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Let’s get real for a second.

This time of year? It can feel like you’re trapped in someone else’s productivity fever dream.

The school year starts. The inbox explodes. LinkedIn is full of people talking about “crushing Q4.” And suddenly you’re scrolling through everyone’s “final push” posts thinking, “Wait, how is it almost the end of the year and I still feel like I’m running behind?”

You’re not alone in that feeling.

Maybe you’re looking at your January goals and they feel like they were written by a stranger. Maybe you’ve been duct-taping your business together with tutorials, templates, and hope, and you’re exhausted from working so hard with so little to show for it.

Or maybe you’ve just been keeping so many plates spinning that even thinking about “finishing strong” feels like another item on an already impossible to-do list.

Here’s my hot take: The entire concept of “finishing strong” is broken.

It assumes you should be sprinting to some imaginary finish line, cramming in more goals, more launches, more content, more everything because somehow December 31st is magical and January 1st is a complete reset.

But what if I told you that’s actually the least strategic thing you could do right now?

I’ve been there. I’ve set the shiny revenue goals, chased the big launches, said yes to way too much. And I’ve hit those big numbers and still felt weirdly disconnected from the win, like I was performing someone else’s version of success.

That’s why I don’t “hustle to the finish” anymore. Instead, I reset. Strategically. Intentionally. And honestly? A little rebelliously.

This episode is not about making you do more. It’s about guiding you to choose better and to start thinking of this season as a bridge, not a cliff.

Here’s what we’re going to do together:

We’ll identify what’s actually working in your business right now, the quiet wins you’re probably overlooking, and we’ll release the stuff that’s stealing your energy without giving much back.

I’ll show you exactly how I shift my routines and habits now, before January, so I’m not showing up to the new year with a blank page and burnout baggage.

And we’ll talk about why saying no to 10 good ideas in favor of one bold aligned move might be the most strategic thing you do all year.

This is about getting realigned with what you actually want from your life and your work. It’s about redefining what “finishing strong” means, and it might not look anything like what Instagram is telling you it should.

So if you’re ready to finish the year on purpose with clarity, with boundaries, and with momentum that actually lasts, this is for you.

1. You Don’t Need Another Goal, You Need a Filter

Here’s something nobody talks about: I’ve done the shiny goals. I’ve hit six-figure launches, had the milestone moments that look impressive in Instagram stories, and honestly? Some of them felt completely flat.

Why? Because I was chasing proof, not alignment. I was building someone else’s version of success and wondering why it didn’t fit.

Productivity expert Cal Newport talks about this in his book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout. 

He says most of us are suffering from what he calls “pseudo-work”: the feeling of being busy without actually moving toward meaningful outcomes. Sound familiar?

Here’s what shifted everything for me: I stopped asking “What should I achieve?” and started asking “How do I want to feel as I’m achieving it?”

Now I filter every single goal through what I call the “Life-Giving Test”: Will this give me life, or take from it?

It sounds simple, but it’s revolutionary. Because when you start asking that question, you realize how much energy you’ve been pouring into goals that were never really yours to begin with.

I literally have a three-part filter now:

• Peace: Does this support my nervous system or activate my stress response?
• Profit: Does this move my business forward in a meaningful way, or is it just busy work with revenue potential?
• Purpose: Does this align with the impact I want to make, or am I just checking boxes?

If a goal doesn’t touch at least one of these, and ideally all three, it doesn’t make the cut. Period.

Here’s your homework for this section:

1. Audit your current goals ruthlessly. I want you to look at everything on your Q4 list and ask:

• Which of these actually serve the season I’m in right now?
• Which ones are just “shoulds” or things I think will look good?
• Which ones am I doing because I think I’m supposed to, not because I actually want to?

2. Run the Life-Giving Test. For each remaining goal, honestly ask: Will this give me life, or take from it?
3. Curate, don’t collect. One or two deeply aligned goals will create more momentum than stacking five half-hearted ones that drain your energy.

When you focus on goals that actually pass your filter, you’re not just getting more done, you’re building a year that feels like it was designed for you, not for the highlight reel.

