10 Small Changes I’m Making for More Peace and Profit in 2026
It’s time to embrace more peace in your life and take home more money in your small business in 2026. I’m sharing 10 small shifts I’ve made going into the new year that helps me do just that. Of course, take what works for you and leave the rest but I hope it gives you some ideas or inspiration for how you can bring home more bacon with more calm.
Hello, World!
Hello and thank you so much for being here. I’m really excited to be chatting with you.
This episode is a peek into my life and business and I’m sharing some things that I’m doing differently this year for more peace in my life and more profit in my design business, so you’ll be hearing me share a mix of both, personal and professional things that are helping me and I hope these give you some ideas to try for yourself or maybe this could just be fun to hear about or even inspire you to do more things that can add to feeling more peaceful and making more money in 2026 as I’m recording this but I think these things can be applied in whatever month or year it may be as you’re listening to this.
Have we met?
Before I dive in, if you’re new to this podcast or new to me, just to give you a bit of background, Hi! I’m RuthAnn. I’ve had my women-centered graphic design studio for 9 years, going on 10 next month, and I work with coaches and service providers who are ready for their next level of growth with a brand and website that shares their expertise and authority with ease. I help women look and feel their best with a brand that represents them well and a website poised to sell.
And I have been doing this for almost 10 years, which is wild to think about. But I just love being a business owner and having that flexibility and freedom and being able to prioritize my life and then have my business shape around everything that I'm doing in my life. It's just such a gift and a blessing. an entrepreneur.
Being an entrepreneur is not easy, but it has a lot of upsides. And if you can navigate the hard times, it's definitely a wonderful track to go down. On the personal side, I have three little kiddos. My oldest will be six next month. My youngest is one. And so my business has evolved over time as my family has expanded and my time capacity has really decreased as I'm a stay at home mom.
I'm also homeschooling my oldest who's in kindergarten. So with that being said, life is busy with work, with kids, with keeping up with tasks at home, being a good wife, a good friend, all the things. It can be a lot. I shared in episode 62 my year in review episode how I really hit a wall of burnout and also just feeling overwhelmed with life in general in 2025 and after I went through that period I made some big and small changes that have really helped me.
And after I went through that, I made some big and small changes that have really helped me. And so this is this episode is kind of a continuation of some of those small changes I've made, even more small changes I've made that are really helping me in my life and business. And I'm excited to share.
These are not prescriptive. definitely take what works for you and leave the rest. I don't want this to feel like you have to do what I'm doing or this is just the path I'm on and I'm excited to share some ideas with what's working for me. So I'm gonna start off with five personal things that are doing, so I'm gonna start off with five personal things I'm doing that have given me more peace and then we'll go into five.
5 small changes I’ve made for more peace in my life:
Waking up earlier
45 min to be exact. I used to get up when the kids got up and it was really hard because I woke up to crying and needing to get dressed and ready for the day and it was a stressful way to start the morning. And then I decided I needed some time for myself, and even though I dislike waking up early it was something I wanted to do so I could get that time for myself. So I now wake up at 6:30am which for me is early. My kids wake up around 7:15 / 7:30 so I have about 45 min to do my workout, I do this express pilates workout in the morning right now that I love, just on my phone on YouTube, and I get ready, I listen to the Bible app when I’m putting my makeup on and it’s just a really nice way for me to start the day. Instead of scrambling and feeling frustrated that I didn’t have time to get ready properly, I have some space and time to be still, to move my body, and ground myself for the day.
Ryze Coffee
This may not seem like much, but for me it’s been really great. I started drinking mushroom coffee back when it first came out like 10 years ago and it’s gotten SO much better over the last decade. It almost takes like regular coffee and I must say, I get the decaf version which doesn’t taste AS good as the regular coffee, but it’s really helped me feel more focused, energized and I just really look forward to my morning cup of ryze. I will link to this in the shownotes if you’re curious and want to check it out. I’m not an affiliate with them or anything it’s just been one of those small changes I’ve made that I can feel has made a difference for me.
Reading my Bible before bed
My word for the year is Simplicity and and as a Christian, as a believer, it’s really important to me that I make time for spending time in the Word and with Jesus. But I didn’t want to overcomplicate this or make this hard. I just wanted the easiest step I could take so I could continue it even when the motivation wasn’t there. So I just read 1 chapter before bed and it’s a simple thing to do, but it’s made a really big difference, ending the day with centering my mind and thoughts on Christ and giving him all my burdens, joys, pains, and fears, and hopes. And then going to sleep. Ya know things affect you as you go to sleep as you wake up, it’s connected and the more you can allow yourself to center and be grounded when you sleep or when you wake up it really plays into your day and how you take on daily life.
Not consuming the news
And I have to say, in the past I’ve been one of those people that knew everything that was going on and kept up to date on all the headlines and national stories, but lately, I have not kept up with anything and it’s given me a lot of peace of mind. And I’m not saying it’s good to be oblivious but I AM saying, if you feel like your mind and life are already full of home, kids, school, work, you name it, it’s ok to let go of something that causes stress, even if its being informed. Whatever works for you is great, and lately for me that’s just not consuming any news. Period.
No social media pressure
I want to preface this and say I AM on social media, but I haven’t felt any need or desire to post or do “proof of life” or anything like that, and that feels really peaceful. I don’t have to post what me and my kids are doing, or a shot of my workdesk or anything like that, and I’ll admit sometimes I go through phases where I love sharing those things, but as we came into 2026 I felt even more resolute on the fact that I didn’t want to feel beholden to share on social media, and so while I already wasn’t very active, I’ve really cut down my consumption and sharing and that has given me more peace for sure.
5 professional changes I’m making in my small business for more profit:
As I mentioned in the beginning of this episode, I've been in business for many years, so profit in my business has always ebbed and flowed in different years and different seasons and life of like raising babies. But these things I’m about to share have increased my profit margins in the last six months or even the last two months as I'm sharing these things while working less than I ever have in the entirety of my life and business. I am working probably eight hours tops with childcare a week. This is the least amount of hours I've ever worked, but I am working hard to increase the profits on those hours because this is just what I have time for right now.
Being in a busy motherhood season, this is what I can do. And so really prioritizing that profit has been a great way for me to to keep up with the amount of revenue I want and also, you know, working the fewest amount of hours I can. number one, so let's go into these:
No credit cards
I've always bootstrapped my business and I've never gone into debt for it. But I have had a credit card that I would pay off at the end of every month in my personal life and in my business. And I decided I wanted to do away with credit cards in 2026. This is a New Year's resolution goal for me and I just wanted to see what it would be like if I can just cash flow whatever I needed or wanted with the equipment contractors, etc on the business side.
So this is a relatively small shift that is has increased my take-home pay. Even though I always paid off my credit card at the end of the month I think subconsciously I always felt like I could spend more and now as I'm paying for everything with the money I have in the bank I'm just more aware and more hesitant even to spend it because I really want to make sure it's something I actually need and want.
So instead of just saying like, I'll just put on a credit card. I'm like, okay, do I really want to use this thing? Do I really need this thing? And really questioning, yeah, if it's really beneficial to me and my clients and in my work, like is it making my life easier?
How much is it making my life easier? Can I do something else in its place? It's allowed me to get creative with what I'm doing, so that has been an interesting thing so far. And I'm really happy about the progress so far.
Reviewing subscriptions
This is a practice I do regularly, maybe every 3-6 months and it’s something I’ve found myself doing more and more, like checking every couple weeks, because I want to be so sure I need something and I’m not just paying for something that I truly don’t need. Is there a different way I can go about this, I have a subscription to Zoom, do I really need Zoom or can I switch to Google Meets? It’s just getting really intentional with the money going out, cause the less that goes out the more you can keep or reinvest in the business.
No more contractors
This is actually a bigger shift, last year I had all types of contractors, I had a bookkeeper, a VA, and a lot of people helping me. And this year, it’s just me, while I do have a couple contractors who can help with client projects if I need them, it’s mainly me again doing all the work. And I know so many people might gasp at this, you don’t have help, how are you doing it all? And the answer is, I’m not. I’m doing what I can when I can, and it’s honestly a relief that I don’t have to manage anyone right now. With how full my personal life is, it’s a breath of fresh air being able to do things myself and not worry about anyone else. Will there come a time when I bring on team members again? Absolutely, but for now, keeping it to me, myself, and I is working well. AND contractors was my biggest expense last year by far, and being able to bring that work back to me, is work yes, but it’s work I truly love and it’s saving me lots of money so I can take home more.
Working with 1 rebrand or brand and website redesign client at a time.
Last year I got to the point where I was juggling like 8 or 9 projects at once and it was a lot. And this year, I’m taking on less so I can focus on the timeline and complete their work fast which increases profitability. This is also another way I’m able to do the work myself, and also spend less time working. If I only have 1 project at a time it’s easy for me to get it done on my own. Is it shiny and glamorous? No, it’s something no one talks about, but it’s a beautiful way to run a business as a service provider and take good care of my clients and take more money home in the end.
Tracking my metrics
This is something I recently started doing and it’s truly a way to increase profits. Because if you’re not tracking your metrics, you don’t know if that time you’re spending on social media is paying off, or if your pins on pinterest are getting the traffic you want, or if your freebie is getting the subscribers you want. You don’t know unless you track how things are going. And this can be for leads, email subscribers, website visitors, social media, you can track wherever you’re showing up and you can see how things are either helping you, hurting you, or you need to try a different approach to get the results you want.
So let’s recap. The 5 small changes I’m making for more peace:
Waking up earlier in the morning
Drinking Ryze coffee in the mornings
Reading 1 chapter of my Bible before bed
Not consuming the news
Letting go of any social media pressure to “post” or “keep up”
5 Things for more profit that I’m doing this year:
No credit cards
Reviewing and deleting subscriptions that are no longer a fit
Cut back on contractors and team
Working with 1 rebrand client at a time
Tracking my metrics
So far, these things have already made a big positive impact on my personal peace and on my take home pay. I hope this inspired you to think about the little changes or tweaks you can make that can help you do the same, and if you already have things you’re doing that have really helped you I would love for you to share them with me, you can email me at ruthann@rartspace.com or send me a message on Instagram. While I’m not on there very much I do check the DMs and am always down for a chat. Or if you’re feeling extra generous, share this episode and tag me so I can thank you. That would be awesome.
Thank you so much for listening and until next time, have a beautiful rest of your day.
