A Weekly Pause to Move You Forward
Wednesday morning. Between back-to-back calls, five things I could choose to work on next.
Then one of my best friends called.
I almost sent it to voicemail. But I didn't. I stepped outside.
We talked for a half hour. And somewhere in the conversation, he said what I've been hearing from dozens of people lately: "I'm just ready for this year to be over."
December 3rd.
I've heard some version of that sentence from dozens of people in the last few weeks. Different words, same bone-deep exhaustion underneath.
Maybe you've said it too. Not in a reflective, end-of-year kind of way. More in a I have nothing left and there are still two weeks to go kind of way.
The work hasn't let up. Year-end deliverables are stacking. Holiday obligations are accelerating. Everyone still needs things from you. And somehow, you're also supposed to show up as the life of the party—present, joyful, sparkling.
But you're running on fumes. Slipping on the margins. A beat late to the call. Too rushed between meetings. Pure adrenaline just to keep pace.
You're not broken.
December didn't do this to you.
It just stopped letting you pretend everything was fine.
The exhaustion you're feeling right now didn't start two weeks ago.
The rushing. The overriding. The measuring your worth by what you accomplish. Treating presence as something you'll get to later—once the list is done, once things settle, once you've earned it.
This has been happening all year.
December is just the moment it becomes impossible to ignore. When your body finally says I can't maintain this pace and your calendar says two more weeks anyway.
Here's what actually happens when you push through: