#102 - 5 Tiny Tweaks With Big Impact: How to End the Year Grounded & Aligned

Feeling pulled between holiday rest and year-end business pressure? 

This episode is a must-listen for creative, mission-driven solopreneurs who want to end the year with intention and NOT by burning out.

I'm sharing five simple shifts or tiny tweaks you can implement in under 30 minutes. From a morning mindset reset to a mini offer audit and a digital detox, these actions are designed to preserve your peace and gently move the needle forward.

Whether you're battling comparison, struggling with visibility, or just feeling the end-of-year tension, this episode will leave you feeling grounded, clear, and aligned for the new year.

Perfect for:

• Women solopreneurs & creatives
• Coaches and service providers
• Entrepreneurs balancing business & holidays

And if you're finding yourself craving some feedback or a brainstorming sessions over the holidays, I've got a few spots open for Clarity Calls! These are 15-20 minute mini-audit and creative conversations to help you have a breakthrough where you may be feeling stuck. Grab a spot here: 15-Minute Clarity Call 

Mindset to Market is a Luminous Creative Production. If you'd like to learn more about our business coaching program and group coaching container, please visit us online at DeborahcSmith.com.

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Mindset to Market is produced by Deborah C. Smith and designed to inspire and support big-hearted creatives in finding their own unique path, building a sustainable business, and creating financial, spiritual, mental wellness and abundance.

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Transcript

 Hey friend, I wanna start this episode by taking a really deep breath, like really a real one. Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth right now. Let's do this. Ready?

Yes. Feels amazing. Whew. Okay. Now let me ask you an important question. Have you been feeling that tension, that end of year stress around, should I be doing more or should I just like let go and say forget it and be in the holiday season? Like, you know, you need the rest and you wanna focus in and be with family.

But in the back of your brain, you're also hearing a voice yelling. Finish the funnel or post one more offer to get one more sale. Or don't lose, you know, the algorithm. Post a reel. Keep, keep yourself present at all times. So if that's you. Hello. Welcome to the end of year emotional rollercoaster that most solopreneurs secretly ride in December.

Um, and that's exactly what we're gonna talk about today. This episode is for the creative mission-driven solopreneur who's done with over-functioning and just wants to make these last few days of the year actually count, but in a way that feels grounded and not grindy, right, not pushing. So in this episode, we're gonna talk about tiny shifts, tiny tweaks you can make, little things you can do over the course of the next five to seven days.

These are gonna support your mindset, your energy, and your business without pulling you away from the people. The moments that actually matter the most. So, and just a reminder as we head into this big impact does not require a big hustle. So take another deep breath and let's go. Hey there, and welcome to the Mindset To Market Podcast, your go-to place for practical tools and solutions for the everyday challenges of being a creative and spiritual solopreneur living in a material world.

I'm your host. Deborah Smith. I'm a holistic business coach with 17 years of experience, and I help my clients bust through mindset blocks and build a daily practice that prioritizes your business's financial growth as well as your personal health and wellness. I'm here to offer you support, creativity, mindset, practical how-tos, and getting into imperfect messy actions so you can find balance while building the dream.

Business. If you're a purpose-driven solepreneur, who's working on that dream one day at a time, then you're in the right place. Let's dive in. Hey, hey there, friend. Man. Didn't that deep breath feel good? I feel like that's the key to this whole thing. Um, we're gonna talk about tiny tweaks today, things that you can do over the next.

I don't know, seven to 10 days. Are we down to 10? I think we have nine days left in the year at the time I'm recording this, but you know, by the time you listen to this, you could be someplace in the future. We're in the time machine, so whenever you're listening to this, I think this is applicable because there's gonna always be a moment in your life when you feel pressure between, you know, all the things in your business that you have set up that need your attention for them to function.

Yeah. And needing a break and, and the holidays are always just like, it's forced upon us whether or not you celebrate. Everyone is taking a break right now. So I've been seeing posts on threads by people who are, you know, concerned about the dip in their income. It's a tough time and so I just wanna acknowledge to everyone out there listening who's like, yeah, I need to work 'cause I need to make sales.

Not only have I been there, I mean I'm a solopreneur, like we have one hand. Stirring the pot at all times. There's not tons of full complete breaks. Um, as a solopreneur, like if you have a VA or a, a partner or somebody that you can hand things off to and take a full break, that's amazing. But oftentimes, even when I'm on vacation, I'm answering messages.

I'm, you know, WhatsApp coaching clients, I'm just keeping things moving and so it's a struggle at the end of the year. And I know this is a struggle no matter what kind of business you, you run, whether it's, you know, coaching from home like I do, or you know, an in-person type business. I actually had quite a big response from episode 100.

