Most people use the last few weeks of the year to “coast.” Top performers use it to create separation.
I’ll be blunt: 2025 didn’t beat you. Your habits did. Or… your habits saved you.
I spend every week in the trenches with financial planners, sales leaders, insurance professionals, and business owners who are all fighting the same battle — the battle between who they say they want to be and how they actually behave.
And the truth is, the marketplace doesn’t care about your intentions. It only rewards your execution.
As we close out this year, there are three patterns I’ve watched consistently divide the elite from the exhausted. If you want 2026 to start differently, you need to finish 2025 differently.
Let’s break it down.
1. Winners Don’t Wait for January 1st
Most people treat the calendar like a magic reset button.
“I’ll start fresh next year.” “I’ll get more disciplined in January.” “I’ll rebuild my pipeline after the holidays.”
No, you won’t. If the habit isn’t alive now, it won’t magically appear in 2026.
Prospecting doesn’t care about your excuses. Momentum doesn’t care about your mood. And your pipeline definitely doesn’t care that it’s December.
If you want to own next year, start the behaviors before next year starts.
Because momentum rewards the early movers.
2. Consistency Is Boring — That’s Why Almost No One Is Good at It
Everyone loves big goals. They look great on a whiteboard.
But nobody wants to admit that goals are useless without the behaviors to support them.
I tell my clients all the time:
“You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your habits.”
In financial planning and wealth management, inconsistency is the number one income killer. Not knowledge. Not product. Not talent.
Consistency.
A few calls one week… nothing the next. A prospecting sprint… followed by silence. A strong start to the quarter… followed by “busy work.”
The elite do a little bit all the time — never a lot some of the time.
Small behaviors. Done daily. Tracked ruthlessly.
That’s the whole game.
3. Accountability Isn’t About Discipline — It’s About Identity
People say they want accountability until they actually have to follow through.
Accountability isn’t punishment. It’s alignment.
And those in the top 1% don’t ask, “What do I need to do?” They ask, “Who do I need to become to get the results I want?”
Identity drives behavior. Behavior drives results.
If you don’t like the results you're getting, stop changing your goals. Change your identity. Change your standards. Change what you refuse to tolerate from yourself.
The best financial planners I coach won’t allow themselves to skip behaviors — not because they’re disciplined, but because it’s simply not who they are anymore.
2025 Is Ending. Your Excuses Should End With It.
If you’re honest, you already know what needs to change.
Your calendar shows your priorities. Your pipeline shows your discipline. Your results show your standards.
2026 doesn’t care about your story — it cares about your behavior.
So ask yourself:
- What excuses am I still allowing?
- What habits have I been avoiding?
- What actions need to start today, not next year?
The clock isn’t your enemy. Coasting is.
Finish 2025 with intention, with momentum, and with a commitment to the behaviors that will build the year you want in 2026.
Because the people who win next year… are already acting like the person they need to be right now.
By Glenn Mattson President, Mattson Enterprise | Sales & Leadership Coach | Sandler Trainer
