Stop waiting for the perfect moment – you’ve got time left right now.
Normally I hit December and mentally write it off, start planning for January. Push any task I can down the road to deal with later. It’s effectively a month off, right? There’s not really enough time to focus on something new. The year is all but over, may as well embrace it and look to the new year.
That’s what I told myself. What a load of rubbish.
This year I’m seeing December differently. And I’m loving it. It’s exciting to see what I can still get done. And, instead of pushing things until January, I’m asking what I can get done now to be ready for January. Building momentum instead of slowing down.
Here are 5 reasons December matters more than January:
1. It’s not over
There’s at least 10 working days left in the month (as I’m writing this). What could you do in 10 working days? What would you normally do in 10 working days?
Last week, this week and the one after are the busiest weeks I’ve had in months. It’s magic.
The point is, whether you’ve got 1 day or 10 days, there are things you can do. So, if you’re reading this on 25th March (or 10th June, or 17th August), there are still days left in the month where you can get things done.
2. 1st January isn’t magic
Yes, for some people it’s a fresh start. It can have the feeling of a blank piece of paper where anything can happen. But it’s not magic.
The start of a week, a month, or a year can be incredibly motivating. Sometimes even inspiring. But, if you tell yourself that 1st January, or a Monday, or the 1st of any month is when things will start to happen. You are waiting for perfect. This is procrastination in disguise.
I know. I was the master of procrastination. I wrote off week after week. Month after month. And my years didn’t live up to my expectations either. All I felt was exhausted. The internal chatter. Missed opportunities. Missed deadlines. No progress.
3. Small actions compound
Atomic Habits by James Clear and Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg were game changing books for me. Before I discovered the concept of small. Or understood that tiny actions compound. I was waiting for perfect. The perfect two hours. The perfect weekend. The perfect time off. These were the times I was going to get my side hustle off the ground. Only, it took me years. And, when I did, I still couldn’t figure out how to build momentum.
Then I tried making everything small. 10 minutes here. 20 minutes there. It didn’t matter if I got 1 thing done or 10. The goal was to get something done every day. Things started to shift. This shift created momentum until eventually I was able to swap my side hustle for my main hustle.
Momentum is easier to maintain than to create from zero. So, I’m not stopping. No, I’m not crazy. And I’m not going to burnout. I factor in time off and I’ll be having a chunk of time off over Christmas. I can’t remember the last time I did that.
Another benefit of keeping going in December is proving to yourself that you can act. Not just plan to act. Actually get things done. This will make it easier to get going in January.
4. Founder mindset
Recently I’ve been surrounding myself with successful business owners. These people have a completely different outlook on life. And work. The energy in the room is brilliant. The conversations are productive. If you were a fly on the wall, you’d have to double check it was December.
These are the people who are succeeding at running their own business. Every day is another day to get something done. This is a founder mindset. Not an employee mindset. I’ve been talking a lot about employee and entrepreneur systems. They are fundamentally different. But over the last few weeks I’ve been noticing that it’s more than systems. It’s mindset too.
5. It’s not too late
What does ‘it’s not too late’ mean? It’s not about cramming in everything you didn’t get done this year (or week or month). It’s about deciding what you want to get done with the time you’ve got left. A realistic target. Something you’ll definitely get done.
When you achieve this mini goal, you’ll end the year (or week or month) on a high. You will celebrate an achievement instead of all the things you never got to. It can be something tiny. The important thing is that it moves you forward. Even just the tiniest of steps.
At the start of each week in December, I’m writing down one thing I want to get done. Then, I’m breaking these things down into smaller steps.
So, my website needs overhauled. Monday, I reviewed what I’ve got (20 minutes). Tuesday, I wrote a list of the things I wanted to keep (10 minutes). Wednesday, I focused on what I wanted to add (25 minutes). Thursday, I drew a wireframe (30 minutes). Friday, I drafted the content for the homepage (45 minutes).
Is the website launched? No. But I’ve started. I’ve done the hardest part. The part that’s been swirling around in my head for over a month.
Next week I want to refine my business plan. So, by the end of the week I will have a draft plan that I’d be comfortable sharing with someone for feedback. I have the template, so on Monday I’ll review the template and see which sections I need and whether the order works logically for me. I’ll then assign sections to the rest of the days in the week.
At the end of last week, did I have the perfect website? Absolutely not. Nowhere near. But I did make progress. This week, will I have a final business plan? No, I won’t. But I will have something to share that will help me to refine it.
Don’t set yourself up to fail
Don’t set yourself up to fail with huge December goals. If you just read my weekly plan and panicked. Stop, set yourself one task to complete by the end of the year. Then break it down into 10 steps (or more). Still feel daunted? Break them down again. Make them so small you can complete them in under 5 minutes.
The point about the rest of the year is to build momentum. You aren’t setting out to transform your life or business. You are taking small steps to build momentum ready to pick up and carry on in January. Or you’re taking small steps today to build momentum ready to pick up an carry on tomorrow, or next week, or next month.
You haven’t wasted time
Are you reading this and thinking you’ve wasted time. There’s too much to do. There’s no point in trying. What if you were wrong? What if achieving one tiny goal today set the tone for tomorrow?
I know that one small action made November better than October. So, I know that building on this in December will mean that December is better than November. Then I can keep this going into January.
I work with people who want to stop procrastinating. They want to stop the internal chatter that never results in action. Book a free discovery call to find out how I can help you focus on the things you want to do.
