Wanna learn how to set intentions for the upcoming 3 months of the year (aka October, November & December)? I think you should read this one.
Before we get into this, I want to be clear about what this post is not.
Itโs not a complicated goal-setting system. Itโs not a quarterly review where you have to sit down and reassess your entire life in one afternoon. And Iโm definitely not going to ask you to write down your five-year vision and then somehow turn that into 47 daily habits.
There are plenty of other posts on the internet for that.
What I do want to talk about is something much simpler: taking a little bit of time at the beginning of a new season to think about what you actually want from it.
Not what you think you should want. Not what sounds impressive when you write it down. Just what you genuinely want from October, November and December.
September has that lovely โnew beginningโ feeling, but it can also be chaotic. Youโre getting back into routines, catching up on work, trying to organize yourself after summer and wondering why the first two weeks disappeared so quickly.
October feels different. Things have settled down a little. Autumn is properly here. The days are cooler, the evenings are darker, and thereโs something about this time of year that makes me want to slow down and get a little more intentional about how Iโm spending my time.
And there is still plenty of year left.
So this is how I like to approach it.
how to set intentions for Q4
Start by Thinking About How the Last Season Actually Felt
Not what you did.
How it felt.
I think this is something we often forget when we look back at a season of our lives. We make a list of everything that happened, everything we accomplished, everywhere we went and everything we crossed off our to-do list.
But none of that necessarily tells you whether you actually enjoyed those months.
You can have a really productive summer, get loads done and technically have a โgreatโ few months, while still feeling completely exhausted by the end of it.
And you can have a summer where you didnโt accomplish very much at all and still come out of it feeling rested, happy and like you actually enjoyed your life.
The feeling matters, so before thinking about what you want from the next few months, think about the last ones.
- How did you actually feel most of the time?
- What gave you energy?
- What drained your energy?
- What did you do that you wish you had done more of?
- What are you quite happy to leave behind?
You donโt need to turn this into a huge journaling exercise. Just think about it honestly.
Those answers will probably tell you much more about what you need next than a list of everything you accomplished.
Choose a Word Instead of a Long List of Goals
Iโve always liked the idea of choosing a word for a season.
Mostly because I know myself well enough to know that if I give myself twelve different goals, I will either become overwhelmed by them or completely forget about half of them (if not all, because Iโm like that)
One word feels much easier.
It doesnโt have to be particularly deep or meaningful either. It can simply describe how you want the next few months to feel.
- Maybe itโs steadiness because you want to feel a little less rushed
- Maybe itโs presence because you want to spend less time looking at your phone and more time actually enjoying what youโre doing
- Maybe itโs creating because you have ideas you want to finally turn into something
- Maybe itโs rest because youโve been doing too much
- Maybe itโs connection because you want to spend more proper time with the people you love
Your word isn’t another goal you have to achieve, itโs more like a little filter.
When youโre deciding whether to say yes to something, how to spend a free evening or what to do with your Saturday, you can ask yourself: Does this fit with what I want this season to feel like?
You don’t have to follow it perfectly, that’s not the point.
Itโs just something to come back to when life starts getting busy again.
Look at Your Calendar Honestly
This is probably one of the most practical things you can do.
Open your calendar and look at October, November and December.
- What is already there?
- Which plans are fixed?
- Which things are you genuinely looking forward to?
- What commitments have you made that youโre happy about?
- And then, perhaps more importantly, what have you said yes to that youโre already regretting?
Sometimes we say yes to things months in advance because they seem perfectly manageable at the time. Then October arrives and suddenly your calendar is full and youโre wondering why you agreed to all of it.
Not everything can be cancelled, obviously, but some things can.
And if thereโs something you genuinely donโt want to do anymore, itโs worth asking yourself whether you really need to keep that commitment simply because you said yes to it in July.
Then look at the empty spaces, the free evenings, the weekends with nothing planned. Those spaces are valuable and if you don’t protect them, they tend to disappear.
You don’t need to decide what you’re doing with every free moment between now and Christmas. In fact, please don’t.
But maybe keep a few weekends completely free. Maybe decide that one evening a week is for staying home. Maybe leave a Sunday afternoon open for absolutely nothing.
