I have been working with CEOs for years now, and there is something I have noticed.
By the time December comes around, most of them are exhausted in a way that is hard to explain. Not just tired. Something deeper. The kind of depletion that comes from holding too much for too long.
The instinct at year's end is to push through. Finish strong. Maybe do a quick review of the numbers, set some goals, and collapse into the holidays. I understand that instinct. I have felt it myself.
But I want to offer you something different.
This is not a performance review or a goal-setting exercise. It is an invitation to slow down. To sit with yourself for a little while. To ask the questions you have been too busy to ask.
I have tried to write this the way I would talk to you if we were sitting together, somewhere quiet, with enough time and no agenda. Some of the questions might land. Others might not. That is fine. Take what is useful, leave the rest.
The only thing I would ask: do not rush. The things worth seeing tend to reveal themselves only when we stop moving long enough to notice them.
Find a quiet hour. Maybe pour yourself a good green tea. Begin.
Here it is:
With warmth,
