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Bottom Line Up Front
December is one of the most strategically important months for designing a more sustainable coaching and recruiting year.
While many coaches spend December scrambling to finish their recruiting class or checking out until January, the coaches who use this month’s natural slow-down to reflect and redesign walk into the spring with clarity, confidence, and momentum.
The secret is not working harder through the holidays.
It is planning smarter.
Hey Coach,
In my final years as a head coach, December used to overwhelm me. I felt stuck between family demands, team responsibilities, and recruiting that seemed to drag its feet. I would coast through December and then scramble on January 1 trying to pull together goals and systems I knew I wouldn’t maintain.
A mentor finally told me:
“You’re trying to plan from pressure instead of from clarity.”
At first, I didn’t know what that meant.
But when I looked at my patterns, it made perfect sense.
Planning from pressure is what most coaches do in January. It looks like:
• Feeling behind because the new semester is starting
• Making big goals because you think you should
• Reacting to deadlines, not designing systems
• Creating complicated plans you won’t realistically follow
• Setting expectations based on stress, guilt, or comparison
• Trying to fix everything at once
• Writing out goals because “everyone else is planning right now”
Pressure planning is noisy.
It is rushed.
It is driven by urgency and the sense that you’re already behind.
Now compare that to planning from clarity — what happens when you use December intentionally:
Planning from clarity looks like:
• Reflecting on what actually worked in the fall
• Seeing the patterns that slowed you down
• Thinking long-term instead of reacting to fires
• Creating goals that support your coaching life, not overwhelm it
• Choosing priorities based on alignment, not pressure
• Designing simple systems you can sustain all spring
Clarity planning removes noise.
It reveals what matters.
It gives you the space to think instead of scramble.
That’s why my mentor said:
“January is pressure.
December is clarity.”
January is full of expectations.
December gives you perspective.
Once I understood that, everything changed.
I stopped using December to survive.
I started using it to design.
And it turned into the most organized, confident, and successful coaching year I ever had.
I hope this newsletter can be the start of that same process for you.
How to Use December as Your Coaching Design Month
December sits in a perfect spot on the coaching calendar.
It is a natural mid-year check-in from everything that happened during the fall, and it’s also the gateway to a fresh year. That makes it the perfect time to reflect and reset.
Below is the December Design Framework I use with coaching clients.
You can answer all these prompts in one session, or break them down week-by-week to go deeper.
This article is meant to get your planning process started.
Next week, I’ll show you how to turn your answers into a simple, sustainable plan for 2025.
December Design Framework
1. Year-End Reflection
Goal: Understand what worked and what didn’t.
Ask yourself:
• Which months felt most aligned and productive? Why?
• When did coaching or recruiting feel unsustainable?
• What goals were meaningful vs. just noise?
• Which activities energized you vs. drained you?
• When did staff communication work well?
• Where did recruits disengage or drift away?
These answers reveal the patterns that shaped your fall and highlight what needs to shift in the spring.
2. Clarify What Matters for the New Year
Goal: Set priorities that support your best coaching self.
Ask:
• What do I want to be true about my coaching life next year?
• What kind of success feels sustainable for me?
• How do I want to show up daily for my team and recruits?
• What needs to change so I’m not repeating the same patterns?
These answers will guide every decision you make in 2025.
3. Design the Coaching + Recruiting Systems You Need
Goal: Build structure that supports your priorities.
Consider:
• What communication rhythm keeps recruits engaged?
• What roles or tasks should be delegated or clarified on staff?
• What weekly structure helps me stay organized and focused?
• What small process changes would prevent recruits from drifting away?
Your answers become the foundation for your spring systems.
4. Set Intentions for 2026
Goal: Create a long-term direction rooted in clarity, not pressure.
Clarify your:
• Personal and professional growth intentions
• Relationship intentions
• Energy intentions
• Impact intentions
These intentions shape your habits and help you enter January with purpose — not panic.
What Do You Do With Your Answers?
Right now?
Just gather them.
This article’s purpose is to help you collect the insight.
Next week, I’ll walk you through how to turn those insights into an actual coaching and recruiting plan you can carry confidently into January.
And if you want extra support building your recruiting plan…
Join Me Next Wednesday: Winter Recruiting Workshop
Wednesday, December 10
12 PM to 3 PM EST (There will be a replay if you can't make it. There is never a good time to do this but the success and length of your career depends on your ability to recruit quality student athletes. Come if you can)
Three focused hours to help you:
- · Get answers from recruits who are dragging their feet
- Get more responses from stronger recruits
- · Lead recruits through their decision-making with clarity
- · Overcome objections early
- · Strengthen your messaging
- · Build real recruiting momentum for January
If December is your design month, this workshop gives you the blueprint.
Register here: Tudor Winter Recruiting Workshop
If you'd like to set up a call to walk through this planning process with me, book a call here: https://calendly.com/busy-coach
Win the day,
Mandy Green
Here’s how Busy Coach can help you leverage your time and resources:
🕒 To leverage your time: High Performance Coach and Recruiter
👥 To leverage your staff: The Assistant Coach Accelerator
📈 To leverage your recruiting system: Recruiting Made Simple
📱 To stay consistent on social media: Social Story Recruiting
📘 To plan with clarity and focus: The Busy Coach Planner — grab one here and start 2025 fresh, organized, and dialed in.
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