Episode 53 - Why October is Your Secret Advantage as a Mom Entrepreneur (Start Before the Holiday Chaos)
Welcome to Episode 53 of the Time for Living Podcast!
TRANSCRIPT
show notes
Stop putting your business goals on hold until January. In this episode, we're flipping the script on when you should actually start working toward your 2026 vision. Spoiler: it's not when the new year hits and you're exhausted from the holidays. It's right now, in October, when you still have breathing room before the chaos begins.
If you're a working mom building a business in the margins of your life, this conversation is for you. We're talking about why waiting for January is costing you more than you think, and how the next 90 days could completely transform how you show up in the new year.
What You’ll Learn:
Why 23% of New Year's resolutions fail within the first week (and why January is actually one of the hardest times to start)
The psychological advantage of starting now instead of waiting for "perfect" timing
How to use October and November as your testing ground so you hit January with momentum, not overwhelm
Practical strategies for making progress in fragmented time (naptime, school hours, after bedtime)
The real cost of postponing your goals - it's not just time, it's confidence and identity
How to break down big goals into small actions that work with your actual mom life schedule
Ready to take action?
Grab the free Taking Control of Your Time workbook at timeforliving.co/takingcontrol. It walks you through the exact three-step process I talk about in this episode: reflecting on your priorities, auditing where your time actually goes, and creating a strategic plan that works for working moms.
Join my email list at timeforliving.co for weekly quick-win tips, exclusive resources, and a supportive community of ambitious women who get it.
Let’s Connect:
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timeforlivingco/
• Email: hello@timeforliving.co
Final Thought:
Your dreams don't need perfect circumstances, they need you to start. Don't wait until your life calms down, because this is your life, right now. Take the first step today, and three months from now, you'll be so glad you did.
TRANSCRIPT - Why October is Your Secret Advantage as a Mom Entrepreneur (Start Before the Holiday Chaos)
INTRODUCTION
Hey there, welcome to Time For Living. I'm Lucy, and this is where we figure out how to build the business and life you want without waiting for someday. However you're listening right now, whether you're out for a walk, sitting down with your coffee, or keeping your hands busy with something else - I'm so glad you carved out this time to be here. This is your time, and I'm excited to spend it with you
Here's what I want to talk with you about today. It's October. And I know what that probably means for you. You're looking ahead at the next three months, and you're already feeling it. The school parties. The family gatherings. The gift shopping. The coordinating schedules. The trying to keep your business moving forward while also being present for all the holiday moments with your kids.
And somewhere in the back of your mind, you might be thinking, "You know what? I'll just get through the holidays, and then in January, I'll really get serious about my business goals."
I'm going to challenge that thinking today. Because here's what I've learned, both in my own journey and from working with so many mom entrepreneurs: October isn't the month to put your goals on hold. October is actually your secret weapon.
I know that might sound backwards. But stay with me, because what I'm going to share with you could completely change how you approach the next three months and how you show up in 2026. And I promise, this isn't about adding more to your plate. It's actually about making the next few months so much easier.
The Trap We Fall Into
Let's talk about what usually happens this time of year. October rolls around, and you're finally getting into a rhythm after summer. The kids are settled into school. You know your schedule. You've got your windows of work time figured out.
But then you start thinking about everything coming up. Halloween. Thanksgiving. December with all its chaos. And that voice in your head says, "This isn't the time to start something new. I'll wait until January when things calm down."
Can I be honest with you? I used to do this every single year. October would come, and instead of moving forward, I'd basically go into maintenance mode. I'd tell myself I was "preparing" for the new year. That I was "planning" for January. But really, I was just spinning my wheels.
And then January would arrive. And you know what? My kiddo would go back to school after winter break, and everyone would get sick. Routines would be all over the place. I'd be exhausted from the holidays. And I'd be trying to start my business goals from a complete standstill, at the exact same time that every other entrepreneur was flooding the market with their fresh content and new offers.
It wasn't the fresh start I'd imagined. It was actually one of the hardest times to build momentum.
