Why December Is the Hardest Month… and the One That Matters Most

00:00Anybody can be consistent in September. Anybody can be consistent in October. Anyone can feel structured in the fall time when life is like predictable, right? You know, the kids are going back to school. You know when you're going to be able to get your workouts in. You know when you're going to be able to meal prep. But December, dude, December like truly exposes you. Like I can tell you right now how empty my gym is and how I know that this is what the people are struggling with. And that's because what December does is it brings chaos. It brings emotion. It brings family dynamics. It brings travel. And then women decide, oh, I can't focus on my goals right now.

00:38What's going on, my friends? Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of The WarriorBabe Show with your host, Nikkie Stott. And on these episodes, we talk about mindset, methodologies, tactics, tactics, all the things that are going to help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. And that's what we're going to talk about on today's episode, episode number 317. And I think this one's going to be a really important one around your mindset.

01:12Right now in the in-between interesting window of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, where like this in-between area is where the routines fall apart, the calendars fill up, you're traveling, stress is rising, you're eating all this yummy food. And this is where most people, most women start to tell themselves, I'll just start again in January. But I'm going to lean into that

01:44with you guys here for a minute. Your January doesn't determine your year. What does is how you lead into that January. So how you, you know, go about December, how you've been going about November, like these months decide whether you enter this new year feeling empowered or defeated, feeling clear or chaotic or feeling grounded and knowing that this is just like another day in the consistency

02:16of your fitness lifestyle or you spiraling because maybe January one, you're trying to change a hundred things at once to get back into your routine of working out, eating better and all the things. And it's literally deciding whether you're going to be in momentum or you're starting all over again. And this month determines like who you're going to be walking into 2026. So it's not that you should wait for January one to determine that you should be doing that right now in this in-between season

02:49or in-between window of these holidays. And, you know, setting the foundation for yourself walking into 2026. Okay. So that on day one, you're not just trying to change everything or get back into the routine of everything and everything goes haywire on day one and you give up within seven days. Okay. I'm serious. Cause like take this seriously, please. Like, cause if you're somebody that's like, you know, I'm speaking to you in terms of the chaos and all the things you're experiencing and the quote unquote busy season that you were in, this is the best time to try and get a routine in for yourself.

03:22Okay. So I want to talk about that in this episode today. This is the thing. Women have been taught to worship and like, hold on, let me just pause there for a second, actually, because that was me 10 years ago. Now, almost 11 years ago where I was worshiping January 1st. Like it's a magical moment where like this extra motivation, like resets, this discipline resets, the willpower resets. And that's what a lot of women do. And I can say that

03:53because I was that person. You guys are worshiping January 1st. The truth is January doesn't reset anything that you don't get the momentum or don't you that you didn't build in December. Like if you end December tired, if you end December bloated, if you end December checked out, if you end December, like eating chaotically skipping habits, avoiding, avoiding discomfort, you know, putting yourself last in January, it's just going to feel like you are climbing Mount Everest with no oxygen tank,

04:28my friends. What you're doing is you're not starting fresh that day, you're starting literally from a deficit. Like the more that you allow the days of December to go by, by pushing off you getting or solidifying your routine, every day is just a notch and adding to the deficit of you going in to January 1st. And that's why so many women quit by January 15th or by the end of, of the month. They, and not that they don't, they don't fail because they're weak. They fail because they gave up on their routine

05:04on themselves in December when they, when the holidays were chaotic, when, you know, when things are busy right now. And I'm not like, I want to, I understand I validate the busyness, but not, but that said there are women just as busy as you are, and they're still making it a part of the routine. What it comes down to is time management. My friends, it's like one of my really good friends. She's a mom of four. She is also starting her own company and literally going all over the place, like tapping into her resources, talking to people, traveling all over to colleges to get this,

05:38this business off, off the ground. And she's taking care of her home and her husband and her kids. And she's still makes it a point to get in her fitness routine in the day. So, and she literally has told me like the days not to go for the right now, but like the days that I can see her and meet with her is in with this time block of two to two and a half hours on said day. Like she has it that down pat. And so that's what I would encourage you. Like, as I'm speaking to you guys in this episode, it's like, okay, time management is truly what it comes down to in this chaos of the busy season. Right? So where in your time management, can you make sure that you are blocking out at least

06:11an hour and you have it two hours to just ground yourself in the morning, you know, set yourself up for success, get your movement in, get your steps in, get your workout in, and like, put together your meals for the day and be on the day. That's all it takes. It's all it takes. It doesn't have to take, you know, so much time. And it only feels like it's so much time, because you haven't nailed down the time management aspect. Okay. But getting back to this, like, you can't expect, like, if you're

