Why October is the Best Time to Start Your 2026 Business Goals (Not January)
Here's the truth nobody wants to hear: waiting until January to start your business goals is costing you way more than three months.
I know what you're thinking right now. "Lucy, it's October. The holidays are coming. I just need to get through the next few months, and then in January I'll really focus on my business."
I used to tell myself the exact same story. Every single year. And every January, I'd find myself exhausted, starting from zero, trying to compete with every other entrepreneur's fresh energy while my kid brought home every cold from school and my routines were completely shot.
January isn't the fresh start we've been sold. For working moms building businesses, it's actually one of the hardest times to gain momentum. October is your secret weapon. And I'm going to show you exactly why.
The Lie We Keep Telling Ourselves About Business Goals
Let's be real about what happens this time of year.
October rolls around. The kids are finally settled into school. You know your schedule. You've got your work windows figured out. And then you start thinking about everything coming up.
Halloween. Thanksgiving prep. December chaos. School parties. Gift shopping. Family coordination. That voice in your head whispers, "This isn't the time to start something new."
So you go into what I call "maintenance mode." You tell yourself you're preparing. Planning. Getting ready for January.
But really? You're just spinning your wheels.
And then January arrives. The kids go back to school and immediately get sick. Your routine is a mess. You're exhausted from the holidays. And you're trying to build business momentum from a complete standstill while every other entrepreneur floods the market with their new year content.
Here's what the research shows about those January goals: 23% are abandoned by January 7th. Less than a week. By February 1st, nearly half are done.
So if you're banking on January being your perfect reset, the odds aren't exactly in your favor.
What Waiting Until January is Actually Costing You
From now until the end of the year, that's 90 days. Three full months. A quarter of your entire year.
When you tell yourself you'll start in January, you're not just postponing. You're writing off all that time.
Let me put some real numbers to this. If you have a service you want to offer at $500, and you could realistically book one client per month, that's three clients. That's $1,500 you're leaving on the table by waiting.
But honestly? The financial cost isn't even the biggest loss.
The real cost is confidence.
Every time you tell yourself you'll start "someday," you're reinforcing a pattern. You're becoming someone who waits. Someone who lets circumstances dictate action instead of making things happen.
I lived this pattern for years. And you know what happened? Every year that passed, it got a little harder to believe I could actually do the thing I said I wanted to do.
When you start now, even with messy, imperfect action, you're building a different identity. You're becoming someone who follows through. Someone who doesn't need perfect circumstances to make progress.
That identity shift? Worth more than any single goal you'll accomplish.
Here's Why October Actually Works for Setting Business Goals
There's real psychology behind why October is the perfect time to start, especially for working moms building businesses.
You Actually Know Your Schedule Right Now
You know when the kids are at school. You know your naptime windows. You know which evenings you have energy after bedtime.
January? Your schedule is complete chaos. Everything is disrupted from the holidays. You don't know what your realistic work windows will be. Everyone's sick. Routines are shot.
This matters because when we decide not just what we're going to do, but when and where we're going to do it, we're way more likely to follow through. October gives you that clarity. January doesn't.
Small Wins Build Bigger Momentum
If you start now, by January you'll have three months of small wins. Evidence that you can do this. That momentum is priceless.
Compare that to January, when you're trying to generate motivation from zero at the exact moment when you're most exhausted. Not exactly setting yourself up for success.
You Get to Experiment Without Pressure
Here's what nobody talks about enough: October and November are your testing ground.
You're not launching into the crowded January market. You're not competing with everyone else's fresh content. You can try things. See what works. Adjust what doesn't. All before the stakes feel really high.
Last year, I started testing different content formats in October. Some worked great. Some completely flopped. But by January, I knew exactly what resonated with my audience. I started this podcast in October, so I didn't waste January experimenting. I hit the ground running with what already worked.
That's what October gives you. Permission to figure things out before everything feels like it's riding on your success.
How to Actually Set Business Goals With Kids and Limited Time
Okay, so if October is the time to start, what does that actually look like when you're already stretched thin?
Here's what you need to understand: This isn't about adding more to your plate. It's about getting clear so you can focus.
Most of us are busy with lots of things that don't actually move us toward what we want. So starting with clarity doesn't add to your workload. It clears your plate of what doesn't belong there.
Quick Win #1: Get Clear on What Actually Matters (1 Hour)
Not what you think you should want. Not what looks good on Instagram. What actually matters to you, right now, in this season.
Take one hour. Maybe after the kids go to bed. Maybe during school hours. Ask yourself:
What brings me energy?
What drains me?