Those little pockets of empty time can make such a difference to how a season feels.
Three Questions I Keep Coming Back To
Whenever Iโm thinking about a new season, there are three questions I find particularly useful.
What do I want to have done by the end of December that I would genuinely be happy about?
Notice that I said happy about, not impressed by. Thereโs a difference.
Some things sound impressive when you say them out loud but don’t actually mean very much to you.
Other things might seem completely ordinary to somebody else, but you know you would feel really proud of yourself for doing them.
- Maybe itโs finally finishing a project youโve been putting off
- Maybe itโs reading ten books
- Maybe itโs getting your home organized
- Maybe itโs spending more time with your family
- Maybe itโs simply getting through the end of the year feeling calm rather than completely burnt out
Think about what would make you feel good when you look back at these three months.
What do I keep saying Iโm going to do, but never actually do?
We all have one. Or, let’s be honest, probably several. I can think of 3 of mine at the top of my head.
- The book youโve been meaning to read
- The drawer youโve been meaning to organize
- The project youโve been talking about for months
- The hobby youโve been want to start
- The person youโve been meaning to call
Sometimes thereโs a very good reason these things haven’t happened yet. Maybe you genuinely don’t have the time or energy.
But sometimes the thing you’ve been putting off would actually take much less effort than you think.
So ask yourself what it would take to finally do it.
And if the answer is โactually, I donโt want to do this anymore,โ that’s useful information too. Youโre allowed to let things go.
What do I need to do less of?
I think this is the question we forget most often.
Weโre very good at adding things: new habits, new goals, new routines, new projects, new things we think we should be doing.
But sometimes you don’t need to add anything.Sometimes you need to take something away.
- Maybe you need fewer evenings spent doom scrolling
- Maybe you need fewer unnecessary commitments
- Maybe you need to stop trying to keep up with everyone else
- Maybe you need to stop saying yes when you really want to say no
Think about what is currently taking up your time and energy that doesn’t really need to.
Creating the season you want isn’t always about adding more to your life, sometimes it’s about making a little more room.
Now Actually Do Something With Your Answers
This is where I think these kinds of exercises can easily become pointless.
You write everything down. You have a lovely little moment of reflection. You feel inspired.
And then you go back to doing exactly what you were doing before.
So once youโve thought about all of this, write it down somewhere.
It doesn’t need to be in a fancy planner. It doesn’t need to become a new Notion system.
A notebook is fine, your Notes app is fine, even a piece of paper stuck somewhere youโll see it occasionally is fine.
Write down your word for the season, the things you want to do and anything youโve realized you need to let go of.
And then do one thing.
Today.
Not tomorrow. Not next Monday. Not when October officially starts.
One small thing that moves you in the direction youโve just decided you want to go.
- If you want to read more, read ten pages tonight
- If you want to get your home organized, tidy one drawer
- If you want to spend more time with someone, send them a message
- If you want to work on a project, spend 30 minutes on it
It doesn’t have to be impressive, it just has to happen.
Thereโs a big difference between thinking I want this season to feel like this and actually doing something that makes it feel that way.
You Really Don’t Need to Make This Complicated
I think we have a tendency to make everything into a system.
There has to be a method: a tracker, a color-coded calendar, a morning routine, a weekly review, a list of habits.
And honestly? Sometimes you just need to know what matters to you and make a little more room for it.
October is already busy enough without turning your fall reset into another project.
One word.
Three honest questions.
A quick look at your calendar.
A little less of what isn’t working.
And one small action to get you started.
That’s more than enough.
There Is Still Plenty of Year Left
I think this is the part I most want you to remember.
When October arrives, it can feel like the year is basically over. It isn’t.
There are still three months left. That’s enough time to read several books, finish something you’ve been putting off, to start a new habit, to spend more time with the people you love, to make progress on a project. To simply enjoy your life a little more.
You don’t have to completely transform your life before December.
You don’t need to โfinish the year strongโ or squeeze every last bit of productivity out of it.
You just have to decide what you want these last few months to be.
Loved this? You might also like:
- Simple Autumn Evening Routine Ideas That Actually Stick
- End of Summer Reset Routine: How To Reorganize Your Life
- The Ultimate Life Admin Checklist for Busy Women
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