Now, there's some interesting research about this. Studies show that about 23 percent of people abandon their New Year's resolutions by January 7th. That's less than a week. And by February 1st, nearly half of all resolutions are completely done.
So if you're waiting for January to be this perfect reset moment, the statistics aren't in your favor.
But here's what really gets me about this pattern. It's not just that January is hard. It's what we give up by waiting.
Think about it. From now until the end of the year, that's 90 days. Three full months. A quarter of your year. When you tell yourself you'll start in January, you're essentially writing off all that time.
And for us as mom entrepreneurs? Those 90 days aren't just time. They're opportunity. They're momentum. They're progress you could be making right now.
I had a client last year. She came to me in early October, wanting to work on her business goals. And she said something I hear all the time: "I know the holidays are coming up. Should I just wait until January to really get started?"
I asked her to consider what she could accomplish in 90 days if she started right then. Not working crazy hours. Not sacrificing family time. Just consistent, small steps.
She decided to start. And you know what happened? By the time January rolled around, she'd already tested her offer, made her first three sales, and figured out what messaging actually resonated with her audience. While other entrepreneurs were trying to figure out their strategy, she was already building on what was working.
That's the difference I want for you.
Why October Actually Works
So let's talk about why October is actually the perfect time to start. And I'm not just saying this because it feels good. There's real psychology and practical reasoning behind this.
First, let's look at how our brains work with timing. There's something researchers call implementation intentions. Basically, it's the idea that when we decide not just what we're going to do, but when and where we're going to do it, we're much more likely to follow through.
October gives you that. You know your schedule right now. You know when the kids are at school. You know your naptime windows if you've got little ones at home. You know which evenings you typically have energy after bedtime.
January? Your schedule is a mess. Everything is disrupted from the holidays. You don't actually know what your realistic work windows will be.
There's also something called the progress principle. Small wins create motivation for bigger wins. When you can see yourself making progress, even tiny progress, it fuels your motivation to keep going.
If you start now, by January you'll have three months of small wins under your belt. You'll have evidence that you can do this. That momentum is priceless.
Compare that to starting in January, when you're trying to generate motivation from zero, at the exact moment when you're most exhausted.
Here's another reason October works: You have a natural deadline. The end of the year isn't some arbitrary date you picked. It's built into how we all think about time.
It's like when you're driving home after a long trip. You ever notice how the closer you get to home, the more urgent that need to get there becomes? The closer we get to a finish line, the harder we push.
Starting in October means you've got that natural finish line of December 31st creating just enough urgency to keep you moving, without the panic of an impossible deadline.
And let's talk about what makes October specifically good for us as mom entrepreneurs.
By October, summer is over. I don't know about you, but summer in my house is chaos. Different schedules every week. Camps. Vacations. Kids home more. By the time September and October hit, I'm ready for structure again. I'm craving routine.
The kids are back in school and settled in. You're not dealing with that early September adjustment period anymore. This is when you actually have predictability in your days.
October and November are also relatively calm compared to what's coming. Yes, there are school events and activities. But it's nothing compared to the December insanity. You have breathing room right now that you won't have in six weeks.
Here's the thing that nobody talks about enough: You get to experiment right now without pressure.
Think of October and November as your testing ground. You're not launching into the crowded January market. You're not competing with every other entrepreneur's fresh new year content. You can try things, see what works, adjust what doesn't, all before the stakes feel really high.
Last year, I wanted to shift how I was delivering content. I started testing different formats in October. Some worked great. Some fell completely flat. But by the time January came, 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 I already knew worked.
That's what October gives you. Permission to figure things out before it feels like everything is riding on your success.
And here's something else: Starting now means you go into the holiday season with momentum instead of stress.
Imagine this. It's mid-December. Your kids are excited about the holidays. There are parties and events. You've got family visiting or you're traveling. And instead of thinking, "I really need to figure out my business goals," you're thinking, “I know my goals and I've been making progress for two months now. I can ease up a little and enjoy this time."
That's a completely different experience. You've given yourself permission to be present with your family because you've already been showing up for your business.
What Happens When We Wait
I want to be really straight with you about what happens when we wait until January. Because I think we tell ourselves it's no big deal. "I'm just postponing for a few months. What's the harm?"