If I could only focus on ONE thing in my business for the next 90 days, what would create the most impact?
You probably already know the answer. You just need to give yourself permission to acknowledge it.
Quick Win #2: Track Your Time for One Week
Notice when you're working on your business, doing household stuff, with your kids, scrolling your phone. All of it.
This isn't about judgment. It's about data.
What you'll discover is that you have more time than you think. It's just not in the big chunks you've been waiting for. It's in pockets. Twenty minutes here. Thirty minutes there.
And that's actually enough. You don't need four-hour work blocks to make progress on business goals for working moms.
Quick Win #3: Pick ONE Goal and Break It Down
I know you have a million goals. But if you try to tackle everything at once with a fragmented schedule, you'll make progress on nothing.
So for the next 90 days, what's the ONE thing?
Here's an example. Let's say your goal is growing your email list. That's too vague for working mom time management.
Break it down:
October: Create a simple lead magnet (a few hours over a week)
November: Add it to your website and profiles (one afternoon, spread over sessions)
December: Mention it regularly in your content (no extra time, just consistency)
See how that works? You took a big goal and broke it into monthly focuses that actually fit into the time you have.
Quick Win #4: Protect 2-3 Time Windows Each Week
Pick two or three windows that are typically available. Not always. Typically.
Maybe Tuesday and Thursday mornings when kids are at school. Maybe Sunday and Wednesday evenings after bedtime.
Put them on your calendar like doctor's appointments. And here's the key: decide in advance what you'll do during that time.
Don't wait until Tuesday morning to figure out what to work on. You'll waste half your time deciding or get distracted by everything else calling for your attention.
Sunday evening, assign tasks: "Tuesday: outline lead magnet. Thursday: design it in Canva."
When Tuesday arrives, you know exactly what you're doing. No decision fatigue. No wasting time.
Quick Win #5: Weekly 15-Minute Check-In
Every Sunday, take 15 minutes. Look at what you accomplished. What got done? What didn't? What got in the way?
This isn't about beating yourself up. It's about adjusting.
If something consistently isn't happening, you need to either break it down smaller, move it to a different time, or honestly ask if it matters enough to keep.
I do this every single Sunday. Some weeks I look at my list and realize I got almost nothing done. Life happened. My kid needed me. Work got busy.
But that weekly check-in means I don't go weeks without noticing. I can course-correct quickly. And honestly, most weeks I make more progress than I give myself credit for.
What Starting in October Actually Gets You
When you start setting business goals in October, you're not just getting a three-month head start.
You're setting yourself up for a completely different experience in the holidays and the new year.
In December, you get to be present. You're not carrying guilt about business stuff you're not doing. You've been doing it. You can ease up and enjoy your family without that nagging feeling that you should be working.
In January, you're not starting from scratch. You're not competing with everyone else's fresh energy because you already have momentum. While other entrepreneurs are trying to figure out what works, you already know.
By February, when most resolutions have fizzled, you're hitting your stride. Because you didn't rely on January motivation. You built actual systems back in October.
Here's What You're Really Proving
You're proving something to yourself that's bigger than any business goal.
You're proving you don't need ideal circumstances to make progress. That you can build something meaningful in the margins of your life. That your dreams don't have to wait until your kids are older or your schedule is clearer or the timing is perfect.
And think about what you're modeling for your kids.
When I used to put my goals on hold, waiting for "someday," what was I teaching my son? That dreams are something you wait for? That you need perfect circumstances before you can pursue what matters?
Or would I rather show him that you can build something meaningful even in the middle of a full, messy, complicated life? That you don't wait for permission. That you figure it out as you go.
That's a completely different lesson. And it starts with the choice you make right now, in October.
Your Move: Don't Wait for January
Look, January isn't special. It's not the reset button we've been sold. It's just another month. And for working moms building businesses, it's actually a really hard month to start something new.
What's special is deciding you're not going to wait anymore.
That you're going to work with the life you actually have, not the life you wish you had. That you're going to take advantage of these next 90 days instead of writing them off.
Three months from now, you could be so much further along than you are today. Not because you worked crazy hours. Not because you sacrificed family time. Because you were consistent with the time you actually had.
Ready to make this happen? Listen to the full episode where I walk through the complete strategy for using October as your launching pad into 2026. You'll get the psychology behind why this timing works, how to handle the holiday season with momentum instead of stress, and exactly what to do with your fragmented time.
Don't wait until your life calms down. Because life isn't going to calm down. This is your life. Right now. Today.
And you get to decide: Are you going to keep waiting, or are you going to start becoming the person who makes things happen?