🎙 From Coasting to Choosing: Your Guide to Finishing Strong
Hi friend, welcome back to Running to Myself. I’m Trisha Stanton—life coach, wife, mom, grandma, and someone who has had to learn (and re-learn) what it means to finish strong in different seasons of life.
Does this sound familiar? It’s October, and you find yourself saying, “How is the year almost over already?” The older I get, the faster each year seems to fly by. I catch myself wondering where the time went.
And here’s the thing: I don’t live by a school-year calendar anymore. I’m not counting down the weeks until summer break or marking my calendar by semesters. But I still feel the pull of the seasons. And I’ll admit—I love the anticipation of a brand-new year. There’s something refreshing about turning the page to January 1st.
But there’s the trap: sometimes we focus so much on the “fresh start” in January that we waste October, November, and December. And that’s what I want to talk about today—how to resist the temptation to coast, and instead choose to finish this year strong.
October can be the beginning of what I call the “slow quitting season.” It doesn’t always happen overnight—it starts small.
* You miss a couple of workouts.
* You start telling yourself, “I’ll just enjoy the holidays and pick this back up later.”
* You loosen your boundaries around food, spending, or even time management.
Before you know it, the entire holiday season has become a blur of overindulgence and under-intention. And come January, you feel like you’ve undone months of progress.
Let’s put numbers on it: if you give up on your goals two months of every year, that’s 1/6 of your life. Over the course of a decade, that’s nearly two full years lost to coasting. Imagine if you reclaimed those years.
This isn’t about hustling harder or squeezing productivity out of every second. It’s about recognizing that these final months are part of your story. How you close the chapter matters.
Let’s talk about why this matters—not from a “do more” perspective, but from a mindset perspective.
When you choose to finish strong, you’re building trust with yourself. You’re saying:
* I’m not someone who quits early.
* I don’t need a calendar date to reset—I can choose alignment today.
* I’m capable of celebrating and still staying grounded in who I want to be.
Think of running a race. After all the races I’ve run, I can tell you—the finish line isn’t just about crossing. It’s about proving to yourself that you can keep going when every part of you wants to stop.
The last 6 miles of a marathon? They’re brutal. But how you run them sticks with you long after the medal is around your neck. It shapes your confidence.
The same is true in life. How you finish one season determines how you step into the next.
Now let’s flip the coin. What happens when we coast?
* We reinforce the “start over” cycle. January feels like square one instead of a continuation.
* We lose momentum. Progress thrives on consistency—even small consistency. Two months of ignoring your goals can erase what you worked for all year.
* We strengthen the wrong identity. Every time you give up early, you’re practicing being the person who quits before the finish line.
But here’s the good news: the opposite is also true. Every small choice to finish well—even imperfectly—strengthens the identity of someone who sees things through.
Alright, let’s get practical. Here are 6 tools you can start using right now to make these final months count.
1. Choose One Focus.
Don’t try to juggle all the goals from January. Pick one. Maybe it’s movement, maybe it’s consistent journaling, maybe it’s nurturing one relationship. One focus keeps your brain clear and your actions intentional.
2. Shrink the Time Frame.
Instead of saying, “I’ll be consistent for the next two months,” break it down. Focus on one week at a time. Ask: What would it look like to finish THIS week strong? Consistency beats intensity every time.
3. Anchor Your Days.
When schedules get unpredictable with travel and family, create an anchor habit—one small thing that grounds you no matter what. For me, it’s journaling. That habit becomes my “home base.”
4. Pair Celebration with Intention.
This isn’t about denying yourself joy. Enjoy the pie, but also go for the walk. Say yes to the party, and also keep your bedtime routine. It’s not all-or-nothing. It’s both/and.
5. Think About Future You.
Picture yourself on December 31st. How do you want to feel? What do you want to thank yourself for? Let that version of you guide your decisions today.
6. Challenge “All or Nothing.”
If you miss a day, don’t throw it all away. Skipping one workout doesn’t mean the whole week is lost. Remember—progress is built by getting back up quickly, not by being perfect.
Here are some prompts I encourage you to sit with:
* What one goal or habit do I want to focus on for the rest of this year?
* How do I want to feel on December 31st?
* What would finishing strong look like in my relationships, my health, my spiritual life, or my growth?
* What anchor habit can I hold onto, no matter how busy things get?
* What story do I want to be able to tell myself about this year’s ending?
Even 10 minutes with a journal and these questions can shift your whole perspective.
Friend, the last months of the year don’t have to be a throwaway. They’re a part of your story. And you get to decide what kind of ending you want to write.
Don’t wait for January to live intentionally. Don’t buy into the story that you’ve “blown it” and it’s too late. Right now—today—you can choose.
Choose celebration and intention. Choose progress over perfection. Choose to finish strong.
And here’s the bigger truth: when you do, you won’t just step into the new year lighter, clearer, and more aligned. You’ll step into it already carrying momentum. Already practicing the identity of someone who finishes what they start.
So let me leave you with this question: What does finishing strong look like for you? And what’s your next right step today?
Thank you for joining me on this episode of Running to Myself. If this encouraged you, share it with a friend who might need the reminder. And if you want more coaching encouragement as you finish this year, hop on my email list at trishastanton.com/signup.
Until next time—let’s finish strong, together.
