End-of-Year Compass Setting: 4 Powerful Steps to Wrap Up Strong and Set a Steady Course for 2025
As the end of 2024 approaches, many leaders find themselves caught between two conflicting urges: the drive to finish strong and the temptation to coast into the holidays. It’s easy to stay busy—closing deals, hitting year-end targets, and managing the holiday chaos—but what if there were a more intentional way to end the year?
I believe how we finish one chapter sets the tone for the next. One of my core values is: “The way I do anything is the way I do everything.” That’s why I don’t wait for January 1st to set intentions. I believe in starting now—because how you wrap up this year shapes the energy, clarity, and momentum you carry into 2025.
Here are four practical, mindset-shifting steps that will help you finish the year strong and step into the new year with confidence and clarity.
1. Evaluate Capacity, Not Just Performance
Most end-of-year reviews focus on performance—what your team did or didn’t achieve. But that approach often overlooks a critical factor: capacity.
This is where the EOS tool GWC comes in. It stands for:
Gets It
Wants It
Capacity to Do It
Rather than evaluating team members solely on output, ask:
Are they in the right seat, operating in their zone of Unique Ability?
Are they overwhelmed or underutilized?
Do they have the tools and support they need?
Are they stuck in firefighting mode instead of leading strategically?
I encourage you to schedule meaningful 1:1 conversations with your leadership team. Go beyond wins and challenges. Talk about their capacity, alignment, and energy levels. You may uncover hidden friction points, inefficiencies, or misaligned roles that are quietly holding your team back.
2. Confront and Close Your Open Loops
Unresolved issues are silent energy drains. From difficult team dynamics to half-finished projects, these “open loops” clutter your mental bandwidth and stall progress.
Here’s how to spot them:
People issues: Who needs a heart-to-heart conversation before the year ends?
Unmade decisions: What’s keeping you from moving forward—lack of clarity, fear of failure... or even fear of success?
Stalled projects: What needs to be completed, paused, or decisively dropped?
Closing a loop doesn’t always mean solving it. It means creating clarity—owning next steps, removing ambiguity, and reducing drag. You’ll be amazed at how much energy returns when you start closing the loops that have been weighing you down.
3. Align Around ONE Singular Priority for Q1
In EOS, we talk about setting 3–7 Rocks (quarterly goals), but sometimes what you really need is one crystal-clear focus.
Ask your team:
If we could only accomplish one thing in Q1 to set us up for success in 2025, what would it be?
What’s the biggest constraint or roadblock we can remove right now?
What does “Done” look like? Who do we need to BE to get it done?
Getting your team aligned around a single, meaningful Q1 priority builds unity, momentum, and traction. It creates a shared sense of purpose—and that’s where real progress starts.
4. Reflect on Your BEing—Not Just Your Doing
This may sound unconventional, but as a leader, your presence and mindset are just as powerful as your strategy.
I’ve seen this in my own life, in my coaching clients, and in the high-performing race teams I’ve worked with. That winning energy isn’t just luck—it’s cultivated by intention.
Reflect on these questions:
Are you showing up with calm confidence or reactive stress?
Are you aware of the energy you bring into conversations and decisions?
Are you grounded in your values and purpose—or just managing the chaos?
Leadership is not just about what you do—it’s about who you are being. When you model presence, clarity, and intention, your team mirrors it back to you.
Your Compass Heading for 2025
These four steps—evaluating capacity, closing loops, choosing one priority, and reflecting on your presence—aren’t just about ending the year strong. They’re about charting a new, more intentional course for 2025.
They’ll help you:
Clear the noise
Regain traction
Inspire your team
Lead from alignment
And if you feel uncertain about how to move forward, that’s okay. You don’t have to do this alone. As a coach, I help leadership teams clarify their vision, align around priorities, and create the systems that move them from stuck to scaling. I’d love to support you.
Let’s talk about how you can close out 2024 with intention—and make 2025 your best year yet.
🌱 Our Q1 2025 Focus: Sweet Earth Orchard Retreat Center
At our family farm, Sweet Earth Orchard, we’re turning our long-held dream into reality. With the greenhouse project now complete, we’re focusing on creating a tangible meeting space for retreats, connection, and grounding.
We’ve made meaningful progress:
✅ Finalized our concept
✅ Sketched the early designs
✅ Engaged a builder
✅ Partnered with an architect for the plans
Right now, it’s just an open space. But it won’t stay that way for long. This will be a place for you—and other leaders—to step away, reconnect, and reimagine what’s next.