The Year End Pep Talk You Didn't Know You Needed
Did you know that out of 41% of Americans who set New Year’s goals and resolutions, only 9% successfully keep or achieve them?!
In fact, research has shown that most people toss in the towel on their goals as early as January 19th - they’ve even dubbed this day as “Quitter’s Day.” 😳
Now that Black Friday and Cyber Week are over, we’re at that point in the year where the marketing narrative has shifted from “BEST DEAL OF THE YEAR” to “it’s time to start planning for next year.”
It seems like as soon as December hits, our sights are set on the new year ahead and while I’m all for planning and setting goals, I personally believe there’s a lot that can still be done in the remaining 31 days of the year.
Now I’m not saying you have to completely bust it and take no time off for the holidays, but I do believe that you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to serve your audience by writing December off as *only* a goal planning or reflective month instead of viewing it as a “I’m still taking action” month.
I think that because of how society and culture treats the month of December as a whole, we easily fall into the “I’ll start that in January” mentality when in reality, there’s a lot of things that you can start TODAY that will put you way further ahead than if you wait.
This goes for both your personal and professional goals.
For example, let’s say you really want to start working out consistently in 2023. You’ve already decided that going to the gym 3x/week is going to be best for you.
You already have the goal and even the plan, so why not start now? Why not start getting into the habit of going to the gym 3x/week (even if it’s not perfect right away) so that come January your mind and body already know that this is just something you do.
It’s not a new year shock and you have a much better chance at sticking to it.
Or, let’s say that you already know 2023 is going to be the year that you start implementing blogs into your business.
You’ve learned the importance of long form content and you’re ready to house your best content in a place where you own it so that you have ultimate control in case Instagram or TikTok decides to disappear one day.
You know that this is going to be something that you dedicate a lot of your time to in the new year, so why not start NOW? Why not start priming your audience with the shift that’s about to happen and get them prepared and accustomed to how they can expect to receive your content going forward?
Here’s 5 main reasons that I believe we’re all so easily tempted to wait until January 1st to start something new:
We feel like there needs to be a big event or milestone to kickstart new habits (like our birthday or the new year)
It’s easier to start new things when other people are doing it too
We love the IDEA of doing something new more than we love actually doing it
The holidays are our excuse of not doing the things we know we should be doing
Or, maybe the most common reason of all, is that we don’t know where to start… so we never do
Hear me when I say friend, I’m so guilty of this too! If you’re reading this and thinking “yep, that’s me” just know you’re not alone.
I’m here to help you shift these reasons and step into a new way of doing things and START the thing you’ve already set your mind to.
1. Let me ask you: what if December 1st was the big event? Or December 15th?
There’s absolutely nothing special about January 1st no matter how much we try to make ourselves believe that there is. So what if you just decided that [insert date] was going to be your own personal big event?
Decide the date, put it on your calendar and make 👏🏼 it 👏🏼 happen 👏🏼
2. The classic quote “if your friend jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” comes to mind.
Because it’s true - since when do other people define the actions that are best for YOU?! Especially when it comes to your business. What works for them may not work for you and vice versa, so why follow their footsteps if they aren’t proven to lead to the pot of gold in the first place?
I truly believe it’s time that we stop looking to others to make decisions and instead do the thing that feels right to us.
And yes, I get it! You have besties in business and it can be hard to do your own thing. But if you want to create momentum for yourself and truly make moves in the right direction, it’s time to focus on you, your life and your business, friend.
3. Did you know that anticipating plans can give you a bigger mental boost than actually DOING the plans?
For example, think back to a time where you were in charge of planning a big event - maybe it was a surprise party for a friend or a family gathering at your house. The planning is the fun part!
You get to dream up what the day will be like, you get to plan all of the decor and the food and the fun cocktail and you get to plan your perfect outfit.
But when the day finally comes, it can feel a little daunting… 25 people are about to be in my house?! The caterer completely screwed up the order?! I have to actually wash my hair?! WHY did I agree to this?!
When writing this blog I was doing some research and found that this is scientifically backed, so it’s understandable why you may tend to love the thought of your goals more than actually taking action to achieve them.
Even so, you can’t use that as an excuse to NOT take action. The key to overcoming this is that when you’re planning for your goals, you can’t just say “I’m going to start writing blogs next year.”
Instead, you have to make them specific and realistic, such as, “I’m going to write one blog per week in 2023.”
4. I’ll be honest, as an avid celebrator and holiday lover, I fall victim to this one a lot.
It’s so easy for me not to do something during a holiday week or the weeks leading up to a holiday or big event because I’m so overly excited that it can be really hard for me to focus and stick to my routines.
One thing that has really helped me combat this during times of celebration is to intentionally plan and schedule a routine that IS different and allows me to finish work early or take extra days off while still doing the things that must be done.
I’ve had to learn how to create the best of both worlds! The Full Focus Planner has really helped me achieve this, especially during times where I’m tempted to put off to-do’s.
(p.s. you can use code 'NATALIE10' to save a little on your planner!)
If you’re tempted to put off the hard work during the holidays too, I encourage you to give yourself permission to alter your routine and schedule and intentionally design your days so that you’re doing both - enjoying the fun of holidays and big events while still taking action and making progress!
5. Have you ever wanted to start something, but you didn’t have all of the information on HOW to start it so you just don’t? I think we’ve all probably experienced this at some point in our life or business.
Something I’ve learned recently is that no one is waiting on me to start the thing I want to do. It’s my goal, not theirs. Which also means that no one is going to come to my rescue to make sure I have everything I need to get started. It’s up to me.
This my friend is what we call personal responsibility. Personal responsibility is when you take full accountability of your actions (and inactions), decisions (and indecisions), your thoughts, results (or lack thereof).
Personal responsibility is when you remove the blame game and you embrace the fact that you are 100% responsible for all the things that happen in your life and business.
If you don’t know where to start for a goal that you have, it’s up to YOU to go out there and find what you need to get started. Maybe it’s a new course or step by step guide or a mentor.
No one is going to find that for you because at the end of the day, YOU know what you need more than anyone else.
The sooner you can adopt this mindset and go find what you need to take action, the sooner you can make progress toward your goals.
When I started writing this blog post, I had full intentions of letting you know how you could start a blog for your business before January 1, 2023 and it quickly turned into a year end pep talk.
My hope is that you feel fired up to start NOW! I know you probably already have an idea of the things you want to start next year. You’ve written them down, have them on your vision board and you’re just waiting for the calendar to flip to actually take action.
I encourage you to do what most people won’t and take some sort of action on that thing today. The smallest step forward today can put you many steps ahead of the rest in 2023!
How To Start a Blog For Your Business in 2023 (or NOW!)
And if blogs really are one of the things on your list for the new year, the smallest thing you can do today is download the Beginner’s Guide to Blogging For Your Business where you'll learn how to start creating one of the most overlooked assets for your business or brand.
But if you want to take that a step further and actually start creating your blog content WITHOUT reinventing the wheel, the Blog Content Kickstart Kit is for you! There’s 5 spots left for the Starter pack in 2022 and this is truly the thing that can kickstart your blog before the new year.
Here’s to starting now rather than later, friend 🥂