Preseason Reset: Surviving December Without Imploding
Because burnout is a terrible New Year’s resolution.
November’s Preseason work is mostly internal.
Small resets.
A little more awareness.
A few course corrections that keep us from drifting while the holidays tighten their grip. Read more about it here
But December?
December is different.
December is when the calendar speeds up, expectations stack up, and the world tries to pull our attention in ten different directions at once. And ironically, it’s also the month when our kids remember the most.
This is where Month 2 of Preseason begins: the shift from resets in us to resets in our home.
Because the truth is simple:
We can’t lead our families into January if we limp into it.
And for years, that was me.
I’d sprint through November.
I’d sprint through December.
I’d collapse during the last week of the year and then somehow try to convince myself I had the energy to create life‑changing habits on January 1.
You know how long those habits lasted?
Days.
Maybe a week.
Because I wasn’t tired…
I was depleted.
”New year new you” is impossible when you starting from empty.
Reflection
December isn’t the month you tighten everything up.
It’s the month you slow the pace so your home can breathe again.
Month 2 of Preseason is about choosing presence over performance. Not to magically create a “perfect holiday”…
but to create moments your kids will carry with them long after the tree comes down.
Because the memories that stick usually aren’t the perfect cookies or the Hallmark-looking tree...
it’s the mishaps.
The lopsided gingerbread house.
The string of lights that died mid-wrap.
The joke someone repeated three times.
We can either laugh our way through those moments or let them ruin a holiday picture no one else was expecting.
So in December, the work looks like:
Slowing down while the calendar speeds up.
Creating margin instead of manufacturing pressure.
Building a home rhythm that can carry into January.
Making memories while everything else tries to make noise.
And our kids don’t need elaborate traditions.
They need a dad whose presence is felt, not rushed.
This is the shift:
Month 1: Reset the dad.
Month 2: Reset the home.
Insight
Research shows that nearly 80% of resolutions fail by February. Sure, some people will blame the wrong goals or weak motivation. But most parents I know weren’t failing...
they were already running on fumes.
The resolutions never had a chance.
You can’t build sustainable habits when you are stuck in burnout mode.
You can’t create deep change from shallow rest.
And you can’t lead your home when you’re still recovering from too much sugar, too many events, and trying to help your kids regulate when you barely can yourself.
December Preseason is preventive work.
It’s emotional endurance.
It’s preparing the home so January doesn’t have to carry the weight of your entire transformation.
Scripture
“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” — Isaiah 30:15
December teaches us this…
strength comes from slowing down before speeding up.
Rest is the soil where new habits grow.
Presence is the posture that prepares the heart for change.
What if our strength this season came from quietness...
not from setting a personal record for most Christmas parties in one month?
Reset Reminder
As the month speeds up, choose one slowing practice:
A 10–minute nightly connection
A weekly family moment (lights walk, cocoa, story, prayer)
One non‑negotiable slow morning
One event or obligation you don’t add
One simple December ritual your kids can count on
Your home doesn’t need more from you.
It needs more of you.
Starting and protecting a new family ritual routed in quietness rather than wildness just might be something that your family will remember long after the memories of perfect Christmas trees and immaculate fireplaces evaporate.
This is my favorite kind of reset, one that helps my entire family connect a little more.
Bonus points if you involve them in deciding which one works best. The list above is a great start to seeing what they might want to do.
Let’s resist adding more to December...
by subtracting some noise so the quiet can do its work.
The ritual you choose doesn’t have to be big...
it just has to be yours.
And if you pick it together,
even better.
Framing the end of the year as a preseason is a great way to finish off the year strong and go into next year ready to grow. Good read.
What an insightful read!
I love how you've shared your thoughts on how motivation isn’t enough when your nervous system feels like its drowning.
Our willpower fades faster under stress.
But rest resets our brain’s capacity for change.
And it all comes down to...
"If you want your resolutions to last, start by recovering the energy to support them."