I wanna thank everybody who reached out to me. That was, um, you know, it was obviously a very vulnerable episode. I really appreciate the feedback and the comments and the emails that I got. Thank you so much. Um, you know, the truth is that it's not easy to be a, a one person business or be the sole responsible party for other employees.

It's tough, and at this time of year it can be even more difficult. So I want to offer today a couple of things that I do that help me feel like I'm taking that much more full break, but also keeps things a little bit moving. So, tiny tweaks with a big impact is the theme. And the truth is that a lot of the beliefs that get us into this tension and this end of year struggle are outdated.

Right? So the belief that we need to have our full, you know, January launch already planned, um, or have completed the full content calendar for the entire year. I just recently led a mini um, retreat style workshop where we did some really deep. Reviewing and planning. It's called Plan and Envision. It was a few weeks ago, and I do have a replay of that if for anyone interested, that's a great process.

I believe it's critical for A CEO and a solopreneur to really look at their numbers, you know, tap back into what. Gives you strength and, and your purpose and your mission and all the things like that. But you don't need to have every single date on your 2026 calendars sorted out. And that's just ridiculous.

And so that belief is fried and it's probably what's draining your energy more than the work itself is are these perfectionist standards that we see other people doing when they've been, you know, in the business for. Decades longer than us or have a full team or a huge budget, right? So as solopreneurs, we need to get out of other people's businesses, get out of other people's Instagram profiles and stay in our own lane.

I say this all the time, but like compare yourself only to the you, you were one full year ago, and ask yourself, what can I do differently and what can I do better? Like those are healthy thoughts. But if you're looking around and saying, oh my God, look at all these other entrepreneurs selling so much of their product and services and making all this money at the holiday time, and I'm not making any money, and just comparing yourself to others, that is a recipe for a downward spiral and a disaster, and we are not doing that.

So. What we're doing instead is we're gonna reframe the whole idea of finishing strong. So what if finishing strong actually means protecting your piece, right? What if finishing strong means saying no to one more Canva project before you shut down your computer? What if it's trusting that the seeds that we're planting by giving ourself rest don't have to sprout today?

Don't have to show proof, you know, immediately, but that they're. Planted and energy and time will naturally turn those those seeds into sprouts and we can harvest them later down the road, right? So shifting away from doing more to focusing on doing things that actually matter. And by the way, filling your cup with family and time off is a strategy, right?

Rest is a strategy. So we need to just. Put that on our agenda the same way we put all the, all hustle. Uh, and all the doing, doing, doing. It's, it's hard. I know, but we have to make that shift because the truth is the goal is to have more time for rest. So let's practice it now when seasonally it's happening anyway.

So we're gonna look at some tiny tweaks that we can still be doing that will help you feel productive and connected. Without the pressure, without the stress, right? So shifting from doing more to doing what matters, and that's the energy that I want to carry into the end of this year. And I invite you to join me.

And honestly, that's the same energy that creates momentum for us because it helps us to feel the spaciousness that we desire, but also still have a finger on the pulse so we don't totally lose sight of things. And side note, I just wanna say I highly, highly support a full disconnect where you completely shut off your phone and just take a real break.

Um, I, I just actually did this for my birthday and it was so rejuvenating to turn my phone off for five days and just. Really take a deep breath and take a deep break. I did need that. I just know that at the end of the year isn't necessarily your vacation time. It's just a really crowded space where there's holiday meals and family and presents and gift giving.

There's a strain financially. So while I support a full escape, this conversation is really about how to manage that end of year tension that we often feel. So let's get right into it. These are five small shifts you can make this week that will take you less than 30 minutes, often. Just a few minutes, and still move the needle a little bit for you energetically.

And will support your wellness around and your mindset around business. So the first one is my favorite, of course, I, I talk about this a lot. It's the five minute morning mindset reset. So before the scroll, before the cup of coffee, before you even get out of bed, I want you to give yourself a tiny window, five minutes, set a timer if you want to.

This can be first thing in the morning, and I just want you to ponder. What is one thing I can do today that supports both my vision and my energy? Now notice I didn't say that supports sales, that supports my business, that supports my productivity. I want you to tap into that higher purpose while you're on this break.

You know, while you're, you know, dealing with holiday stuff, let's use our private moments to think about that big picture vision and how do you wanna feel? Because that work is instrumental in getting us quickly to our goal anyways. So. Take a few minutes each morning and say, what's one thing I can do today that supports my vision and my energy?

And this simple check-in is gonna set the tone for your day, right? So it reconnects you to your vision of what success looks like for you, not what other people say should be, not what's on your to-do list for your funnel. Not, you know, kind of those tactical tasks, but like connecting to your higher purpose.

This will never be a bad idea. You could do this every single day for the rest of your life, and it would. Help make quantum leaps in your business because when we reconnect to the big vision, it helps us sort more quickly away from those tasks that drain our energy and put our time and energy into the things that actually connect us.