The rebellion here? You don’t need to stack more goals. You need the courage to eliminate the wrong ones.

2. The Revenue Reality Check

Before we talk about pacing, let’s talk about profit. Because here’s something I’ve learned the hard way: not all revenue is created equal.

I used to look at my income and think, “Great, I made money this month!” But when I actually broke it down? Half of that revenue came from things that were absolutely exhausting me. I was making what I call “busy revenue” instead of “aligned revenue.”

Here’s the difference:

Busy revenue keeps you trapped on the hamster wheel. It’s the $100 course that requires 20 hours of customer service. It’s the client work that pays well but drains your soul. It’s the affiliate income from promoting things you don’t actually believe in.

Aligned revenue comes from systems that serve you while you rest. It’s the course that sells itself. It’s the client work that energizes you. It’s the products that people buy because they genuinely solve problems you care about solving.

Business strategist Kat Norton puts it perfectly: “Revenue without sustainability is just expensive busy work.”

I want you to do what I call the Revenue Reality Audit. Look at your last three months of income and categorize everything into three buckets:

1. Energy-Giving Revenue: What made you money AND filled you up? What felt aligned and sustainable?
2. Energy-Neutral Revenue: What made you money but felt like work? Not terrible, but not exciting either.
3. Energy-Draining Revenue: What made you money but left you exhausted, resentful, or questioning your life choices?

Here’s what most people discover: they’re working twice as hard because they’re chasing revenue streams that don’t actually serve their bigger vision.

Your homework: Audit your revenue sources right now. Which ones pass the Life-Giving Test? Which ones are you doing just because you think you should?

The goal for Q4: Focus on growing the energy-giving revenue and strategically eliminating or restructuring the energy-draining stuff. Because making money at the expense of your sanity isn’t a business model, it’s a burnout plan.

3. Call It a Season, Not a Sprint

Can I share something vulnerable? Becoming a mom completely rewired my approach to productivity, and it was the best business decision I ever made.

I stopped flooring the gas pedal on everything. I started learning what author and researcher Brené Brown calls “sustainable intensity” – showing up with your whole heart without burning yourself out in the process.

These days, I build rhythms, not sprints. And here’s why that’s actually more profitable: sustainable pace creates sustainable results.

If you’ve followed me over the past seven years, you’ve seen this evolution. I don’t overbook my calendar anymore. I design launches around my energy, not just market opportunity. I let seasons be seasons, and I’ve never been more successful or more aligned.

Here’s the thing the hustle culture won’t tell you: Your business needs you to be a human being, not a productivity machine.

When you’re constantly sprinting, you’re making decisions from depletion. When you’re in a sustainable rhythm, you’re making decisions from clarity. Which do you think serves your business better?

Entrepreneur and author Tara McMullin says it perfectly: “Productivity isn’t about doing more things. It’s about doing the right things in a way that honors your capacity.” That’s what we’re after here.

Your practical steps:

1. Choose your pace on purpose. What is genuinely sustainable for you right now? Not what you think you should be able to handle, but what actually works with your life, your energy, and your current season?
2. Do the calendar audit. Look at your Q4 calendar right now. What needs to pause so you can finish without completely unraveling? I give you permission to disappoint the version of yourself who thought you could do it all.
3. Design your Q4 to protect your peace, not prove your capacity. This might be the most radical thing I say all episode: Your worth is not measured by how much you can handle before you break.

The goal isn’t to see how much you can squeeze in before December 31st. The goal is to finish this year feeling like the CEO of your life, not like life happened to you.

4. Move the Starting Line Back

I’m about to share something that might make you uncomfortable, but I need you to hear it: The way you end this year is training your future self.

If you finish 2025 burned out, scattered, and running on fumes, that’s exactly how you’re programming yourself to start 2026. But if you finish this year grounded, clear, and energized? That’s the foundation you’re building for next year.

This is about moving your starting line back from January 1st to right now.

Let me get specific about where I see this playing out. I know exactly where my burnout lives, and it lives on social media. I can write and create content all day long. But when I feel like I have to show up and perform online every single day? That’s when I start to unravel.

