can help you stay on track.
But even all the planning in the world can’t stop life from occasionally nudging you off track. It can happen to the best of us. And when it does, remember to be kind to yourself, and plan some time to get back on track when you’re ready. Adjust timelines if you need to. If you’re experienced in the Agile mindset, you know that flexibility and adaptability are valuable traits.
Stop Dreaming of Your Future and Start Creating It
You’ve done all the work to get yourself ready. You’ve clarified and defined your professional goals and made them more manageable and attainable by supporting them with SMART goals. You’ve prioritized your goals and tasks to ensure they’re feasible and deliver you value, and you’ve created a solid and realistic timeline, including motivating milestones to keep you on track.
You are now ready to make 2026 your year of significant professional development and growth. I wish you the ambition to create big goals for yourself, the motivation to keep you driven in pursuing your dreams, and as much caffeine as you need while you pursue this worthwhile journey. I’d love to hear about your goals and how The BA Guide resources can help in the comments below!
-Jeremy Aschenbrenner
The BA Guide
