End the Year Strong!
It’s that time of year where you are looking for a final motivational push to finish the year strong. Finishing the year strong is important so that you have real closure and look forward to the next year. It can really put your mind at ease knowing that you ended the year with full strength and effort. The new year is a time to reset and focus on new goals for your journeys to evolve, so moving into it with optimism about the future is the best way to get the new year started.
According to National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), you should start each day on a positive note. That begins with focus and intention, which is the best way to set yourself up for success. Spend a little time in gratitude and recognized your gift of full control to pursue opportunities each new day brings. Starting your day with a positive mindset consists of a morning schedule that makes you happy, an optimistic approach to the day, and having confidence that goals will be achieved. Starting a day with this kind of positive energy is crucial to eagerly tackle new challenges and unleash creativity and productivity.
Following the morning schedule that gets you off to a positive start—which is different for everyone, but can include gratitude, a nutritious breakfast, a hot latte, and a morning jog — it is time to check the hardest thing off your daily to-do list first. It is not only important to have a list of tasks to complete or milestones to move toward each day, but to prioritize them correctly to accomplish more. Completing your most difficult task of the day first, also known as eating the frog, is a productivity method that sets you up for success early in the day. The technique eliminates spending a day in dread of the challenging task. Once it is complete, you get an adrenaline boost from your accomplishment, which keeps you motivated the rest of the day.
You don’t have to wait until the new year to start pivoting your goals in a new direction. After reflecting on the past year, you may see that some of your goals and strategies need to be changed. You might have discovered a new opportunity to pursue, a more efficient way of doing things, or your priorities for the company have completely changed, so you need to reevaluate what needs to be done in the final quarter. Sometimes pivoting requires you to face mistakes and bad decisions that you made in the past and then make adjustments based on what we learned. It takes a lot of courage to change your course at the end of the year, but facing your fears and new challenges are necessary to achieve success and new growth.
Look ahead to the future with optimism. Finishing strong helps you start the new year strong, so look ahead to the future with optimism. Having a clear picture on how you want the next year to go will serve as motivation to finish strong. There is so much to look forward to each year and finishing strong is going to lead to a more pleasant future with new ideas, goals, and adventure. This push matters!
Additionally, award-winning writer Jon Acuff offers a few ideas on how to end the year strong.
- Do a Quick Year-End Review.
Did you ever have to do a boring, long project review at work with dependencies, performance metrics, and synergistic, cross-department reference charts? Yuck. That’s not the kind of review you’re going to do. Instead, look back over the last year and think about three things that smart people have been thinking about for decades: What do I want to start doing? What do I want to stop doing? What do I want to keep doing? As you reflect on the year, what’s something new you want to try? What’s something old you want to stop? What’s something great you want to keep doing?
- End the Year with Generosity.
One of your goals should be increasing your generosity. Have you ever ordered the fires at Five Guys? That cup overfloweth! Sometimes, in the midst of a busy year, you may overlook opportunities to be both grateful and generous. As you review the last 12 months, always discover reasons to be grateful. Notice good things that you missed the first time around because you were hustling so fast. This gratefulness then tends to turn into generosity, as you look for new ways to pass on the gifts that have been passed on to you.
Gratefulness changes me. Generosity changes the world.
In addition to the tax benefits of year-end giving, when you give to charity organizations, you’ll know that the way you finish this year changes next year for individuals, communities, and countries around the world.
- Ask a Friend One Small Question.
The end of the year can be stressful for a lot of people. There is family drama, year-end work projects, holiday expectations, and a swirl of other emotions stacked into this season. Reach out to one friend and ask this question: “Is there anything you need?”
Why does asking this question matter? Because when you ask someone what they need, they become visible and valuable. That’s what everyone in your life wants to know. “Do you see me? Do I matter?” A little question like that can have a significant impact, especially after a stressful year. Crisis magnifies kindness. The small things you do for your relationships this season are priceless. Ask that one small question and then don’t be surprised if it leads to a big conversation.
- Ask Yourself One Big Question.
Ask yourself one big question: “What do I want to be true a year from now?”
Sit down with a notebook and dream for a few minutes. A year from now, it’s the end of 2025—what’s true of your life? Did you join a new church? Did you run a 5K? Did you write a book? Did you start a podcast? Did you go on a trip? What will you have done that you get to reflect back on? It’s a big question, but it’s a fun one to explore if you’ll give it a little time.
- Focus on the Four Components Every Great Goal Requires.
Goals are not complex. They always involve the same four components: results, actions, time, and motivation. Results are what you flirted with in item number four on our list. What do you want to accomplish? Actions are the physical steps you’ll take to make those results happen. What will you do? Time is everything from the deadline you pick to finish your results to the hours you plan to invest. Motivation is the fuel, fire, passion, or drive that will keep you going way beyond January 1. Most people are okay at dreaming about results but neglect the other three. We’re not most people though. We finish this last year strong and start the new one even better!
2024 is not over yet—you’ve still got a chance to finish strong. When you do, reflect on how it went.