06:42allowing all of this to, to fall apart in December, you can't expect the discipline to magically appear on January 1. Like it does not work that way, who you are becoming and the woman that you are stepping into in that next level you of like having this routine down pat, because think about it from the end point of the woman that you want to become the woman that you want to become at the end point of the goals already accomplished, has this time management and routine down to a path that when a busy season falls into place, it doesn't even faze her because she's already navigated that routine

07:13for herself. She's already locked it in. So thinking about her from that end state, you obviously have to change something from where you are now to get to that point. So what is it? Probably time management, locking it in, staying to, sticking to your routine. Anyway, that next level you, like, it doesn't work that magic, it's all going to magically appear on just January 1. It doesn't, you be that next level you doesn't like reboot on your calendar. That next level you is built day by day. And especially in this hard month, like anybody can be consistent in September. Anybody can be consistent in,

07:46in motivated in October. Anyone can have, you know, feel structured in the fall time when life is like predictable, right? You know, the kids are going back to school, you know, when you're going to be able to get your workouts in, you know, when you're going to be able to meal prep, whatever, or if it's not fall for you, then maybe it's some other time in the month that you can relate to, right? But December, dude, December like truly exposes you. Like I can tell you right now how empty my gym is and how I know that this is what the people are struggling with externally outside of the gym, in the world, in the, in reality of the world. My gym is so empty right now. It's crazy.

08:22And that's because what December does is it brings chaos. It brings emotion. It brings family dynamics. It brings travel. It brings noise. It brings food everywhere. It brings stress. It brings the lack of routine. It brings, you know, more temptation, more excuses. And then women decide, oh, I can't focus on my goals right now. But the truth is the woman that you're becoming during December is a woman that you are going to carry into the rest of the year. December shouldn't weaken, weaken you. It shouldn't make you fall apart. It should reveal your patterns where maybe you've seen,

08:55you know, this is how my old identity or this is how old me fell to the, to the, to the chaos of chaos, fell to the temptations of the food, fell to all of these patterns that Nikki is speaking to, right? It's revealing those patterns for you to look at them, to take ownership, to take responsibility, to be honest with yourself and be like, okay, I need to change these patterns because a pattern shapes who you become. Quick break. If you're finding this episode helpful so far, it would mean

09:25a lot if you could hit pause for just a second, leave a quick rating or a review or share it with someone who could benefit from it. Your support helps more women discover these tools to build muscle, lose fat and feel confident. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me. So you can continue on these holiday or, you know, December patterns that you've been a part of every year or you can reshape them. And if you want to enter January, more confident, more clear,

09:56you know, already winning, already ahead of the game. The one thing that you don't need is you don't need to be perfect this month. Let me just say that what you do need is you need minimums and you need to look at what minimums you're going to be. That's going to be a non-negotiable for you because minimum habits, that's what keeps like you intact. That's what keeps like that next level you, the actions that she's already taking at her end goal or has accomplished some type of result that she wants. These are the minimums that she took on a daily basis, right? And then the minimum habits

10:30that you're doing every day, not only do they do that, but they also help to keep your momentum alive. So that can be like, okay, let me just make sure that I get 8,000 to 10,000 steps in my day. Let me make sure that I'm getting three of my strength training workouts a week. Like if you were someone that was doing five, maybe it's like you go to your coach and be like, this is what's realistic for me right now. And this is a really important thing to listen. Actually, let me just rate on that for a second. If you used to do five and you could do that, no problem. But now you are in this busy season and you're still trying to stick to the five, but it's not happening. And you're only getting

11:05three to four workouts in a week. You are going to feel like you are failing because you're not getting the five, but you're just not being honest with yourself. That's not realistic for you to get the five right now. So you need to peel it back and look at the data of your weeks and see that you're only getting maybe three workouts consistently. So that is what you should pull back to, to make it realistic and make it so that you don't feel like you're failing, but you're actually following through.

11:38That little thing will make a huge difference in your mindset. Another minimum, like it doesn't have to be all of these, but it can be three or two of them is just drinking your water throughout the day or focusing on having a protein focused, you know, when you put your meals together, you're making sure that you're putting protein on it first or sleeping eight, eight hours a night or tracking 70% of your day, 80% of your day or no, like all

12:09or nothing, my, you know, days of the week, whatever is more realistic for you again, like what is realistic for you that you could lock in for the month of December? That's going to feel like you have forward momentum going into December to January. And it doesn't have to be all of these. It can be one of them. It can be two of them. It can be max three of them. Perfection is not the goal here. What is, is consistency because consistency, especially in this month is going to build that next level. You moving into, into, into January. And it's not

