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Over the last decade of working with purpose-driven leaders, I’ve witnessed a peculiar phenomenon that emerges each December. As strategic planning wraps up and the final emails are answered, as office doors lock one last time and we turn toward the quiet of the holidays, something shifts.
The thoughts we usually outrun through daily distractions finally catch up with us in these quiet December moments. They arrive in the late-night silence after the last email is sent, in the stillness of an empty office, in the rare pause between years.
Am I doing enough? Are we moving fast enough? Are we doing the right thing?
Having heard these questions in the night many times myself, I know intimately the discomfort and relentless pull created by the desire to create impact. In a world where we measure self-worth by the number of tasks completed in a week, it’s easier to push ourselves harder than acknowledge that our work might never be complete.
Fortunately, this end-of-year quiet offers more than just questions—it provides space for reflection and renewal. In these final weeks of December, when the pace of business naturally slows, we can find unexpected wisdom in the pause between what has been and what might be.
Finding grace in serving
Sometimes the most profound service comes in quiet moments, not grand gestures. While entrepreneurship often pushes us to chase big outcomes—market disruption, transformative innovation, explosive growth—the heart of service beats in small, daily acts of attention and care. It’s the leader who notices an employee’s unusual silence during the holiday season and takes time for a private conversation, discovering they’re struggling with their first Christmas after losing a parent.
When we focus on these intimate moments of service—the kind that might never appear in a quarterly report—we often find that larger success follows naturally.
Finding strength in receiving
Many of us find it easier to work through lunch than accept a colleague’s invitation to step away from our desk, easier to struggle alone than admit we need support. While entrepreneurship celebrates self-reliance, true strength often emerges in moments of graceful acceptance—when we let our team support us during a challenging project, welcome a mentor’s gentle criticism, or simply accept the gift of someone else’s experience.
In these moments, we create space for others to participate in the impact we hope to make.
Finding power in community
We often imagine the ideal entrepreneur as a solo pioneer, blazing trails alone. Yet real impact emerges from those barely noticeable moments of connection—a water-cooler conversation that sparks a solution, an introduction made by someone who noticed an overlap in missions, an Ugly Sweater Contest that brings unexpected laughter and connection.
These small acts of community—often unplanned and unofficial—create a web of support stronger than any single visionary could build alone.
Finding peace in waiting
Too often, urgency is the currency of business. Yet sometimes our most significant breakthroughs arrive in moments of forced patience—the delayed funding that leads to a better business model, the postponed launch that allows for crucial improvements, the slow first year that builds unexpected community connections.
These pauses in our progress—though uncomfortable—often create space for the very progress we seek.
Finding joy in hope
The entrepreneurial journey often tests our optimism, especially in moments of setback or uncertainty. Yet real hope lives in small daily choices to believe in despite doubts. It’s the founder who, after a difficult quarter, still writes personal thank you notes to their team, or the social entrepreneur who celebrates small community wins even when larger goals feel distant. It’s showing up each day with fresh eyes, finding delight in tiny signs of progress, and seeing possibility where others might only see obstacles.
These quiet acts of hope—often invisible to others—become the fuel that sustains not just our ventures but our very reason for building them.
The questions that surface in the stillness aren’t meant to haunt us but to guide us toward deeper purpose and meaning in our work. As we close another year of building, growing and serving, may we all find wisdom in these moments of pause.•
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Lutz is founder of GivingSpring and creator of the Business Planning for Social Entrepreneurs course at Purdue University.
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