Why January Goals Burn Business Owners Out

Q1 is supposed to be the moment everything takes off. New goals. New strategies. A fresh start that promises momentum for the rest of the year.

But for many founders, the reality looks very different. The excitement of January quickly turns into pressure and exhaustion, leaving you feeling that you're already behind before the year has even found its rhythm.

In this episode of Honest Brew, we talk about the hidden pressure to “start strong” and why so many business owners fall into the trap of overplanning the year before the foundation is ready to support it.

Instead of chasing an unrealistic timeline, we explore what sustainable planning actually looks like and why building the right foundation in Q1 may matter far more than launching something big.

Because the founders who finish the quarter strong usually aren't the ones with the biggest plans. They are the ones who built something steady enough to last. If you've ever felt like you're already behind by February, this conversation will help you rethink what a successful start to the year really looks like.

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A candid conversation between three seasoned business women who've been in the trenches of entrepreneurship. We bridge the gap between the glamorous just market and sell advice and the reality of what it takes to build a sustainable business. While most business content focuses on marketing, branding, OR operations in isolation, we bring all three worlds together. Because your brand culture needs to live in every system you create, your operations need to support your brand promise, and your marketing needs the infrastructure to deliver on what it sells.

We're here for the solopreneurs ready to grow beyond themselves, the partnership survivors rebuilding stronger, and anyone tired of business advice that treats branding, marketing, and operations as separate planets when they're part of one ecosystem.

HOSTS

Cheale Villa, Visual Caffeine, visualcaffeine.com / Monique Johnson, MoJo Design, ...

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Honest Brew, Unfiltered Conversations on Business Growth. I'm Shelle from Visual Caffeine. I'm Monique from Mojo Design, and I am Sarah from Indigo Elephant. You've come to the place where three small business, women business owners, gather and share what's really working, what's not, and what we wish we would have known sooner. Whether you're just starting out or years into your journey, come sit in our tea time where we talk about challenges and celebrate the wins together. Grab your tea and join the conversation. And I want to note that many viewers do not know that we actually have a spot on our website where you can join an email list and you will get relevant downloads to every episode. Now, not every episode has a download, but the ones that we feel that you would really benefit from that download, you will then be on a list to automatically receive it, as well as you'll be notified of our next episodes. But with that, I'm gonna jump into our topic here because all of us, I believe, here have experienced this to some level. And it's the pressure to start strong. What founders get wrong in that Q1? And with Q1 kind of drawing down, I feel like this is an episode we all need. So we had new year, new goals, new strategy, new you, right? It's already drying down to the end of this quarter. And with that, you're behind on all of the goals, those blushes goals that you had in mind already. So we are talking about the annual tradition of over planning, over-promising, and wondering why the excitement in the end of December turned into absolute exhaustion now that we're drawing down to the end of this quarter. So why does January 1st feel so magical, ladies?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

I mean, you came off of maybe a week or two off and the mental shift of a new year starting. You know, I just feel like society places all these things on us that we we're supposed to make these goals for, you know, business goals and or personal goals at the beginning of every year. And I actually just don't do that. I never have. I think it is really important to make shifts in your business and your life to improve, you know, over time, but it doesn't have to be tied to like the beginning of the year. So that alone, I feel like alleviates like some of the pressure. But I also think that as business owners, we assume every year is gonna be the same and it's not for me. And I've observed this since COVID, my normal ebbs and flows of work were totally out of whack. Like it used to be like, oh, January was like super busy, and then going into the summer would slowly fade out and then it would kick back in in the fall. And since COVID, things have just shifted. It's not like that. And so I think as business owners, we get that in our mind, like every year is going to be the same, and it's not, it's not always the same. So I think keeping in mind that the changes that you're making can can and will affect the work that comes in and how that can tie into how your business is flowing.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

I agree with what Monique's saying, where it being like a societal pressure or an expectation. And I feel like with business owners too, there's this vibe of like, if you don't hit the ground running in January, your business is gonna fail. You're not gonna do these things. Like it's a very negative connotation. And I definitely fell into that trap a hundred percent. I'm like, oh shit, I don't want to be that person. However, going into this year, January did not go how I wanted at all, y'all. Like it was like I could, I believe we're gonna do a quarterly review at some point, which I can dive deeper into like what I experienced. And for me, I've come to realize like January is the month for me to get reintegrated into my business, to understand what foundation do I want to have for the rest of the year. Has given me a lot of grades, and it takes the pressure off of me of like when I get back into office, like on January 5th, that I don't need to be falls to the wall crazy in my business. Something else that helped me too is instead of doing goals, setting intentions, like what would be so cool to do this year? How do I want to feel this year? For me, it takes the pressure off of I have to achieve all these things by the end of the year, otherwise, you failed. And it's like, there's no such thing as failure in business. You just live or you learn. That's how I see it. So I feel like wrapping this back to like why we feel so much pressure is we make that pressure ourselves, which means we then can relieve it by gifting how we view our goals, how we set up our week, how we even just view the whole year. Because what's cool about what we do is yes, we can make nothing one month, but then we can make triple what we made in the following months. Like things can be really fluid and unexpected in the most coolest ways.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

