I used to worry about December. It’s the one time when “everyone” will have time off.

It’s the month when our business overheads are the same – but the team will be unavailable for 1/4 of the week, and I will be “running the ship” alone.

A month where clients tend to be checked out in early December, and the general tendency is for them to procrastinate decisions till January.

As a business owner, responsible for my business’s longevity and security, I didn’t enjoy this aspect.

However I’ve since learned, it’s a limiting belief.

In recent times, I have seen these things happen in December month:

• People deciding to go for a project so it’s ready to start in the new year
• People wanting to spend the rest of their year’s budget, investing in marketing to start the next year off strong
• People seeing the upcoming break as a time to really put their mind on their plan for the next year, and wanting some guidance from us, to shape their thinking.
• It’s a great time to catchup with old contacts who in between the rest time/family time wouldn’t mind connecting with other business owners they know
• The weeks between Xmas and New Year is the time within my business where I feel I can review the year, note what we learned, plan for the next year etc.

Why worry?

I feel much more capable and positive, knowing that with consistent hard work, and sticking to our values, we’ve done well.

Since I’ve been running my business for over two decades, I have learned that many of the previous versions of me worried unnecessarily, and now I can look at things with more open eyes.

Plus, a little bit of worrying has served me, as it stops me from being complacent. Imagine if it was all easy?

I have never been bored with my business, and this is partly due to the challenges I have worried about, thought about, worked out in my head and implemented solutions for.

What I do instead

A year in numbers. I am so glad that years ago, we had our accountants help us change our tax year to be January 1^st to December 31^st so this gives me a time to review our numbers, quarter by quarter.

Current projects: I also like to review our live projects, and give my mind some more relaxed time thinking about how we can bring fresh ideas. It’s the only time of the year where “everyone” is off, so I make the most of this.

Plan content –this is a time to really immmerce myself into writing and designing for my own business marketing, thinking about campaigns, implementing things I am learning about for our own business and to show clients in the future.

Prep for our 2 Day Annual: I know we have our “2 Day Annual” which is one of the habits of businesses who run the EOS operating system. We review the past year and the past quarter, and we set our annual plan, whichshould be a clear and actionable plan for the upcoming year. We also define the key priorities and goals to be achieved in the coming year.

For me, December is no longer a month of worry for me but a time of opportunity and reflection.

By embracing the unique advantages this month offers, I’ve reframed it it into a period of growth and preparation. The key to success lies in our perspective and how we choose to utilise our time. As

Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”

So now, I seize December and turn it into a powerful springboard for the coming new year!