Clear Space, Close Loops, Celebrate Wins: My End of the Year Ritual

Want to finish the year feeling calm, organized, and proud of yourself?

Try this end of the year ritual. It has 3 steps:

  1. Clear Space
  2. Close Loops
  3. Celebrate Wins

I do this every year. Simple yet powerful.

Clear Space

Free up space, in whatever way you need most. A few options:

  • Unsubscribe from newsletters you no longer read (yes, even this one).
  • Cancel subscriptions you haven’t used in an eternity.
  • Clear clutter out of your surroundings. Sell. Donate. Discard.
  • Do a calendar purge and remove appointments that don’t add anything meaningful to your life.
  • If you are self-employed, look at your menu of offerings. Strip it down. Rather than doing a dozen things fairly well, do one or two things with excellence.

Close Loops

  • Make a list of unresolved conversations. For instance, the client who wants to hire you but hasn’t officially committed, or anything else that feels like a loose end flapping in the breeze.
  • Follow up with each person. Invite them to make a decision.
  • Close the loop so that both of you can move on with your lives.

Sample message:

Hi [name],

I hope your holiday season is off to a great start.

During our last conversation, we talked about [project / package / offer / collaboration / etc]. Would you still like to proceed?

If so, great!

If things have changed and you’re no longer interested, no problem.

Either way, let me know, so that I can plan accordingly.

If possible, let me know your decision by [date] because I’m starting my winter break soon. Thank you.

PS. Because you’re working on [goal] right now, I think you’ll love this: [link to an article, podcast, book, music playlist, or something else that this person will appreciate]

Celebrate Wins

  • Make a list of wins from the last year.
  • Big wins. Tiny wins. Professional wins. Personal wins. Financial wins. Results you secured for your clients. Important decisions you made. Anything you are proud of.
  • Read the list. Remember who you are and what you’ve done.

Extra credit: next to each win, write down someone who helped make this victory possible. Send a thank you note to each person.

Sample message:

This year, one of my favorite wins was [describe the victory]. You played an important role in making this happen. Thank you for adding [incredible quality] to my life.

Clear space. Close loops. Celebrate wins.

Do this to wrap up the year with peace, completion, and pride.

-Alex