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December is often framed as a finish line.

You can feel it in the frantic energy of year-end “sprints,” deadlines to close, targets to hit, celebrations to attend - and the subtle pressure to perform gratitude for the year that was.

But for many people, the end of the year doesn’t feel clean or celebratory. It feels noisy.

Relief mixes with exhaustion. Pride tangles with disappointment. Gratitude sits awkwardly next to grief, pressure, or uncertainty. And yet, in many workplaces, the unspoken expectation remains:

“Just push through until January.”

The problem is: when we treat December like a test of endurance, we don’t just finish the year tired - we finish it disengaged.

The Hidden Cost of “Pushing Through”

When leaders default to endurance mode in December, it unintentionally broadcasts a set of cultural signals that people absorb quickly:

• Emotions are inconvenient
  Feelings are obstacles to productivity.
• Fatigue is a personal failure
  If you’re tired, you aren’t “driven” enough.
• Honesty is for Q1
  We don’t have time for the truth right now.

The result isn’t just a tired team. It’s a team that starts to quietly quit the year.

Burnout deepens. Trust erodes. And people enter January already depleted rather than refreshed.

Emotional wellbeing isn’t about removing pressure.
It’s about acknowledging reality - so performance stays sustainable, not brittle.

Normalising the “Mixed” End-of-Year Experience

Ending the year well doesn’t mean ending it perfectly.

Authentic leadership in December starts with allowing the truth of the season to exist—without trying to “fix” it.

Here are a few realities worth naming out loud:

• Dualities exist
  People can be proud of what they achieved and deeply tired at the same time.
• Motivation is seasonal
  Energy naturally fluctuates as the year winds down.
• The “festive” isn’t universal
  For some, this time carries personal, emotional, or financial weight.

Simply naming these realities reduces emotional strain. People don’t need their leaders to manufacture positivity—they need leaders to make room for what’s real.

You don’t have to solve how people feel.
You just have to stop making them pretend.

The Strategy of Micro-Rests

We often think of rest as something you earn through a two-week vacation.

But by mid-December, most people can’t wait that long. The nervous system doesn’t respond to “hold on until holidays.” It responds to small, consistent relief.

That’s where micro-rests become a leadership strategy—not a perk.

Practical micro-rests leaders can implement this month

• Buffer Zones
  Build short 5–10 minute pauses between meetings so people can reset, breathe, and transition.
• Agenda Audits
  Strip meetings down to essentials. Move non-urgent topics into January. Reduce decision fatigue.
• Permission to Decelerate
  Intentionally slow the pace on non-critical work to preserve mental bandwidth for what truly matters.

A note worth remembering:
Rest shouldn’t be a reward earned by total exhaustion.
It should be a tool used intentionally to sustain performance.

Swap Forced Positivity for Honest Check-Ins

December culture often leans toward “one last push.” The language is familiar:

• “Just a little harder.”
• “We’re almost there.”
• “Let’s finish strong.”

But what if “finishing strong” meant finishing human?

Instead of pushing for more output, use your final 1-on-1s to ask better questions—ones that reduce load and build trust.

Two questions that change the tone instantly

• “How are you really doing as the year closes?”
• “What is one thing we can take off your plate so you can finish the year feeling healthy rather than hollow?”

These conversations do something powerful: they tell people they don’t have to perform wellness to belong.

And the trust built here lasts longer than any year-end bonus.

What This Looks Like in Practice (For Leaders)

If you want a simple way to lead differently in December, start here:

1. Name the season honestly
   “This time of year can feel mixed - pressure, fatigue, reflection. That’s normal.”
2. Reduce friction where you can
   Protect focus time. Cancel what isn’t essential. Clarify priorities.
3. Build micro-rest into the workday
   Not as a “nice-to-have,” but as part of sustaining performance.
4. Create space for truth
   Ask real questions. Listen without rushing to solutions.

A Different Way to End the Year

Wellbeing is not a reward for productivity.
It is the foundation of sustainable performance.

So instead of ending the year by pretending everything is fine, we can end it by doing something far more useful:

Being human first - and professionals second.

That’s how teams enter January with energy, trust, and resilience intact.



If you’re a leader or professional who doesn’t want to carry this exhaustion into the new year, this is exactly why I created

‍The Sustainable Self  a practical, science-backed course to help rebuild energy, emotional stability, and focus for modern work. It’s designed to help you lead (and live) with steadiness, not strain.