Adapting for success during the holiday seasons


Reader —

The holiday season brings a unique set of challenges to your usual energy patterns.

Between personal obligations, end-of-year business demands, and the general festive atmosphere, December rarely follows your typical workflow. This is exactly why understanding your energy patterns becomes even more critical during this time.

Many business owners make the mistake of trying to maintain their usual pace in December while adding holiday commitments on top. This is a recipe for burnout. Instead, let's look at this through the lens of values-based alignment.

First, acknowledge that December is different. Your energy will likely be pulled in new directions, and that's okay. Rather than fighting against this reality or feeling guilty about it, adjust your expectations to account for it:

  • Understand your seasonal constraints. Map out your known commitments — both personal and professional — first. These become your fixed points.
  • Be realistic about your capacity. You probably can't maintain the same workload as other months. That's not a failure; it's just context.
  • Prioritize ruthlessly. What absolutely must get done before the year ends? What can wait until January? Remember, everything isn't equally important.
  • Honor your natural rhythms. If events exhaust you, don’t plan important tasks after them. Instead, schedule time for rest. The opposite is also true. If events leave you with a high, plan some productive time afterward.

The key is to work with the season rather than against it. If December always leaves you exhausted and behind, it's time for a different approach.

Our team’s last working day of the year is Dec. 20. If you’d like to discuss how to adjust your expectations of yourself and your business this month, reach out before then.

To your success!

Gwen


Flexibility Isn’t Free

Think your "go with the flow" approach is what makes your business special? Think again. This week on The Business You Really Want, Tonya and I talk about how “winging it” is costing you more than you realize — in time, money, and team morale.

Every business runs exactly as it was designed, even if you never consciously designed it. The good news? You don't have to sacrifice creativity or spontaneity to build a more intentional business.

Listen to find out:

  • Why flexibility without structure leads to chaos
  • How to identify high-impact areas for improvement
  • Where to add structure without stifling creativity
  • The surprising truth about what customers really want
  • Simple steps to break free from operational chaos

Ready to transform your business from reactive to intentional? This episode shows you exactly where to start. Whether you're a creative entrepreneur who fears structure or a seasoned CEO looking to scale, you'll discover how to build the systems your business needs to thrive.

  • Schedule a call to discuss how I can help you design your business with intention.
  • Join the Small Biz Book Club to discuss applying big ideas from business books to small business reality.
  • Book me as a speaker or podcast guest.

PO Box 1133, Merced, CA 95341
Unsubscribe

Gwen Bortner | Everyday Effectiveness

Gwen Bortner is a business advisor who provides outside perspective and unwavering accountability. She’s also the one to ask the hard questions others won't. After four decades of working across 47+ industries, Gwen has learned that marketing and sales have built-in feedback loops — you know quickly if they're working. But the behind-the-scenes engine that runs your business? That's where the blind spots live. That's where successful businesses secretly start breaking down, even when everything looks fine from the outside. Gwen's monthly newsletter provides tips to help you identify bottlenecks others miss so you can build a business that performs well without consuming your life.

Read more from Gwen Bortner | Everyday Effectiveness

Reader — That choice you're second-guessing? The one keeping you up at night? It's probably not the disaster you think it is. Too many entrepreneurs get paralyzed thinking every business decision is permanent. They agonize over choices, convinced that picking the wrong path will doom them to failure. But that’s a myth. Fact: You can always make a different choice. For example, I decided this week to push pause on our Small Biz Book Club. A year ago, monthly conversations focused on business...

Reader — Hope you had a restful long weekend. If you're like most of my clients, you're probably easing back into work mode today. And maybe feeling that familiar tug of overwhelm as you look at everything on your plate. Here's a question I want you to sit with: What if the business you're returning to isn't actually the business you want to be running? I know that sounds dramatic, but hear me out. Recently, I've had several conversations with successful business owners who all said some...

Reader — Success doesn't require working yourself to the bone. But that’s a false belief causing countless business owners to burn out while their profits stagnate. Here's what I've discovered after working with hundreds of entrepreneurs: your business runs exactly as it was designed to run. If you're exhausted and overwhelmed, that's by design — not by necessity. The truth is that alignment reduces friction. When the GEARS of your business work together harmoniously, everything flows with...