Sola Adesakin 
December carries a special kind of energy. As the year winds down, reflection rises, and so does the quiet pressure to reinvent ourselves in January. But year after year, we’ve seen how that story often goes: the motivation is high, the resolutions are bold, and by mid-February, many of them are forgotten.
The truth is simple: transformation doesn’t begin with the calendar; it begins with a decision.
This December, skip the vague resolutions. Don’t wait for fireworks before you take your first step. Instead, choose one or two clear goals and start easing into them now. Not with dramatic leaps, but with quiet, consistent baby steps that gently shift your life in the right direction. Because when it comes to growth, small moves create big results.
Here are five simple habits you can begin today: habits that require no dramatic lifestyle overhaul, just steady intention:
1. Read for one hour a day
The fastest way to reshape your mindset is to reshape your intake. One hour of reading daily, whether it’s personal finance, leadership, personal development, or industry-related topics compounds in ways your future self will thank you for. By the end of a year, that’s over 300 hours of wisdom, insights, and clarity poured into your life. Imagine how different your decisions would be with that level of knowledge.
2. Review your finances weekly
You can’t improve what you don’t monitor. A 20-minute financial check-in every week helps you understand your spending patterns, track your obligations, plan ahead, and cut waste before it grows into a bigger problem. Think of this as a weekly meeting with your money — a simple ritual that increases your control and reduces anxiety.
3. Take one online course
You don’t need to scramble for a brand-new version of yourself on January 1st. One online course, just one, taken in December is enough to spark momentum. Choose a course in an area you want to expand: career skills, entrepreneurship, investing, personal development, or even a new hobby. Growth is not about speed; it’s about direction.
4. Walk for one hour
A walking habit is one of the simplest ways to boost your mental clarity, physical energy, and emotional resilience. No gym membership, no equipment, just movement. Walking helps you reset your mind, reduces stress, and boosts creativity. It’s often during long walks that new ideas take shape and old problems find solutions.
5. Start planning for 2026
Most people wait until January to start drafting goals, and by then, they’re already overwhelmed with busyness and obligations. December is quieter, clearer, and gentler. It gives you space to reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and what needs to change. Start from your desired outcomes for 2026; the life you want to live, the money you want to earn, the relationships you want to nurture, then work backward into simple action steps.
This time of year naturally invites reflection, but it also offers the unique advantage of early momentum. Beginning now gives you a head start, mentally, emotionally, and financially. It positions you to enter 2026 with clarity rather than confusion, direction rather than pressure, and confidence rather than chaos.
You don’t need a new year to become a better version of yourself. You only need a decision, followed by a small, consistent step.
Start now. Start small. Start where you are.
Because your best year won’t happen by accident, it will happen by intention.
Sola Adesakin is a highly respected wealth coach and chartered accountant with over two decades of transformative impact in the finance industry. As the visionary founder of Smart Stewards Financial Advisory Limited and Smart Stewards Advisory LLC, she has revolutionized the financial wellbeing of countless individuals and businesses across 40 countries. Her methodical approach to ‘make-manage-multiply’ money principles has elevated many from financial stress to prosperity, and mediocrity to exceptional achievement.