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253. The December Reset Tricks Solopreneurs Swear By · The Life-First Solopreneur

• 0:00
  Carly Ries: If you're heading into the holidays thinking, I'll figure out my business plans in January, well, this episode is your gentle nudge to rethink that. Joe and I break down why now is actually the best time to reconnect with your why, clear the clutter, and ease into the habits you want for the new year. No big overhaul, no pressure, just simple ways to prep your life and business so you don't hit January 2 wondering where to start. So if you want a calmer, clearer kick off to the new year, this one is for you. You're listening to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for anyone on the solo business journey, whether you're just toying with the idea, taking your first bold step, or have been running your own show for years and want to keep growing, refining, and thriving. I'm Carly Ries, and along with my cohost, Joe Rando, we're your guides through the crazy but awesome world of being a company of one. As part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all things solopreneurship, we help people design businesses that align with their life's ambitions so they can work to live, not live to work. If you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the place for you. But if you want real world insights from industry experts, lessons from the successes and stumbles of fellow solopreneurs, and practical strategies for building and sustaining a business you love, you're in the right spot.
• 1:16
  Because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. No matter where you are in your journey, we've got your back. Joe, the holidays are arguably the busiest time of the year. Not only do people have family things going on, friend things going on, whatever, they're also planning for the new year. And I actually think that's a really good idea because it can be so stressful to get through the holidays, to have everything in your head and be like, okay, let's hit the ground running in January.
• 1:45
  And then I'm gonna say January 2 to come because nobody should be working on January 1. For January 2 to come and be like, oh my gosh, I don't have anything in place. I had all these great ideas, but I didn't do anything to get them going. And they start off the year stressed, and that just sounds like a horrible way to start the new year. So December, even though there's a lot of stuff going on, it is a great time to get everything prepped for your business, but don't overwhelm yourself. I think the first thing that I would do this month is instead of like, I wanna get this done, this done, this done, this done, take a step back and get to your why. Remember your why. This is a great time to reflect and think, okay, instead of I wanna get x y z done in the new year, instead think about I want to be able to spend time with my friends and family. I wanna read x amount of books. think about the lifestyle thing perspective of solopreneurship, and then I would say work your business back from there and get to your why. think of the way you want to run your business as a way to jump start the new year. Joe, do you agree with that?
• 2:57
  Joe Rando: I do. I do completely. I was thinking about what you're saying and I'm going, Yeah. And that's something I have to do because, see that guitar back there, I played that for the first time over Thanksgiving when the kids were home, everybody was here.
• 3:14
  We had this jam session And I was going, this is so much fun. I haven't done this for so long. I have to find a way to build some time in to play music with people. And you know, it's gonna take some doing, but, yeah, you convinced me.
• 3:31
  Carly Ries: Okay. Good. So start with the how do I want this year to go from a personal and professional standpoint before you actually plan q one or q one and q two. The other thing is I like doing a detox in December. And I'm not talking about a juice cleanse or anything like that.
• 3:47
  Although, good for you if you do that, listeners. I'm talking about unsubscribe from emails that are cluttering your inbox that you never look at. I mean, many of us have a gazillion, I mean, shopping emails that we've subscribed to in the past, knowingly or unknowingly? Start unsubscribing. Clean up that inbox.
• 4:07
  Start unfollowing people on social media that don't serve you. Even on LinkedIn, if they're taking up your feed and are taking time away from the people you actually wanna follow, the things you wanna learn, start unfollowing people on LinkedIn. Don't unfollow us. We have a lot of great information. But for the people that you just kinda tune out, don't let them clutter up your newsfeed.
• 4:29
  I think that is a huge deal. Just, declutter your workspace. Declutter your desktop. Just start fresh. And it's like when your room is clean, when your bed is made, when your bedroom is clean, it just feels so much better than when you have your laundry piled up that you haven't sorted through yet on your bed.
• 4:49
  Maybe I'm speaking from experience right now and I need to get hold of that laundry. But it's just a different feeling. You know what I mean? To start the year completely, refreshed is what I would say.
• 5:02
  Joe Rando: Yeah. It's a good idea to come up with those things and maybe it's just getting the Post it notes off your desk and processed somehow. We all have those things that we know we have to do, and we have them written down somewhere. And it can really lighten your mental outlook by not at least for me, staring at a bunch of post it notes that are all loaded with to dos that haven't been done.
• 5:28
  Carly Ries: Yeah. Exactly. Another thing I would say for the New Year is we all wait for January 1 to restart or to get going. But why? if you know that you want to start getting up early on January 1, or that you want to spend ten minutes a day responding to people on social media, or interacting with people on LinkedIn, or you want to read, or you wanna ignore email until 10AM so you can get the hard work done first, Start practicing that now so that a habit can get formed come the new year.
• 6:05
  And you don't have to do it perfectly, but start setting up those building blocks over the next few weeks So when the new year comes, again, starting fresh, you might have some of those little micro wins in place that will just build momentum for the rest of the year. That is actually something I learned within the past few weeks, and I love that advice. I wish I could take credit for it, but it's something that I heard elsewhere that I just never heard before. And it's great information, I think. Anything you wanna add to that?
• 6:34
  Joe Rando: No. I think you covered it. Like, you got it.
• 6:37
  Carly Ries: The other thing is decide what you're not bringing into 2026. We will have an episode on that coming up. But just decide that for yourself as well. We have some tidbits of information that we'll share with you. But really think through, what isn't serving you now that can be left in 2025?
• 6:53
  So again, clear tomorrow in 2026. And then from all of that, that's when you can start planning for q one and q two. I do not recommend planning for the entire year. I like going by a ninety day calendar because it's far enough in advance where you can put a plan in place, but not too far out where you can't pivot. And as we know, things change so quickly in life, in marketing, just business operations in general, especially with the age of AI.
• 7:21
  So put that ninety day plan together with all areas of your business, and just have a happy 2026. Anything else you wanna add, Joe?
• 7:31
  Joe Rando: Nope. Happy 2026.
• 7:34
  Carly Ries: Well, few more weeks of content, but we'll see you then. Solopreneurs, that's all we have for today. Thank you so much for tuning in. As always, leave that five star review. It really helps us get out to more people in your shoes.
• 7:48
  Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, including YouTube, and share this episode with a fellow solopreneur that can use that extra boost of momentum for the new year. And we will see you next time on the Aspiring Solopreneur. You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. Why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures?
• 8:14
  Closing: At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.