Things You’ll Definitely Fix Next Year

Probably not in January

December turns everyone into a strategist.

You suddenly see, with great clarity, what should change. How you should work. What you should stop tolerating. What you should finally fix.

You see it all very clearly. Just not urgently. So you park all of it safely in January.

Next year, you’ll do more of the right things.
Next year, you’ll do less of the wrong ones.
Next year, you’ll finally be clearer, firmer, more deliberate.
Next year will be different.

It’s a comforting story. I’ve been telling it for years. I’ve even refined it.

So, in the spirit of the season, here’s the usual list, as a ritual we all seem to enjoy.

Do more:
Finish things properly instead of polishing drafts forever. Say no before your calendar does it for you. Ask the question that makes the room slightly quieter. Finish the small things instead of starting better ones. Decide with the information you have, not the information you’re hoping will arrive next week.

Do less:
Waiting for the “right moment.” Over-explaining to avoid taking a position. Carrying work that mysteriously became yours because you didn’t push back early enough. Saying “it’s fine” when it isn’t. Treating ambiguity as diplomacy. Telling yourself you’ll deal with it once things slow down.

None of this is new. Which is usually how I know I’ll postpone it.

Most of what we promise ourselves for next year isn’t difficult. It doesn’t require a new role, a new system, or a dramatic reset. It just requires choosing mild discomfort now instead of familiar frustration later.

That’s the part we keep postponing.

December is generous like that. It lets you believe that time will do the work. That clarity will feel more natural in January. That habits respond to calendars.

They don’t.

So yes, enjoy the pause. Make plans. Write things down. Think good thoughts about next year.

Just remember: most change doesn’t come from doing more.
It comes from doing a little less and doing it sooner than feels polite.

And if not, that’s fine too.
There’s always next year. I say that every year.