I love what you just said there. Then that is so true because that is unlike people who work for somebody, we really have the power to increase or decrease our income. And when you work for somebody, it's like it's a consistent, it doesn't matter how much you work or how much you don't work, you're still getting that same amount. And people do get a security around that. But I think that sometimes it's a false security, and that's a lot of times reasons why people don't go into business for themselves. With that said, I do think that there is this pressure with January to kind of start strong, you know? It's just like the same people get that way about losing weight or getting in shape or whatever. And one thing that my brain did differently this year was I kept reminding myself that these goals were about an entire year, not just a month. And that really made a difference to me because I started just planting seeds of the things that I want to accomplish. And I think it's kind of pointing to what you were saying, Sarah, about using January as kind of a way to integrate the month. Now, I will say January tends to be crazy. I think I Monique, I think you can speak to this too, of it does be a crazy month for our industry because all our clients are in that mode too. So it's like, I need this and I need that. And I'm I'm sure Sarah, you have a certain amount of that as well. Um I think that there is this place, and I I think this is kind of a deeper root, maybe, is what is that difference between an inspired planning versus sustainable planning? Because I think that's where we're talking about that we went to being a more sustainable planning, whereas an inspired planning can actually be a way to hedge towards burnout really fast.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Yeah, I think when you are inspired by, you know, if you do set inspiration goals or intentions, that's your sort of guiding light. And you will, when I mean, I can speak for myself, when I am really excited about something, I can't wait to work on it. So you just sort of naturally find the time to do it or schedule it into your calendar because you're excited about it, as opposed to being like, oh my God, I have to like do this XYZ and so I love that idea so much of just the inspirational points that can guide you as opposed to more tactile ones that maybe don't really serve you.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

I feel I have a different thought on this because I definitely agree lean into excitement or things that are exhausting you because that is kind of like your body's natural way, and especially as women, our intuition, being like, do this, maybe pause, don't, whatever. However, what I've experienced sometimes with leaning too far into inspiration or excitement is that those can be fleeting. Because what excited you now could exhaust you the next month. So I feel like it is allowing yourself the flexibility of rechecking in on what excited you, your goals or intentions each month, because you may be like, you know what? I don't want to do this anymore. And that's okay. Cause that's just opening the door for something else that you're wanting to explore more. And I also feel like what can get people caught in the trap is that they just write down the cool things, but then they don't backtrack to like what's the bare minimum I need to do to actually reach it. Cause then I feel like those dreams will always be your dream. It won't be a reality that you can actually experience. And I know for myself in this season, I'm like, what's the bare minimum? I just want to do the bare minimum to ensuring that the needle's moving. Because for me in this season, I used to always prioritize business or schooling. That was always number one. I was always last on the list. Going into 2026, I'm like, I want to be the priority. I want my relationship with my fiance and my friends to be my priority and then my business. So I'm like, how do I get all of those things to flow together? And then when I become a mom one day, that's also going to change the dynamic as well. So it's always, I always kind of like having a loose plan that you can follow and always knowing I'm the one who can change the plan.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

I want to go off of that loose plan. The reason I want to go off of that is because I think that there is something that, some bumps in the road that happen when we're all about these goals that we have. Either we're all about this dream or this vision we have. The bumps in the road that we hit are the things that are broken that need to be fixed before we even get to that point. And I think it's really important to recognize that you can be inspired and you can have this grand plan of how that's going to happen. And I totally agree with you, Sarah, when I coach people and they have like a goal they want to reach, that back, like you know, going backwards from that goal of like, okay, I want it to be this state and kind of going backwards and planning from there, I think is a really sustainable way of doing that. And it's a it's a way to get your brain into that like long-term mode. But this piece of these things that, yeah, that's a great goal and that sounds awesome, but it's not going to execute well if you don't have some things fixed and filled in. And this is actually one reason at my company, when somebody even comes to us and they have a brand, they have a brand, and they just want a website or they want us to handle like content creation or something of that nature. This is why we still do the discovery. You know, obviously we need to do the discovery to know them, but we also do the discovery and make sure there's no cracks in their brand foundation before we move forward in any way. And because I'm sorry, we can't content create for you if you have big gaping holes in your brand foundation. We need to make sure that sucker is solid. Because just because someone says they have a brand, it doesn't mean it's a solid one. It doesn't mean it's one that I can't say contradictions on, like, okay, you say this, but then you say this, and like I'm going to accomplish this goal. Okay. What does that mean and how does it impact other things? And are those other things solid that this goal can actually happen? I'm curious. Do you guys agree or do you have a different thought on that?