But there's a real cost. And I want you to see it clearly so you can make an informed choice.
First, there's the obvious cost. Ninety days. That's actual time that you could be building, learning, growing, earning. Time you don't get back.
If you've got a service you want to offer, and you could book even just one client per month, that's three clients you're leaving on the table. If your service is $500, that's $1,500. That's not nothing. That's real money that could go toward your business, your family, your goals.
But honestly, the financial cost isn't even the biggest one.
The bigger 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 puts things off. Someone who lets circumstances dictate your action.
And I don't say that to make you feel bad. I say it because I know how insidious this pattern is. Because I lived it. Year after year, I'd wait for the "right" time. And every year that passed, it got a little bit harder to believe I could actually do the thing I said I wanted to do.
When you start now, even with imperfect action, you're building a different identity. You're becoming someone who follows through. Someone who doesn't wait for ideal circumstances. Someone who makes things happen.
That shift in identity is worth more than any single goal you might accomplish.
There's also the cost to your mental wellbeing. I don't think we talk about this enough, but constantly postponing your dreams is heavy. It weighs on you.
You know that feeling when it's December and you're looking back at the year thinking, "I meant to do so much more"? That regret, that disappointment in yourself, that feeling of another year slipping by? That's a real emotional cost.
What if instead, you got to December and thought, "I actually made progress this year. I didn't just talk about it. I did it"? How would that feel different?
And here's something specific to us as moms: What are we modeling for our kids?
I think about this a lot. When I used to put my goals on hold, waiting for "someday," what was I teaching my child? That dreams are something you wait for? That you need perfect circumstances before you can pursue what matters to you?
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's one that starts with the choice you make right now, in October.
Let's Get Practical
Okay, so if October is the time to start, what does that actually look like? Because I'm guessing you're thinking, "This sounds great, Lucy, but I'm already stretched thin. How am I supposed to add goal-setting to everything else?"
Here's what I want you to understand: This isn't about adding more. It's about getting clear so you can focus.
Most of us are busy with a lot of things that don't actually move us toward what we want. We're busy, but we're not necessarily productive on the things that matter. So starting with clarity doesn't add to your plate. It helps you clear your plate of what doesn't belong there.
Let me walk you through what this actually looks like in real mom life.
Step one is getting clear on what actually matters to you. Not what you think you should want. Not what looks good on social media. What actually matters to you, right now, in this season of your life.
This might take you an hour one evening after the kids go to bed. Maybe you spread it over a few days during school hours or naptime. But you need this clarity, because without it, you're just going to keep spinning.
Ask yourself: What brings me energy? What drains me? What do I want to be different six months from now? If I could only focus on one or two things in my business, what would create the most impact?
These aren't questions you rush through. But they also don't require days of deep meditation. You probably already know the answers. You just need to give yourself permission to acknowledge them.
Step two is looking at where your time actually goes. And this is where most of us get a reality check.
I want you to track your time for one week. Just one. Notice when you're working on your business, when you're doing household stuff, when you're with your kids, when you're scrolling on your phone, all of it.
This isn't about judgment. It's about data. Because you can't make good decisions about your time until you know where it's actually going.
What you'll probably 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 these little pockets. Twenty minutes here. Thirty minutes there.
And that's actually enough. You don't need four-hour work blocks to make progress. You need to know what you can accomplish in the pockets you actually have.
Step three is choosing one thing. Just one.
I know you have a million goals. I know there are so many things you want to work on. But if you try to tackle everything at once, especially in our fragmented schedules, you'll make no progress on anything.
So for the next 90 days, what's the one thing that matters most? What's the one goal that, if you made progress on it, would make everything else easier or have the most impact?
Maybe it's getting consistent with your content so you're actually building an audience. Maybe it's reaching out to potential clients so you can make your first sales. Maybe it's creating a system for your time so you're not constantly feeling scattered.
Pick one. Make it specific. And then break it into the smallest possible steps.
Here's an example. Let's say your goal is to grow your email list because you know that's the foundation of your business. That's a great goal. But "grow my email list" is too vague for fragmented time.