So one thing that you could do to support your vision and energy, it might not be. Directly connecting with your actual business. It might be getting out a blank, uh, piece of paper and just scribbling, right? It might be flipping through a magazine or taking a stroll, you know, someplace where you get creative inspiration.

So that's, that can be very beneficial to. What happens next for you because you're opening yourself up to reconnect and to reshape your vision. Super powerful stuff. So the five minute morning mindset reset, it's a mouthful, um, is just five minutes in the morning to give yourself creative space this very artist way, right?

That's where you just take time every morning to let yourself be open to, um, creativity and possibilities in that space. So. A more practical short exercise that you can do is number two, and I like to do this at the end of every year no matter what. And that's the mini offer audit. Now, this one is probably gonna take you more like 15 or 20 minutes, but if you can carve out.

A short amount of time to be alone by yourself over the holidays. Maybe it's early morning, maybe it's, you know, you just have a couple of minutes when people are doing other things around the house where you can sneak away and sit down, set a timer again, I like to use timers for 20 minutes so that you have a short container, but it's just enough time and you're gonna review your top offer.

So this is gonna be the offer that could make you the most money. So you're a high ticket coaching. Offer your biggest package. The thing that actually earns you the most money, right? Because we wanna always be optimizing the thing that could make it the easiest to get to your financial goal. So let's take a look at your top offer.

And what you're gonna do during this mini audit is just spend 20 minutes reviewing the full picture and ask yourself, does this still feel aligned with my big vision? Right. How about this one? Would I buy this right now? Exactly how it's being presented? Would I move through this funnel and feel called to take action?

So go through your own funnel and take notes every step of the way. Where do you lose interest? Where is something no longer, you know, aligned or out of date? Where can you fix an image that no longer looks like you? Right? There's a couple of, and just make a list. It should not take you more than 15, 20 minutes to go through your own funnel for your top offer.

And audit it. Now, if you don't have a top offer, you can be auditing a webpage that represents your business, like your, even just your Instagram handle. You could go through that and audit the bio, audit, the call to action. So you're taking 15 to 20 minutes that's gonna audit the thing that is most likely to lead to your highest ticket sale.

It doesn't have to be a big, fancy, fancy webpage or sales page. If you don't have one, it can just be where you present. The thing that makes you the most money. And if you don't have that, you can take that 20 minutes and write down the steps for what that meant that offer could look like. So you're just kind of brainstorming and you're making notes.

And I love this process 'cause you may realize that you only need to tweak like a headline or maybe the vibe of the call to action is a little like out of date for you. You don't need to rebrand your entire business, right? You don't need to burn it all down and chase a shiny object. You just need to look at where things could be freshened up, make a note, put it on the calendar for to do when you're back at the desk.

Okay? So let's move on to number three, the social reset. This is a good one. So I want you to take 10 minutes to mute the accounts that drain your energy or trigger comparison. Yes. Maybe you didn't think I was gonna say that, but this is such a energy shift. It's like an amazing process to let go of connections that cause discomfort.

It helps to elevate your vibration because if you're constantly being triggered by somebody or constantly drained by somebody's messaging, it's, it's just unhealthy to carry that. You don't need to, you can still love that person from afar, but like if it's a friend of yours or somebody that you're peer with, but you don't feel good seeing their content, it might be your work to do.

You might need to see a therapist about it for all I know, but. The point is you don't need to continually be confronted by it day after day. So it's okay to block or mute accounts that drain you clear your digital field. Less noise equals more clarity. Okay? And the social reset is important because we get dragged into these deep, energetic relationships with people we don't even know, right?

They don't know you exist. They're not thinking about you, and yet they're, they have so much power and they're. You know, making you feel a certain kind of way. We don't need to deal with that. So it's okay to block, to mute and to unfollow even if you love the person. I know that sounds crazy, but it really does help with your energy.

It gives you more space back. Reclaim your space. That is a big, that's a tiny tweak you can make that will have a big impact. Trust me. Okay, moving on to number four. This is a tiny tweak you can make in your. Visibility work. And so the idea here is one visibility touchpoint, one intentional visibility touchpoint.

So instead of posting every single day on all the LinkedIn and TikTok and this one and all of them. Just choose one intentional message that sums up your holiday, but also anchors you to a future piece of work. So the idea here is not about launching anything, it's, it's just about connecting. So it could be like a holiday feels post that includes a soft call to action, and maybe it's something like, here's what I'm grateful for in my business this year, followed by and how I'm serving next year.

Right. So you're showing your gratitude, you're showing a feeling of joyfulness, but you're also showing how you're going to be working in the next couple of weeks. Or if you serve clients in a coaching capacity, you could say something like, you know, grateful to all the clients I was able to serve this year.