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Yeah, I totally agree. Um, you know, we all have our big, hairy, audacious goal, right? Like that's it's called. But if you don't break that down into bite-sized pieces that you can like these mini achievable and feasible goals, then it's not gonna happen. So I like to um literally write almost like an outline because an outline gives you hierarchy, right? It's like the big chunks, bullet one, two, three, and then inside of those, there's ABC. And then there might be another one, two, three inside of the ABCs. And so you have this like overarching kind of concepts, and then you break it down into these smaller pieces that that are much more achievable. So scattering that in a strategic way throughout the year makes much more sense than saying I ain't accomplished this in like the first month of the year.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

I love how you brought up foundation because I talk about that all the time as an operations person. Like you really need a solid foundation that you can maintain or scale from because that's where sustainability will come in. And I know we've been talking about a lot about goals and business and stuff. We also think about taking care of ourselves too. We are a part of that foundation. And if we have health things going on or a family member who's sick, you're pregnant, you're gonna get married, or divorce, those will all influence how you then show up in business. So that would mean an unsteady foundation. And that's not a bad thing. That's just I'm having this season. This is what I need to do to make it through the season. Once it's over, I will be on a new one. So it is, I also think, beneficial to kind of think of stuff as seasons. January did not go my way at all because I had other things that influence how I was showing up in business, which means I couldn't achieve what I wanted to do. Does that mean 2026 is shock for me? No, it just means I had to take care of myself to where I am now, where I'm like, I'm excited to hit the ground running. I see my goals so clearly now. I know what I need to do. And I wouldn't have got there if I didn't take care of myself first. So, and especially if you're struggling to make goals or see those things, tap back into you. What could be blocking you, bottlenecking you, making things cloudy? And then once you're able to navigate through that, you'll be like, Oh, I have it. I have the master plan. I'm ready.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

I'm hearing both of yours permission. Yes. Permission. So I have a few permission tips for everybody. It's okay to start slower than everyone on Instagram appears to be starting. Spend Q1 fixing instead of launching. Choose one focus.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

Yeah, like I'm like punch me in the face with that one. Tough love.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Focus instead of three. Rest in January if December strayed you, which is one that I need to listen to this year because I was so burnt out going into December vacation. Not have a word of the year or a vision. I feel like that could be a whole other episode. Okay. It's okay. And we're not saying that this is a must, but it's okay. And it's not okay to ignore Q4 lessons and repeat the same mistakes. Commit to the things your operations can't support. And beating yourself up for being human with human capacity. And I think that that is a really beautiful one because I think we've talked about this in other episodes where we have the presence of AI and the presence of and just our culture in the United States in general. There is this pressure for us to have a higher capacity, higher capacity, keep going. But I don't know, ladies. I'm all about the slow, the space, because I get way more done when I have the slow and the space. Do you guys disagree with anything I listed there? Absolutely not. I do want to lead us to a quote to sit with.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Too many. I'm like, guys, we made this podcast honestly for ourselves. Every time we do an episode, I'm like, I need to walk this off. And it's just such a good reminder because I do feel, in my opinion, Q1 is a lot of the times a lot of behind-the-scenes work, getting things ready to then launch in this spring. Because I know for me, I am chopping at the bit for spring for the clocks to change. That's when I'm like go-getter, ready to do things. And I felt like that was wrong because I wasn't hitting the ground running in January like everyone else. However, I don't want to live like anyone else. So why am I letting that influence my decisions, my my behaviors? So for me, it's like this has given me a permission to slip to see my business differently, to have more acceptance and grace around how I'm operating in this season. And I really hope other listeners are feeling that same thing I am.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

I mean, I wonder, you guys are gonna laugh. If the behind the scenes stuff that is like shows up in January, was that like recorded in December? You know, it's like, I think that we're all in the same mindset. I mean every year, January is supposed to be this like crazy year, or you know, just Q1 is like you, that's when you really like get in your flow and you pump up. But yet everyone that I've talked to in my circle in the past like month has been like, I don't know where January went. It's like come and gone. You know, now I'm like, now it's like, you know, it's February and I didn't get all this stuff done. And so just like, why is there a way for us to collectively just say, this is gonna, this is how January is now? It's not gonna be like, okay, we're we're setting all these unrealistic goals, but how about let's like change the vibe and just say this is the way that it's supposed to be now? I just feel like that's a more that's more realistic, and it just seems like it's the way everyone's feeling anyway. So why are we pretending, you know?

SPEAKER_02 18:19

We need a collective chill pill.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

Like several seats, y'all. It's fine.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

And I'm gonna move into uh a lug punch before the last sips. How about that? Founders who finished Q1 strong aren't the ones who started with the biggest plans, they're the ones who started with sustainable plans. You need to hit the ground with a foundation that won't crack when you start to run. The race is long, start steady. Starting steady isn't the same as starting weak. And with that, last sips.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Well, if you're watching this on YouTube, you've not gotten punched in the face this whole entire episode. So you might be feeling the same way. In which to me, getting punched in the face is the I can just lean into this. I'm not doing anything wrong. I don't need to fix anything. It gives me a deeper understanding of I am becoming more embodied in my work. I am being more authentic by listening to what I need in this season and having that trust that this is gonna be the best year yet. Even though I didn't hit the ground running in January, even though I didn't hit six figures within 32 seconds, like everyone on Instagram says you can do. Allow yourself the permission slip to see Q1 as your way of setting a solid foundation, not only for this year, but for many years to come.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

That brilliant words of wisdom said, have a great day. Thank you for being here. And remember, sign up for that list because this episode will have action steps towards not only building a real Q1 plan, but one that you can use for every quarter. Thank you so much.