Good Monday morning. This is Sarah Waple, President of Growth Dynamics, and I am here with your weekly episode of Monday Morning Manager.
This will be the final message of 2025 from me—and, of course, Charlie—as we are taking time off this week and next to unplug, recharge, and be ready to come back and serve you even better in 2026.
I was sitting and brainstorming on what to write for this Monday Morning Manager. Do I go the traditional route and do the typical symptoms, diagnosis, and all of that, or do I record another—what I call—special message? And I went ahead and thought you guys might enjoy this fun little story I have about Christmas at the Waple house.
I want to share a tradition that started when my sister and I were growing up and we were very young, and this tradition has continued into the Waple house. And you can think of us when you're all enjoying a nice, enjoyable, lazy Christmas morning—because most likely, I haven't.
The short story: we have always gotten up at some insane hour in the morning to open gifts. I'm not saying 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 7 a.m., maybe even 8 for some of you—but 2, 3, and 4 a.m.
How did this start? My aunt, when we were little, would stay with us for Christmas, and she started this because she said she heard Santa and his reindeer on the roof Christmas morning at—I'm gonna say—2 a.m. And from that year on, we have always gotten up at some before-dawn, barely-even-Christmas-time hour.
For my sister, this has not continued into her house with her child. For us, it has. I can think of one year since that first early morning wake-up that I did not get up before 4 a.m., and it was the first year I ever spent away from home at my now-husband's house, because he didn't get up at 4 a.m.—neither did his parents.
But after that first year, even when we were married without kids, I still could not sleep in and would get him up at 3 a.m. to open gifts. And why am I sharing this with you today for the last Monday Morning Manager of the year? I find this time of the year is when so many of us take stock in our traditions, our relationships, our goals, and how we use our time.
As you laugh about how tired I will be on Christmas Day from a 3 a.m. wake-up call with two teenagers, think about all of the traditions you are creating for yourself and your loved ones. Then think about what you did to have the ability to create them, expand them, or even change them as time goes on.
You work hard all year to be able to celebrate the days and the people that are important to you. If you have time off coming up—or if you're working—I challenge you to figure out how to keep it going in 2026.
Did you allow yourself time to enjoy the moments, big and small, work-related or non-work-related, all year through 2025?
If yes—congratulations to you. Not everyone did that, or could do that, or maybe even wanted to do that at times.
If you didn't get to enjoy all of those moments that are important to you, let's reflect and figure out what held us back. Did we need to be more brave when closing business? Did we need to be more dedicated to keeping our schedule and allowing ourselves to have a healthy work-life balance?
And either way, whether you're going to continue what you did in 2025 or want to improve and get better—how can Charlie and I, the team at Growth Dynamics, help you to achieve all you want to achieve in 2026?
And now, as Charlie and I are officially out of the office—but I will say we'll be checking emails and working on and off as we get ready through 2026 and plan to start some new customers in the very beginning of January—we hope that you are doing the same and will be ready, refreshed, and renewed for what lies ahead for all of us.
The Drill:
This one's going to be a little bit different.
But first—how'd you do in your possible last week of true work of 2025? Did you hit your goals? Did you achieve them?
And now, even more—look at the whole year. How did you do overall? Share with us what your biggest win was. What are you most proud of? And that can be personal or professional, as always.
And next—what was your biggest lesson of 2025? What did you learn, and how are we going to apply that in 2026?
Now this week, I don't really want to know your goals. What I want to know are: what are your three favorite holiday traditions?
This can be any holiday. Maybe Christmas isn't one you celebrate. Maybe it's not your favorite. So what are your three most favorite holiday traditions? And tell us why—we want to know, too. It's always fun to hear what people do.
And I bet no one else here listening has that 2, 3, or 4 a.m. wake-up call that I will inevitably have.
So as you wrap up this year—whether it's this week or next week—go out there and make this week the best one yet. Nothing is standing in your way.
So from myself and Charlie—Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa wishes, enjoy Festivus, or just Merry Merry to all.
Thank you, and we will see you in 2026.
