It Ain’t Over Till the Fat Lady Sings

Last week, I was at a networking event, and in one of the breakout rooms, I asked everyone what their goals were for Q4. One of the women gave a little chuckle and said, “Q4 is over.”

We were in the last week of October, so my response was pretty much, “Wait, what?! No, it’s not.” There are three months in a quarter, and we had only reached the end of the first one, which meant we still had two whole months of business left to run.

She explained that she was done with 2026 and focused on 2027, and honestly, there’s no shame in planning ahead, but I can’t help but think what a waste it is to treat the next 2 months like they have already disappeared!

At the very end of September, I realized I’d already crossed the annual revenue goal I’d set for myself, and I was ecstatic. I told my coach, I told some of my dearest colleagues and friends, and I actually let myself celebrate, which is a bigger deal than it might sound.

The old version of me would have looked at that number and decided I clearly hadn’t set the goal high enough. Then I would have changed it, immediately started chasing the next number, and somehow managed to turn achieving my goal into evidence that I should have done more. If you’ve ever celebrated a win for approximately twelve seconds before deciding it didn’t count, you probably understand exactly what I mean.

I’m really proud that I don’t do that anymore, and I wasn’t about to take this achievement away from myself. But I’m also ambitious, and I’m guessing you didn’t start a business because you were hoping to run out of things to get excited about. Once I’d celebrated, I started looking at the rest of the year and thinking, “Oh my gosh, what else could I do with this time?”

I let the revenue goal stay right where it was, achieved, and started thinking more about the quality of the business I wanted to take into January. What could I get done now that would let me start 2027 feeling like I’d already climbed halfway up the mountain, instead of standing at the bottom trying to figure out where my shoes were?

For me, that came down to two things: hiring a client success manager for 2027 and filling my January program before January gets here. I want to start the year with that group already enrolled, ready to work together, rather than spending the beginning of the program still trying to fill it. And I’m thinking about the support I’ll need to take good care of those clients as the business grows.

Those are things I can work toward right now, with two full months left in the year. Hitting my revenue goal gave me something worth celebrating and the chance to think differently about what comes next, and I don’t want to waste that opportunity just because we’re getting close to the holidays.

It ain’t over till the fat lady sings and as far as I’m concerned, her act isn’t scheduled until December 31 at midnight!

There’s still business to be done

Think about what people are doing right now: buying gifts, watching for Black Friday offers, and deciding what they want next year to look like. For business owners, that can also mean deciding what support they need so the beginning of next year doesn’t feel exactly like the year they’re trying to finish.

Does that mean they’re automatically going to spend money with you? Of course not, but if your offer helps with something they’re already trying to solve, there’s an opportunity to show up and talk about it while they’re making those decisions.

That’s a pretty good reason to stay involved in your own business for the next two months. You could close some of the gap on a revenue goal, build on a year that’s already gone well, or finish something that would make January considerably easier.

I’m not suggesting you work through Thanksgiving dinner or spend Christmas answering sales emails. Please take your time off, enjoy your family, and build that rest into your plans, because continuing to work toward a goal doesn’t require giving your entire holiday season to it.

But there’s a lot of room between taking a holiday break and declaring the year finished 8 weeks early. If you let every conversation and commitment fizzle out now, you’re giving yourself a whole lot to restart when January comes around.

Weekly Challenge

Take a few minutes this week to look at where you stand with your 2026 goals and decide what you still want from this year. Maybe there’s a goal you want to finish, or maybe you’ve already hit it and want to see how much further you can go.

Choose one main goal for the remaining eight weeks, decide what progress would look like by December 31, and give yourself a concrete first step to take this week. Keep it realistic around the time you actually plan to work, then give it your attention and see how far you can get.

If you’d like help sorting through that, grab this week’s companion AI prompt in Notion AI Skool. It’ll help you evaluate where you are and choose a year-end goal worth spending your time on.

Here’s what I’m working toward

As I mentioned, my goal is to fill my January group for The AI-Powered CEO System, and I’m giving anyone who enrolls before the end of the year the rest of 2026 inside the program as a free bonus. You’ll get started now, then receive the full 12 weeks beginning in January.

If you’re completely maxed out, struggling to keep up with client work while still trying to run and grow your business, you probably already know something needs to change.

You don’t have to wait until January to start addressing what’s leaving you overwhelmed and behind right now.

We can start making changes before the new year, then spend Q1 getting your business organized in one place and putting AI to work supporting the actual workload. You’ll have my help implementing it, so you can build a business that doesn’t keep demanding more hours than you have to give.

If you’d like 2027 to feel different, book a call with me and we’ll talk about what you need, whether the program is a fit, and getting you started with the rest of 2026 included.

I’m planning for January, too, but I’ve still got some business to do before the singing starts. How about you?