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Welcome back to Thank God It’s Monday!
tl;dr To err is human. But the ability to quickly course correct is superhuman.
Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, how are we feeling?
Like most of the world, the Monday after Thanksgiving may bring symptoms of guilt and defeat. Maybe you went into this weekend with the intention of eating responsibly and not overspending on Black Friday sales. And perhaps you didn’t live up to your expectations. Maybe there were some avoidable bellyaches and credit card charges. To err is human.
But how quickly do you get back on track? Were you able to return to your baseline routine on Friday? Saturday? Sunday?
Or you made it to today (Monday), and you are still full from the leftover dessert and sluggish from a couple of cocktails. You know what they say: the best day to (re)start was yesterday; the second-best time to (re)start is now.
Honestly, what a treat it is to welcome the first day of the last month of the year on a Monday! December first, a day filled with opportunity to finish the year off strong and get a head start on the one ahead.
The temptation lingers to say “screw it.” Brush the rest of the year under the rug and hunker down for the month. It’s cold, holidays are busy, and a new opportunity will be here in just a few short weeks. Why muster the energy now?
Two reasons it’s worth the energy investment now:
- It’s going to be just as hard to change in January
- If you start now, you’ll be a month ahead of your 2026 goals
One of the most underrated skills for sustaining change is the ability to “about face.”
Typically, when you hear that command, you would spin on your heels 180 degrees to face the other direction. You can do the same about-face mentally to support change.
Let me explain. Thanksgiving went pretty much as planned with the second portions, extra scoops, and the unbuttoning of the pants. But when you woke up on Friday still stuffed and mildly frustrated with yourself, you doubled down and overdid it on the leftovers (not to mention the leftover desserts).
That behavior seeped into Saturday when you went out to get dinner and drinks with friends from home you hadn’t seen in months. Then Sunday came, and you thought, “What’s the sense in fixing it now? Might as well wait for the start of the new week.”
Instead of letting a couple of hundred extra calories on Thursday be the end of it, you let it turn into a few thousand calories by the end of the weekend. There’s no problem with that, objectively speaking, but if you’re complaining about what happened today, your actions didn’t align with your stated goals.
And this might go on for the rest of the month if you don’t decide to put an end to it now. Or continue doing what you’re doing, but then don’t wonder why you feel disappointed come January.
To help finish the year strong, practice the about-face. On Friday, when you woke up after a delicious Thanksgiving day, you could have about-faced and gone right back to your reasonable portions and workout routine. Saturday, you could have gone out to brunch and then finished your night with steps. On Sunday, you could have practiced the habits that made you feel good, preparing for the week ahead.
The beauty of it all is that you don’t have to be perfect. The about-face actually only works if you’re not perfect because it requires you to course-correct after imperfect action.
If your morning does not align with the person you are working to be, then about-face for the afternoon. If your afternoon was still not your ideal day, then about-face for the night. The about-face works no matter how late into the day, week, month, or year you are, because it only takes one moment to decide to spin 180 degrees and course-correct.
If you find yourself getting frustrated about how you ate one day or your lack of movement, make the decision to about-face. You can turn your day around no matter how late it is, even if that means just having a piece of fruit or stretching five minutes before bed.
This tool is so helpful, especially as we begin December, because energy is likely low between the darkness, cold weather, and busyness. The about-face demands little energy and can change the trajectory of the remainder of your year. So, will you decide to be superhuman for the rest of 2025 and turn things around quickly when you err?
If you found some value in this, please share it with a friend you think would enjoy it! And let me know if you’d like to be added to get TGIM.
This week, my podcast recommendation is from The Peter Attia Drive, “Longevity 101: a foundation guide to Peter’s frameworks for longevity, and understanding CVD, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, nutrition, exercise, sleep, and more.”
With that, happy December! Let’s make the most of the remainder of the year!
Until next time,
Shannon
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