I've got space opening up in January. Um, DM me the word blank two. You know, to learn more. So just something subtle, like I'm so grateful that I have this opportunity to work with all these wonderful people. And also I'm open for business come January 5th, or whatever kind of messaging you wanna put. But basically something that shows gratitude for the past and also puts plants a seed for the future.

But instead of posting every single day or trying to cover all the bases, just create one intentional post and post it once and you're done for the week. So it's one visibility touchpoint. Not 25, right? Because if you're on all the platforms then and you're posting every day of the week, that's a lot of work.

So let's not do that for this week, but let's not lose total sight of where we're headed. Okay? And then finally, um, number five is the CEO check-in. So. This is a, this is something that I feel strongly about. I think this should be non-negotiable for, for solopreneurs. We need to do these in introspective looks back.

So this is booking 30 minutes. It's a coffee date, but it's with yourself and you're gonna sit down and truly look, uh, pull out a journal and answer, you know, some real questions. What am I proud of from this past year? What did I learn, right? What do I wanna call in for the coming year and what do I need to let go of to make space for that?

These are big questions, but give yourself 30 minutes to just get honest, like, what didn't work? What are you so proud of that you wish you could do every single day? And you want more of these, these introspective moments, these journal prompts. They're gonna help you find clarity. It's powerful work.

Because when we pause and reflect, we really do start to call things into clarity because as we know, clarity creates action. Action creates sales, and sales are what keep your business working, right? We need to think big at the end of the year so we can get honest and clear about how we're moving forward.

So, okay, so here's something else I wanna add. This is kinda like a bonus. I like to choose an anchor. So this is a temporary guidelines. We're picking one grounding ritual that you're gonna carry with you between now and the new year. Just one action that you're gonna do every single day between now and the end of the year that's going to anchor you in this intentional tiny tweaks or mini shifts.

And so maybe it's journaling every morning, like doing something like morning pages. Maybe it's just 10 minutes of stretching every day. Maybe it's drinking two full giant glasses of water a day and calling that a win. But it doesn't matter what the action is, but whatever it is, I want you to pick one physical activity that's anchoring you into this intentional shift because the season can be very loud and that anchor is what's gonna bring you back to yourself and remind you, I am present.

I am connected. I'm intentionally showing up in tiny, tiny little ways, and it'll remind you, you know, that yes, you're still here, even though you're tapping out for a couple of days. And just, it allows you to eliminate the stress of it all. I mean, I really believe in this like, so pick one thing you're gonna do, call it your anchor.

Okay? I'm starting every day with my five minute, you know, vis vision. Brainstorm and I'm gonna drink a full glass of water and I'm gonna do that every day between now and the end of the year. These repeated actions help us feel connected and like we're moving forward, even while we're taking a break and getting the rest that we both desire and deserve.

So, like I said, whatever it is, choose an anchor and proclaim it. Declare it, claim it, own it. And. Uh, that's really it. Those are my five mini tweaks, but what I want you to remember is that you don't need to do everything to make the season count. Like we're at the end of the year. This year has been a doozy.

Let's, let's, let's let it go with some intention, right? So we can stay connected to what matters most. I, I preach this stuff all year, but I really think at the end of the year is when it matters. The most small shifts, tiny tweaks, they can, can have big ripple effects, and this is a great time to practice it.

So. You know, that's how you're gonna enter the coming year already in your power. And of course, if you want support getting clear on your offers, um, you know, your funnel or any of that stuff, if you have time over the holidays and you really want to drop in. Um, I do have a few holiday, I've got a few times carved out over the coming, specifically the week between Christmas and New Year's, um, for clarity calls.

So think of this as a little energetic tuneup for your business. Um, I just, these are free. I do just 15 minute kind of brainstorm sessions. These are not sales calls. Um, certainly if you wanna work with me, we can set up a sales call between the week after Christmas and before New Year's, but. If you just wanna get clear and you're moving into the next year and you need a little feedback, I also do have a couple of spots open for those 15 minutes, sort of discovery, sort of brainstorm, clarity calls.

All right, my friend. I'm very proud of you. We've come far this year. Um, thank you so much for listening. You know, I love connecting with you through this medium and I'm like so excited. I've got some fun things planned for next year and some really great content rolling out over the next couple of weeks.

So, um, let's all take the rest we need and deserve. Let's connect with family, friends, and, you know, be charitable. Be generous. Open yourself to receive the generosity and the charity of others, and let's just stay connected. Trust the process, tweak where it counts. Um, don't waste time over the holidays doing things that don't actually impact your bigger picture.

Stay, stay connected to that bigger vision. Okay? And we will talk soon. I will be dropping an episode of great interview next week. So, uh, I wanted to drop something that's kind of just very inspirational as we head into the final week of the year. So. I am looking forward to sharing that with you, and until we meet again, may you be vibrant.