Here’s a stat that might surprise you: One study found that 50% of social media creators have experienced burnout, and 37% have considered quitting entirely. 

If you’re feeling depleted by the constant pressure to show up online, you are not alone, and this overwhelm is a signal, not a personal failing.

Author and business strategist Amber Rae puts it this way: “Burnout isn’t about working too hard. It’s about working in misalignment with your values and energy.” That hit me right in the chest when I first heard it.

So I’ve created what I call “protection rituals” – planned breaks, batch content creation, scheduled off-seasons – all designed to protect my energy so I can show up as myself, not as a performance.

Here’s how to build your version:

1. Identify your burnout triggers. What consistently drains you? Is it constant client communication? Overdelivering? Never logging off? The comparison trap on social media?
2. Create before you scroll. Start your day with something that activates your creativity – journaling, drafting ideas, actual self-care – before you peek at your feed. Your mind needs activation, not reaction.
3. Install protection rituals now. Time blocks, screen breaks, email-free days, whatever helps you stay consistent without sacrificing your nervous system. These aren’t restrictions; they’re investments in your sustainability.
4. Start your January habits today, because here’s what the research tells us: According to a study from the University of Scranton, only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions. But here’s the kicker – people who start habit changes in October or November have a 67% higher success rate than those who wait for January 1st.

Why? Because when you wait for the “fresh start,” you’re relying on motivation instead of integration. You’re trying to become someone new overnight instead of gradually becoming who you want to be.

James Clear talks about this in his book, Atomic Habits: he says the most effective changes happen through what he calls “habit stacking.” You attach a new behavior to something you already do consistently.

So instead of saying “Starting January 1st, I’m going to wake up at 5 AM and journal for an hour,” you start now with “After I pour my morning coffee, I’ll write three sentences in my journal.”

One 10-minute walk. One less scroll session. One earlier bedtime. These micro-habits compound, and starting them now means when January hits, you’re not starting from scratch – you’re already living as the person you want to become.

Here’s the identity shift: You’re not just ending a year, you’re becoming the person who finishes strong without burning out. That person makes different choices. That person sets different boundaries. That person values alignment over achievement.

5. Pick One Bold Move to Focus On (The Strategic Elimination Game)

This is the season of strategic elimination, and I have a mantra that has transformed how I work: “Diluted focus gets diluted results.”

Every time I try to juggle multiple big goals or projects, I get half-traction in ten directions, and that helps no one.

I’m currently reading Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s book, 10x Is Easier Than 2x, and he talks about something that completely shifted my perspective: exponential growth doesn’t come from working twice as hard at what you’re already doing. 

It comes from identifying the 20% of your work that creates the most impact and having the courage to eliminate the other 80%.

That 80%? It’s not bad work. It’s just not your best work. And when you’re trying to do everything, you’re actually doing nothing exceptionally well.

We talk about this in Episode 832: The One Principle Every Entrepreneur Must Master to Maximize Results!

Business strategist and author Greg McKeown calls this “the disciplined pursuit of less.” In his book Essentialism, he writes: “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.” 

That someone else might be social media algorithms, client demands, or just the general chaos of running a business.

Here’s my process for picking that one bold move:

1. Ask the needle-moving question: If I could only accomplish one thing this quarter that would genuinely move my business and life forward, what would it be? Not what looks good. Not what I think I should do. What would actually matter?
2. Create a “stop doing” list. This isn’t just about clearing your calendar, it’s about reclaiming your energy. What meetings, commitments, or projects are you going to intentionally release?
3. Set one clear outcome with three supporting steps. Not ten steps. Not a complex system. Three clear actions that support your one bold move, with deadlines you can actually keep.

This is about going deep, not wide. It’s about designing your Q4 to serve your bigger vision, not just your to-do list.

Here’s the truth: saying no to 10 good ideas in favor of one aligned, bold move is the most strategic thing you can do, not just for your revenue, but for your sanity.

