Play Bigger with Raquel Quinet

Close the Year With Intention, Not Exhaustion

• Raquel Quinet • Episode 399

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What if the way you finish this year is the very thing that determines how powerfully you step into the next one? In this episode, I’m breaking down a truth most entrepreneurs overlook: January doesn’t erase December — it magnifies it. And if you're an ambitious agent, leader, or entrepreneur, you are not behind. You’re right on time to finish strong.

I’m sharing the exact mindset shifts, year-end systems, and CEO-level moves that will help you clean the clutter, close the loops, reconnect strategically, and protect your energy so you can enter 2026 with clarity and momentum. This episode is your permission slip to stop hustling blindly and start finishing intentionally — on your terms.

If you're tired of crawling into January feeling scattered, stressed, or drained, this conversation will change how you close your year forever.

🎯 Things I Cover

  • What “finish strong” really means
  • The 3 questions to define your own strong finish
  • Why cleaning clutter creates momentum (and money)
  • The Q4 connection strategy most agents skip
  • How to protect your energy during the holiday chaos
  • A simple year-end reset to prepare for 2026

If this episode inspired you, share it on Instagram and tag me @itsraquelq, and tell me one way you're choosing to finish strong this year.

Ready for systems, clarity, and real support as you step into 2026? Join us inside Agent CEO Accelerator— where we help high-performers build momentum, not chaos. 💯🚀🎯

And don’t forget to hit follow so you never miss an episode, and text me anytime at textraquel.com to join my VIP updates list.

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🔗 Links & Resources

Ready to Build the Agent CEO Model?
If you want a clear, repeatable revenue system (without burnout), DM “AGENTCEO” to @itsraquelq on Instagram to learn more about the Agent CEO Accelerator.

 For coaching, events, and collaborations: www.LetsPlayBigger.com

Follow Raquel on Raquel Quinet’s socials
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What if the way you finish this year is the very thing that determines how you will start next year? Because here's the truth, January doesn't erase December, it only magnifies it. And I don't want you limping into the new year, tired, froggy, flat, or yet behind. You're not behind, you're not late. You're right on time to finish strong. Finishing strong isn't about doing more, it's about closing the loop. Cleaning the clutter and creating clarity. The new year doesn't give you magic. It gives you momentum only if you build it.

Welcome back to The Raquel Show. This show is for entrepreneurs who want to play bigger in business and in life. And guess what? We are in the final stretch of 2025. And if you're in real estate, this is a time when a lot of people slow down. They check out and they say things like, well, no one's buying or selling around the holidays. Everyone wants to wait till January. 

But let me ask you, what if the way you finish this year is the very thing that determines how you will start next year?

Because here's the truth, January doesn't erase December, it only magnifies it and I don't want you limping into the new year, tired, froggy, flat, or yet behind. 

This episode is for my ambitious agents, my team leaders, my entrepreneurs, the ones who still have goals to hit, clients to serve, relationships to foster and deepen and energy to absolutely protect. You're not behind. You're not late. You're right on time to finish strong. And so today, we're talking about exactly that, how to close out 2025 with intentionality, with clarity, with momentum. 

So let's dive in. 

Let me take you back a few years ago. It was mid December, around my birthday and I was so exhausted. My mind was already in January even though my body was still in that year and I kept telling myself I'll rest now, I'll regroup, I'll go hard in January but when January came I didn't feel ready. I felt scattered. I felt nervous. I felt behind. Like I had to rebuild my energy just to get back to neutral and that's when I learned something very very valuable that completely shifted how I approach year and forever. 

You know, finishing strong isn't about doing more. It's about closing the loop, cleaning the clutter and creating clarity. The new year doesn't give you magic. It gives you momentum only if you build it. So today I want to give you five powerful mindset and tactical shifts to help you finish the year like a true CEO, not just an agent trying to hold it all together. 

So here's what I see: Most agents jump right into going and doing without defining what finished strong means for them. I mean, we hear it all the time. Finish strong, Raquel, finish strong, let 2025 count. You've got one more month. You've got December, but let me tell you, not everyone's definition looks the same. 

So I want you to pause and ask yourself, what would make me proud on December 31st ?

And what are three things that would give me closure that would give me peace and that would give me momentum. Cause I don't want you carrying that energy into 2026, the closure piece, the things that weren't tied up together, the things that weren't, I would say resolved. You want that momentum. And so, for some people it's locking in one more client or a few clients for others. It's cleaning up QuickBooks or CRM. And for some it's launching a new project, a new team member, or finally organizing their pipeline. 