So you break it down. What needs to happen for your list to grow? You need a reason for people to sign up. You need to tell people about it. You need to make it easy for them to find.
Okay, so maybe your October action is creating a simple lead magnet. Not a 50-page workbook. Something you can create in a few hours spread over a week or two.
Your November action is adding it to your website and social media profiles. Maybe that takes you an afternoon, spread over a few work sessions.
Your December action is mentioning it regularly in your content. That doesn't take extra time. It's just being consistent about including it.
See how that works? You took a big goal and broke it into monthly focuses, and those monthly focuses break down into actual tasks you can do in small chunks of time.
That's what works with mom entrepreneur schedules. Not waiting for some mythical day when you have eight free hours.
Building This Into Real Life
Let's talk about what this looks like in actual daily life. Because I think that's where the rubber meets the road.
You're not going to have perfect consistency. Some days the kids will be sick. Some weeks you'll have more on your plate than usual. That's just reality. So we're not building a system that requires perfection. We're building one that works with interruption.
Here's what I do, and what I recommend to the women I work with.
Pick two or three time windows each week that are typically available. Not always available. Typically. Maybe it's Tuesday and Thursday mornings when the kids are at school. Maybe it's Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during naptime. Maybe it's Sunday and Tuesday evenings after bedtime.
Whatever it is for you, identify it and protect it. Put it on your calendar like any other appointment.
Then, and this is important, decide in advance what you're going to do during that time. Don't wait until the time arrives to figure it out. Because if you do, you'll waste half of it deciding what to focus on, or you'll get distracted by all the other things calling for your attention.
On Sunday evening, or whenever you do your weekly planning, look at those protected work times and assign a specific task to each one. "Tuesday morning: write lead magnet outline. Thursday morning: create simple Canva design."
When that time arrives, you know exactly what you're doing. No decision fatigue. No wasting time.
And then, this is the part nobody likes but everybody needs: you check in with yourself once a week.
Every Sunday evening, 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 yourself if it matters enough to keep it on your list.
I do this every single Sunday. And I'll tell you, some weeks I look at my list and realize I got almost nothing done that I planned. Life happened. My child needed me. Work got busy. Whatever it was.
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. It's just easy to forget if you're not tracking it.
Your October Advantage
Here's what I want you to really understand. When you start in October, you're not just getting a three-month head start. You're setting yourself up for completely different experiences in both the holiday season and the new year.
In the holidays, you get to be present. You're not carrying around guilt about all the 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. You spent three months testing and learning.
By February, when most people's resolutions have fizzled out, you're just hitting your stride. Because you didn't rely on January motivation. You built actual systems back in October.
This is the advantage I'm talking about. It compounds. Every week you start earlier than you would have, you're building something that carries you forward.
And here's something else: You're proving something to yourself. You're proving that 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.
That's powerful. Not just for your business. For how you see yourself. For the example you're setting for your kids. For the life you're creating.
Summary
Look, here's the bottom line. January isn't special. It's not a magic reset button. It's just another month. And it's actually a really hard month to start something new.
What's special is deciding that 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.
You have a real opportunity right now. October gives you time to get clear, to experiment, to build momentum before the holidays hit and before the January chaos begins. Three months from now, you could be so much further along than you are today. Not because you worked crazy hours. Because you were consistent with the time you actually had.
So here's what I want you to do. Don't overthink this. Don't wait until you have it all figured out. Just take the first step.
I created a free workbook called Taking Control of Your Time, and it's specifically designed to help you do this work. It walks you through the three steps I talked about today: reflecting on what actually matters to you, auditing where your time goes, and creating a realistic strategic plan that works with your life as a working mom.
You can grab it at timeforliving.co/takingcontrol. That's timeforliving.co/takingcontrol. It's completely free, and it's going to help you make the most of these next 90 days.
Don't wait until your life calms down to start building what you want. Because life isn't going to calm down. This is your life. Right now. Today. And you get to decide if you're going to keep waiting or if you're going to start becoming the person who makes things happen.
I'm rooting for you. Thanks for being here, and I'll talk to you next week.