Don't check out yet

I’m going to launch a 6-month cohort in January for men who no longer want to drift, but want to be a part of a community in the journey. We’ll meet monthly (virtual) to talk through content, frameworks, and accountability. You will also have the opportunity for 1:1 time each month. Only a few spots are left. We have several incredible men already committed. Reply to this email if you are interested or in.

I got an email early this week regarding a project I’ve been working on. "Let's circle back in January."

It was December 16th.

I walked into a coffee shop later that afternoon for a meeting. A place that is usually filled with people on laptops working or having meetings, was filled with people scrolling and relaxing. Not a bad thing, but an interesting observation.

We have entered the Soft Exit.

It's that two-week window where the world decides to check out. The Drift tells you it's okay to coast. You've worked hard all year, so you can slide through the final 14 days on autopilot.

Physically, you might still be working. Mentally, you're checked out and on the couch.

Most men limp across the finish line of the year. They view the holidays as an escape, not a well-earned time of rest and recharge. And I get it. I want to check out until the new year as well.

But here is the truth: How you finish 2025 dictates how you start 2026.

If you let your standards slip now - if you push the hard conversations, the workouts, the discipline, the project that can be completed to "next year" - you are training yourself to be a procrastinator. You are ending the year below the line.

And when January 1st hits, you won't magically wake up with momentum. You'll wake up trying to restart a stalled engine. You’ll be regretting that you didn’t stay intentional for the last 2 weeks of the year.

Epictetus warned us about this centuries ago: "If you are careless and lazy now... you will live and die as someone quite ordinary."

The best leaders I know are doing the opposite right now. They aren't killing themselves with busy work - it’s not about that - but they are finishing well. They are closing loops. They are clearing the mental clutter so that when they do take a break, they can actually rest. They don’t want to get back in the office or gym in January regretting that they’d avoided the work in December. They want to maintain their habits and standards in order to start the new year on purpose.

And don’t hear what I’m not saying. This isn’t about work vs rest. It isn’t about doing more. It isn’t about being addicted to work or productivity. At all.

Rest matters. I won’t have my laptop out while opening presents. I won’t be answering emails while having family movie nights. I won’t be working for several days. But I am preparing now so that I can be present in those moments. I’m not putting off until January what I can get done now. And my basic routines (working out, gratitude journal, etc) are still taking place. The line is still the line.

True rest is the reward for a job finished, not avoiding commitments.

Don't slide into the holiday season. Earn it.

Identify the one project, the one conversation, or the one standard you were about to let slide until January. Do it now. Do it this week.

Go into the break with a clear conscience, not a deferred to-do list.

Then let your rest be actual rest, not avoidance.

Choose to live above the line.

For you,
Kevin

P.S. I'm working on the NO DRIFT Weekly Standard - a system for men who want to take control back. Before it's finished, I created a Weekly Scorecard as a free test. Want to try it and give feedback? Just reply.

Thanks for reading this. Share it with anybody you think would find it useful. And as a reminder, NO DRIFT is not mine it is ours. I want to know what you think, what you want to hear about, what you are learning. All feedback is welcomed.