Mindset and Momentum: How to Set the Tone for a Strong New Year

By Ron Sweetman, SBTDC at UNC Charlotte

Every December, I see the same thing happen with business owners: we slow down just long enough to realize how fast the year went. And underneath all the year-end noise, there’s usually one steady question:

“How do I make next year feel different?”

I’ve asked myself that same question many times throughout my own career. Years ago, when I was running my telecom company, I had a December that forced me to rethink everything. Sales were strong, but I felt scattered in chasing too many ideas and trying to create momentum by sheer force of effort. That winter, I sat down and admitted something tough:

I wasn’t lacking effort. I was lacking clarity.

That season shaped everything I do now. Today, I guide CEOs through that same inflection point: the moment when what got you here won’t get you there. I’ve been there myself, and I know how disorienting and energizing that moment can be.

Momentum doesn’t start in January. It starts with the mindset you build now.

Here are the four themes I see make the biggest difference for business owners heading into a new year.

1. Pause Before You Plan

Most owners jump straight into goal setting. I get it, there’s comfort in action. But the most impactful planning starts with a pause.

When I finally slowed down during that stretch in my telecom years, I realized I had been reacting all year. I hadn’t asked the deeper questions:

• What truly worked this year and why?
  
• Where did we get stretched too thin?
  
• Which clients energized us, and which ones drained us?
  
• Where did I lead well and where did I slip into firefighting mode?
  

That’s when I finally saw the difference between busy and purposeful. Busy feels productive, but it’s really just motion. Purposeful work creates movement and pushes the business forward. Once I started operating from purpose instead of pace, everything got clearer.

That pause helped me see the difference between busy and purposeful. It does the same thing for business owners today.

Before your team dives into new initiatives, take a moment to sit with these questions.

2. Choose a Few Bold Moves (Not Fifteen Mild Ones)

The biggest mistake I made and the most common one I see now is setting too many goals.
Ambition isn’t the problem. Dilution is.

When everything is a priority, nothing actually moves. I learned this the hard way in my telecom days. One year we kicked off January with a long list of “top initiatives”: sales goals, service goals, new products, new markets. By March, everyone was exhausted, progress was scattered, and no one could tell which goals mattered most. We weren’t underperforming because of lack of effort; we were underperforming because we had spread that effort too thin.

The best-performing companies I work with choose 1–3 bold moves that create outsized impact:

• Strengthen the sales engine
  
• Improve profitability and cash flow discipline
  
• Develop a key leader
  
• Streamline operational bottlenecks
  
• Position the business for capital investment
  

When everything is important, nothing is. When you focus, momentum builds quickly.

As soon as my own telecom team narrowed the field and committed to a few strategic priorities, sales didn’t just grow; morale improved, projects moved faster, and we stopped spinning in circles.

3. Build Momentum Through Consistent Action

Once you’ve identified your bold moves, the question becomes:

How do we actually build traction?

The answer:

Break the bold moves into 90-day plans.

A 90-day plan forces clarity around:

• What needs to happen
  
• Who owns it
  
• What “done” looks like
  
• What the first steps are
  
• How progress will be measured
  

What I tell business owners is that ninety days is long enough to make real progress, but short enough to keep everyone focused. A year-long plan can feel distant and abstract. Ninety days creates urgency, accountability, and a cadence the team can actually sustain. It also gives you a natural rhythm for checking progress, adjusting course, and celebrating wins before energy fades.

When I introduced 90-day planning in my telecom company, everything changed. Projects stopped stalling, accountability became natural, and we started stacking small wins that created real momentum.

The same happens with clients today because clarity often replaces noise.

4. Lead From the Inside Out

Mindset is not a soft concept; it is a strategic one. Your team takes their cues from you, whether you intend it or not. When you are scattered, they feel it, and when you are clear, they steady themselves. Show up with calm determination and the business shifts with you. I often meet CEOs in December who feel overwhelmed by competing priorities. Once we slow things down and identify the three that truly matter, clarity snaps into place and the entire organization re-aligns. When your mindset is grounded, your business becomes grounded.

A Better January Starts Now

Simply put, momentum looks like:

• Clarity
• Fewer priorities
• Consistent action
• Leadership that sets the tone

That’s how you create a different kind of January.

If you want help stepping into the new year with clarity and momentum, the SBTDC is here as a confidential, no-cost partner. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes (and a simple framework) is all it takes to turn next year into your strongest yet.

Ron Sweetman is a Business Growth Advisor with the SBTDC at UNC Charlotte. He works with growth-stage businesses on strategy, sales, and capital readiness.