Your Daily Boost – Episode 646

Jonathan Jones
Dec 1, 2025
6 min read

The Last First Day Of The Year

There’s something strangely powerful about looking at the calendar and realizing…this is it. The last first day of the last month of the year. No more new quarters. No more “we’ll fix it after summer.” No more “once school starts,” “once school ends,” or “after the holidays” escape hatches. Just December. One final stretch of days, lined up in a neat little row, asking a very simple question:

What are you going to do with me?

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The Temptation To Check Out

A lot of us treat December like a waiting room. We’re physically present, but mentally already sitting in January, imagining the new routines, the new discipline, the new version of us who is finally going to get it together. December becomes a kind of holding pattern…a month we “get through” instead of a month we use.

I get it. I’m tired too. The business feels vulnerable. The year has landed some heavy shots. Emotionally, it would be easier to slap a “we’ll circle back in 2026” post-it on everything and coast. The problem is that checked-out December usually leads to a January that feels heavier than it needs to be. We walk into the new year dragging a whole list of unfinished conversations, unresolved decisions, and dusty goals that we’ve already trained ourselves to ignore.

I don’t want that for me, and I don’t want that for you.

This Is Not A Sprint… It’s A Turn In The Road

The older I get, the less December feels like a sprint and the more it feels like a curve in the road. You don’t floor it into a curve. You also don’t slam on the brakes and hope the car figures it out. You lean into it. You keep your hands on the wheel. You make small, smart adjustments that set you up for whatever the road looks like once you come out the other side.

That’s what I want this month to be about…not a dramatic transformation, but a deliberate turn.

A turn toward habits that actually help.
A turn toward conversations that matter.
A turn toward work that reflects what we value.
A turn away from pretending “future me” is going to fix everything I don’t want to face today.

This isn’t about becoming a superhero by New Year’s Eve. It’s about being honest about where we are and choosing to move a little closer to where we say we want to be.

December Is Honest Feedback

If the whole year is a test, December is the score report. Not in a shame way. In a “this is what actually happened” way.

The projects that got your real energy.
The relationships you prioritized…and the ones you let drift.
The habits that quietly shaped your days, for better or worse.
The patterns that kept repeating even after you said you were “done” with them.

December doesn’t lie. It shows us who we’ve been this year, not who we planned to be on January 1st. That can feel uncomfortable. It can also be incredibly useful if we let it. Instead of arguing with reality, we can ask better questions:

Where did I actually grow this year?
Where did I stall?
What kept getting in my way?
Which excuses am I finally tired of hearing…from myself?

Those answers are not an indictment. They’re information. And information is fuel when you’re willing to act on it.

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Using December Without Worshiping It

There’s a weird pressure that shows up at the end of the year. On one side, you have “grind until your soul leaks out of your ears” culture. On the other, you have “it’s the holidays, nothing counts, see you in January” energy.

I’m not interested in either one.

I don’t want December to be a redemption tour where I try to cram twelve months of growth into four weeks. I also don’t want it to be a blur of overeating, overspending, and pretending the calendar isn’t about to roll over.

So here’s the middle lane I’m choosing:

One or two priorities for the month, not ten.
Honest workdays, even when the office feels like a ghost town.
Real rest when it’s time to rest, instead of fake-resting with my brain on fire.
Small, repeatable moves that will still make sense in January.

I’m not trying to “win the year” in December. I’m trying to enter 2026 already moving, instead of dragging myself across the line and calling that momentum.

The Pressure To Perform A Perfect Ending

There’s another layer to all this: the emotional performance of “how your year went.” Social media is about to be flooded with highlight reels. Promotions. Perfect family photos. "Biggest year yet.” “So grateful for every opportunity.” You know the posts.

There’s nothing wrong with celebration. But sometimes, the pressure to package our year into a neat, inspiring paragraph makes us feel like we’re failing twice: once for what actually happened, and again for not being able to spin it.

If 2025 felt messy, complicated, or incomplete…you’re not alone. You don’t owe anyone a glossy summary. It’s okay if this wasn’t your favorite chapter. You can still be grateful for the parts that grew you. You can still be proud of the days you showed up when you didn’t feel like it. You can still carry forward the lessons without pretending you loved every minute.

December doesn’t need a performance. It needs honesty and a little intention.

Why I’m Still Showing Up Here

Part of my own December work is this…writing these Boosts even when my brain wants to retreat into spreadsheets, panic, or “we’ll think about that next year.” Business feels fragile. The economy feels weird. The future feels uncertain. None of that is made better by me shutting down the creative part of my brain that actually helps me process what’s happening. So I’m using this space as practice:

Practice telling the truth kindly.
Practice paying attention to the themes that keep showing up in my life.
Practice connecting the dots between what I say I value and how I spend my days.
Practice leading with love even when I’m stressed out.

Planning the arc of my topics in advance is still a new process for me, and I already like what it’s doing to my thinking. It’s forcing me to live with the ideas instead of just chasing whatever happens to be loud that day.

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The Arc Of This Week

Since we’re here on the last first day of the year, here’s how I’m thinking about the rest of this week’s Boosts:

Tuesday – Episode 647: “The Year Won’t Finish Itself” A straight look at the myth of “January me” and why waiting for the new year doesn’t magically fix old habits.
Wednesday – Episode 648: “The December Circus” Laughing at the chaos…office energy, half-present people, the weird mix of productivity and holiday brain.
Thursday – Episode 649: “Making Peace With The Unfinished” Not everything was meant to be completed this year. Some things need to be carried forward without shame.
Friday – Episode 650: “Before We Turn The Page” A debrief instead of a grand finale. What I actually learned from this year, not what looks best in a caption.

I’m sharing that not as a marketing calendar, but as accountability. If I’m going to talk about using December with intention, I need to be willing to show you how I’m doing it in real time.

One Small Move For Your Last First Day

If you’re reading this and December already feels heavy, let’s simplify. You don’t need a twelve-point plan. You don’t need a new personality. You don’t need to fix your entire life before the ball drops. You just need one decision:

What is one thing you’re willing to move forward before this year ends?

Not finish completely. Not perfect. Just move forward.