I had a conversation with a colleague the other day and she lamented that she had not gotten as far this year with accomplishing her goals as she would have liked. What alarmed me was that she wrote off this year – and it was only December 1 – saying that it was too late to handle anything more this year and that she would “get to planning to take care of things at the beginning of next year”.

“Whoa!”, I said. First, there are at least three weeks left in December, and productivity in those few weeks can mean a make-or-break difference for completing a goal by December 31. And second, why wait until year-end to make plans for the next year? Actively sitting down, looking back on the first three quarters of the year, assessing what can still be salvaged of the year, and determining how to make the last weeks of the year as productive as possible IS taking action…immediate action.

My clients invest in my holding them accountable through the very last day of the year. And I run popular programs such as my “Create Your One-Page Plan for the New Year” that are full-day sessions taking people through the process of creating their own one-page plans during the workshop so that they leave with their action strategies and steps in their hands, potentially able to begin taking action immediately after the workshops.

My gift to you in this article are five December actions that clients invest in me to give them. I want to serve and keep you in intentional movement right up to the special day I created for the last business day of a year…”No Interruptions Day” (usually December 31).

1. Pick one project/goal for the remainder of the year. Pick the most important one you have that will move you forward within the three-to-four weeks of December. Set aside the rest of the projects/goals/ideas/intentions you may not have gotten to. They’ll be there for you to get to, or change, after this year. Then calculate the number of your productive days from now until the end of the year. I figure on three “good” weeks in December where people – especially people who have full-time jobs – will be at work and answering their phones. Identify one milestone for each of those productive weeks that you can set towards reaching that one goal and set that milestone to “due by” the end of each productive week. Hold yourself to each week’s milestone.
2. Get an accountability partner to hold you to your milestones to the end of the year. It’s so easy to find excuses for yourself and not reach “done” for that milestone by the end of the week. I know! I teach, counsel, and consult on this and I still have accountability partners – paid and friends – whom I need to hold me to my own commitments.
3. Schedule 1:1 time with at least two people with whom you’ve been intending to connect and just have not gotten to doing so yet. Make these two people who, over time, can help you through direct business, referrals, or you don’t know yet until you meet with them. For the partial weeks that are less-productive as the holidays set in…schedule a breakfast, lunch, or coffee meeting with them to establish or build upon vital relationships. Remember the adage that you just never know who knows, or is connected to, whom until you spend time getting to know them. It’s not always about getting direct business from someone!
4. Do a business & personal performance review report card for the year that is ending. Spend a half- or full-day being honest with yourself, and being proud of yourself, assessing how you performed with key areas of your business as well as tending to your relationships, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I have an actual program I take my clients through – and offer it virtually as a stand-alone self-paced program with a workbook – based on years of investing in coaches and consultants myself and a look at the success factors of my own years in business.
5. Pull together your business and personal paperwork so you can access what you need for year-end and planning purposes. Instead of giving other people your money or standing in returns lines the day after your celebrated holiday, dedicate a few hours when you can’t reach anyone else because they’re spending their money to searching for, gathering together, and organizing your paperwork so you won’t waste time doing it when you can be in fast action as the new year begins.

If you take just a couple of these December actions – let alone all of them – in the last weeks of the year while others lament that they have no more time, you’ll be far ahead of the game and you’ll have momentum you build from being in action right up until the last day of the year.

I can help you stay in action when you connect with me and participate in my “One-Page Plan for the New Year” and “Business & Personal Performance Review / Report Card” programs. Use the “contact” link at my website to get details and register for them. These December actions truly can save your business and get you to “done” with at least one goal, project, idea, or intention – still – this year!