6. Build Habits That Protect Your Future Self (The Science of Starting Now, Not January)

When I say “finish aligned,” I don’t mean your revenue numbers or your Instagram engagement. I mean your well-being, because that’s what actually matters at your dinner table.

But here’s something fascinating that most people don’t know: the last 90 days of the year are actually the most strategic time to start new habits, not January 1st.

Research from Dr. Phillippa Lally at University College London found that it takes an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic. That means if you start a habit today, by the time January rolls around, it’s already integrated into who you are, not something you’re trying to become.

Compare that to New Year’s resolutions, where studies show that 23% of people quit within the first week, 43% quit by the end of January, and only 8% actually achieve their goals.

The difference? Identity-based habits vs. outcome-based goals.

James Clear explains this perfectly in Atomic Habits. He says the most effective way to change your behavior is to focus on who you wish to become, not what you want to achieve. 

Instead of “I want to exercise more,” it’s “I am someone who moves my body daily.” Instead of “I want to be less stressed,” it’s “I am someone who protects my energy.”

For me, finishing aligned looks like:

• A quiet nervous system that isn’t constantly activated
• Mental space to think strategically, not just reactively
• Margin in my mornings so I’m not rushing into my day
• Energy to be fully present with my kids, not just physically there

Here’s something I want you to remember: No one is applauding your Instagram metrics at your dinner table. But the people closest to you absolutely feel the impact of how you show up.

Author and therapist Nedra Glover Tawwab says something that stuck with me: “Rest is not a reward for work completed. Rest is a requirement for work to be sustainable.” Read that again.

Your future self protection plan using habit stacking:

1. Start with what you already do consistently. What’s one thing you do every single day without fail? Brush your teeth? Pour your morning coffee? Check your phone when you wake up? That’s your habit stack anchor.
2. Stack one micro-habit onto that anchor. After I pour my coffee, I’ll write three sentences about what I’m grateful for. After I brush my teeth at night, I’ll set out my clothes for tomorrow. After I check my phone in the morning, I’ll take five deep breaths.
3. Track the feeling, not just the doing. At the end of each week, ask: Did this week give me energy or drain it? What patterns do you notice? Research shows that tracking your emotional state is more predictive of long-term success than tracking the habit itself.
4. Build identity evidence. Every time you do the habit, you’re voting for the type of person you want to become. One meditation session is evidence that you’re someone who prioritizes mental clarity. One boundary you set is evidence that you value your energy.

The rebellion here is choosing to measure success by how you feel in your life, not how you look in your business. Because sustainable success isn’t about what you can achieve once, it’s about what you can maintain while still being the person you want to be.

Here’s the truth: By starting these micro-habits now, you’re not just preparing for a better January, you’re becoming the version of yourself who finishes strong without burning out. 

And that person? She makes different choices. She sets different boundaries. She builds businesses that serve her life, not consume it.

Final Thoughts

Here’s what I hope you’re walking away with today: You don’t have to finish this year by pushing harder. You can finish it by choosing better.

This season isn’t about chasing more. It’s about realigning with your vision, your energy, and your values, and letting that alignment guide what you say yes to.

You didn’t start your business to burn out. You started it to build something that works, something that serves you while you serve others. So let’s stop duct-taping your strategy together and finally give it the foundation it deserves.

So here’s your homework, and I actually want you to do this:

1. Do the audit. Get brutally honest about what’s working in your business and life right now and what’s not. What do you need to release to finish this year feeling proud of how you showed up?
2. Choose your one bold move. Not three goals. Not a complete life overhaul. One meaningful thing that will actually move the needle and align with who you’re becoming.
3. Start the future-self habits now. Whatever you want your January self to be doing, the boundaries, the rhythms, the practices, start them today. Don’t wait for the calendar to give you permission to take care of yourself.

Because here’s the truth: how you finish this year absolutely shapes how you start the next one. And I don’t want you walking into January feeling scattered, scrambled, or behind.

I want you grounded. Clear. Energized.

And proud, not just of what you accomplished, but of how you accomplished it.

You’ve got the skills, the story, and the heart. Now let’s build the system that makes it sustainable!

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