One, don't finish someone else's race. Close the year based on your priorities. So I want you, before you chase new—is close the open loops this time of the year is perfect for cleaning up your inbox, your CRM, your pipeline, your follow-up lists, your finances, some of your tech tools, your subscriptions, your old tasks that no longer matter that you just have been putting off and commitments that are in a line. 

I was actually talking to one of my business partners and she was telling me that she was in a coaching program that's giving her so much clarity and she's trying to determine what she's going to carry on in 2026 runs a massive team, right? They'll do a lot of volume this year. And it was just interesting to hear that even people outside of my coaching world go through a program just to get clarity because they want to operate at a higher level. 

So, and the other thing is maybe clean up your digital and physical clutter. For me, don't judge. Have, I'm looking at my cell phone. have 349 text messages that are unread right now. And I don't even want to tell you the email number that I've got on my phone. And I have what I just installed is an email help. So if you've ever felt like, my gosh, Raquel has not gotten back to me or she has gotten back to me. Just know if you've gotten back to you, consider yourself lucky because I get so many text messages now even more probably spam and stuff. So one of my favorite things to say is don't build 2026 on top of 2025 clutter or garbage. Clean environment creates clean execution, my friend. So let me share you a quick story. One of my clients did nothing but clean her CRM for two hours. 

She deleted 600 dead leads, updated 14 warm ones and guess what book two listing appointments next week, just from cleaning up. See cleaning isn't busy work. It's revenue work. And I actually just said that today as I was going through an email list, cleaning up people that I know probably don't want to be on our emails, never have responded and probably will never join any of our coaching programs or any collaboration or even join our real estate team. So guess what? They just went into the delete box. So ask yourself what's still open that needs to be closed before the end of the year. 

And the next piece, number three is I want you to reconnect with relationships. This is the most underutilized Q4 strategy in real estate. While everyone else is stressed out about leads drying up, you should be reconnecting text past clients. Thank your top refers, voice memo your favorite partners schedule gratitude coffee dates send simple Thank you cards, but thanks a lot to gift cards. No pitch no ass Just connections because December isn't just about closing doors It's about opening new ones and the agents who went in Q1 They started planting seeds in Q4 if not even sooner than that 

One of my clients sent 10 voice memos to past clients just saying: thank you. No call to action, no agenda. And three of them asked for help in buying an investment property for property tax reasons before the new year. And guess what? They actually had cash. They had a line of credit sitting there. You just never know. Connection does work though. 

And number four is I want you to protect your energy intentionally. Let's be honest. The holidays bring a lot of distractions. bring a lot of noise, events, last minute requests, family stress, calendar overload, shopping, overthinking. And if you don't protect your energy right now, you'll walk into January already burnt out. So here's your permission slip. You're allowed to say no. You're allowed to take days off in January. 

You're allowed to pause, reflect and protect what matters because finishing strong doesn't mean finishing exhausted. It means entering the new season whole.

So last but not least, I want you to reset for reentry before you kind of step into 2026, do a simple year end reset. Think of it as cleaning out your mental office, review your calendar, what drained you, what fueled you, review your offers, what worked. What didn't review your schedule? Are you designing days or are you just reacting to them and then review your habits? Which one actually need to go? You see 2026 doesn't start when the ball drops. It starts when you decide which is right now. So schedule your December CEO day, whether it's 90 minutes for me, it's a staycation for me to unplug no slack messages, no DMs, no social media, just me in my thoughts planning or finalizing, should say 2026. 

And so here's my finished strong challenge for all of you. As you know, I love to give you some challenges or some things to think about is write your personal definition of finishing strong. 

As an example:

  • I'll know I finished strong when I reconnected with my top 10 business partners and clean up my serum, whatever that is, right? 
  • Number two is pick three actions that align simple, intentional and measurable. 
  • And then three is schedule them this week. Don't wait for energy. Protect the time. Send a DM, a voice memo to a person who helped you grow this year because guess what? Gratitude is momentum fuel. 

And here's what I want you to remember: You don't have to finish the year with stress or shame or pressure or trying to squeeze 12 months of work into two weeks. You get to finish strong on your terms. Strong doesn't always mean hustle. Strong could look like clarity. could look like boundaries. It could look like alignment. could look like mission. It could look like strong goals, right? So whether you're closing a big deal or closing your laptop early, I hope you finish this year with intention. 

My friend, I want to thank you for hanging out with me today and listening to another quick episode of The Raquel Show. And if this episode brought you value, share it on your Instagram and tag me at @itsraquelq and tell me one way you're choosing to finish strong because you know, I love seeing your messages. And if you are ready to get clear, clean house and step into 2026 with real systems and support, come join us inside of Agent CEO Accelerator. 

Until next time, keep taking those actions even if it's messy, and keep Playing Bigger.