Separation Season: Why December Creates Real Leaders

Welcome to Separation Season.

For most of my life, December came with a script:

Market slows. Business pauses. Foot off the gas. Unwind until January.
I carried that belief like it was law… until a few years ago, when I finally admitted it wasn’t serving me.

Watching real investors behave differently during a market crash shifted something in me -
most run, but the best lean in.

Then it clicked:

Leadership and life mirror the same pattern.
The season people write off? That’s the season that secretly reveals who shows up when showing up isn’t easy.

I’m leaning in now, not because I don’t feel the pull to slow down,
but because I finally realized the upside of not coasting or falling into societal patterns.
And it wasn’t exhaustion I feared most… it was losing momentum, connection, and trust in myself.

1. Lean in when others lean back

Effort is scarce right now - and that scarcity makes it valuable.
This is where I used to disappear into the noise. Now? I’m choosing differently.

Where can you show up this month, in a way that’s real and human  that others unconsciously won’t?
Do it there. That’s not hustle. That’s honesty.

2. Soften the “Ask” - Connect

People are more open right now. The holiday energy softens edges and opens hearts.
I used to chase outcomes. Now I chase moments and conversations.

No agenda. No ask. No pressure.
Just presence, curiosity, and appreciation for the person on the other side.

Connection first. Business if it comes.
That’s the separation.

3. Build momentum before the clock resets

I used to wait for “New Year energy” to rescue me.
Now I know it only responds to one thing - decision.

Start the goal now. Move your body now. Write the message now.
Not to perform… but to prove to yourself you’re not in avoidance mode anymore.

One small hard step today > 100 big promises January 1st.

4. Control the narrative in your head

December noise is loud. Stress is louder. Drama is the loudest.

The real separation for me wasn’t external anymore -  it was internal:

Choosing discipline. Choosing Gratitude. Working hard on my mindset even when life is coming at us in every which way.

When your mindset locks in, your surface area for luck expands.
Only now, I don’t call it luck anymore - I call it what it is:

Momentum attracts opportunity.
Opportunity attracts big moments.
Serendipity gets mistaken for “luck” by anyone not paying attention.

But we’ll know the difference.

So I’m choosing to stay in the arena.
Not later.
Not January 1st.
Not “after the holidays.”

Now.
Let’s f-ing go.