The year is going to end. A new year will begin. And as this transition approaches, it’s easy to start slacking off. After all, it’s the holiday season. It’s the time for well-earned rest. However driven one may be, it’s the time to park and refuel. Isn’t it?
Broadly speaking, it is. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay to be lazy during this time.
There’s a difference between finishing the year strong and coasting to a stop. How you cross the finish line of one year will impact how you shoot off the starting blocks of the next.
Run through the finish line
Every track coach will tell every runner the same thing: “Run through the finish line.” Why? Because if you don’t, you might lose your position at the last second. Go to YouTube, TikTok, or any other social platform, and you’ll find countless videos of sprinters, long-distance runners, cyclists, and all other sorts of racers who lose (often in humiliating fashion) right before they were supposed to win, solely because they slowed down too early.
Don’t let that be you. Whatever lane you’re in, run through the finish line. Finish the year strong.
Are you a student? Finish the year strong with consistent study so you can knock out your finals to the best of your ability. On the job hunt? Finish the year strong by continuing to submit applications (there are many advantageous to applying during the holiday season) or reassessing your job-hunting strategy. An employee or employer? Finish the year strong by assessing your performance for this year and planning how you’ll run your race even better in the year to come.
Once you do this, have fun! Relax. Party. Spend time with your family. Use your free time as you want to use your free time. And do it purposefully. Do it fully. Runners don’t have to keep running once they’ve run through the finish line. But what sense does it make to start enjoying the end of a race before you actually finish it? And who finishes first, the one who runs through the finish line or the one who eases up when it comes into view?
Finish the year strong. You won’t regret it.
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