12:42this month too. It's not like most people don't lose progress in December. What they do is they lose themselves to the chaos of the world. It's not the food. It's not the events. It's not the travel. It's not the lack of time. What it is, is that, you know, getting deeper, it's a self abandonment. It's like putting everybody else first. What they do is women will abandon their routines or abandon their discipline. They'll abandon their minimums or abandon their needs or being in their boundaries, their emotional regulation, their goals themselves. And then they say, you know what,

13:12I'm just going to come back in January strong. But again, what's happening here is the version of you that now has pushed herself off to the side in December is not going to magically lead you into this powerful January 1st mentality. That person's exhausted. That person feels so behind. That person feels guilty. That person feels overwhelmed. That woman feels like she's starting from zero again. And that is one of the most discouraging feelings in the world, right? And you don't deserve that cycle anymore. Let me tell you from my own experience, from training, from competing, you know, from building

13:43warrior, babe, like discipline doesn't show up when life is easy. Discipline is revealed when life is in the most convenient season of your life. And you're tested. But you're tested in a way that's giving an opportunity for you to make what is most important in your life, the foundation, right? You know that you can't pour out of an empty cup, if your cup is empty into other people. And what makes your cup full is you working out your health, eating healthy, right? And then that's going to

14:17transpire in spiderweb into being a role model for other people. So by you being disciplined, it doesn't mean that you're selfish or doesn't mean that, you know, you're unreliable. It makes you reliable, makes you steady. That's where like, you know, you can show up solid for other people, right? Like you stay connected to yourself. And when you do that, then everything around you, it feels chaotic, but you're grounded and centered in yourself, right? And so you're able to show up

14:47better if you're able to put to put your needs to be able to do that, right? Moving into into this into the month of into month of January, don't give up on yourself is what I'm saying. Don't give up on yourself this month. If it's not what it was back in, you know, October and September and August, again, even taking that, that concept that I said about working out, what is realistic for you right now? And just follow through on that. That way you don't feel like you're starting. That's the biggest

15:19thing I want you to take away from this. You don't feel like you're starting from a deficit going into January 1st because dude, you're going to burn out so quick. So what I want you to do is like, think about the outcome. If you follow through on these things I'm saying here with you in this episode, if you follow through on them, think about how you're going to wake up, you know, in January and it come January 1st, you're not going to feel chaotic. You're not going to feel spiraling. You're not going to feel like you have to change a hundred things. What you're going to feel like is you're clear, you're grounded, you're strong, you're regulated, you're in momentum, you're feeling proud

15:51of yourself. You're not bloated. You're not ashamed. You're not starting over. You're not in this deep, deep deficit. Imagine like it, you're already being the woman, how you want to, you want to be right. You're already that next level. You coming into January 1st, because these last couple of weeks you showed up and kept following through what we're talking about here, instead of like trying to scramble to become her on January 1st. That version, that version of you is literally built right now. It's built right now. Getting off this podcast, it was resonating with you. You're going

16:26to take away some things to go into the weekend, to go into next week, making this your January 1st, right? Not after Christmas, not at the parties, not after the shopping, not at the chaos, not at the travel, right now, right now, all right? And the most important part is that the choices that you make this month don't just affect January either. Do they affect your results? They affect your metabolism. They affect yourself, your belief. They affect your confidence. They affect your habits, your future

16:56self, your metabolic health, your 2026 version of you, it starts right now. And what's crazy is that future you, dude, she's already watching you. She's watching what you're doing right now. She's watching you today. And she's asking, are you going to lead us through this hard season? Are you going to follow through? Are you going to do it? And your answer should be yes, do it. Okay, so here's what I want you to take from this episode. Stop treating December like a break from your life. Stop, start treating December like the month that builds the life that you want moving into 2026. This month is,

17:32is not just like a throwaway month. It's going to feel more chaotic. Yes, 100%. But guess what? Once it's done, you'll be able to rest and catch up and you'll be able to reset, you know, the ability, the workout days and all of that. Just reassess what you need right now. And it may feel like it's bare minimum and that's okay. Minimums are good this month. Okay, this month, it's the month that separates a woman who talks about change from the woman who actually creates it. So who do you want

18:03to be walking into 2026? And remember that that woman gets built right now in December, not January, not January 1. So what are you going to do about it? All right. I hope you feel encouraged. I hope you feel motivated leaving this episode. And I hope some light bulbs have just gone off to know that like, okay, I'm not going to throw away the month of December. I want to feel the momentum going into January 1. But that has to start right now. If it doesn't, then you're gonna be scrambling January 1. All right. Love you guys. I'll see you in the next episode. Real quick, if this episode resonated with you or gave you the push that you needed,

18:37I'd love for you to pay it forward. Drop a quick rating and review, share the podcast with someone who might need it and help me keep spreading the word. Your feedback not only helps to show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so, so much for your support.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.