Q4 is brutal for entrepreneurs, especially if you live somewhere without much sunshine. The days get shorter, motivation dips, and suddenly you're wondering how you're going to make it through the busiest quarter of the year without completely losing your mind.
I know this pattern intimately because I've lived it every single year. November rolls around, my energy crashes, and I need more sleep than usual. For years, I thought I just had to push through it. But after almost 10 years of running my business, I've learned something crucial: You cannot manage your business if you're not managing yourself first.
In this post, I'm sharing the real health habits that are keeping me sane through Q4. Not the Instagram-worthy morning routine stuff. The actual unsexy practices that make the difference between thriving and barely surviving.
Why self-management matters more than you think
Here's what most people don't understand about being the boss: It requires enormous capacity.
You're not just doing the work. You're leading a team, holding space for clients, managing your own focus, and setting the direction for everyone else. When you lose focus, it's not just you who suffers. Your entire team loses focus because you're the one guiding them.
I was talking to my personal trainer about this recently. People have no idea how much capacity you actually need as a CEO. It's not just about working harder. It's about managing your energy, your boundaries, and your nervous system so you can show up as the leader your business needs.
Taking back control of my calendar
The first thing I did this Q4 was reclaim my calendar.
For months, I'd been making exceptions. A client in panic mode needed a meeting on my meeting-free Monday. Someone in a different time zone needed a call on Wednesday morning. Urgent requests from my team kept eating into my white space.
The result? I had no white space left. I was constantly working according to other people's calendars, and I realized something uncomfortable: If I'm always answering to everyone else's schedule, why did I even become my own boss?
So I drew a line. I went back to my ideal week structure with strict meeting-free Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday afternoons. I gave everyone my calendar link instead of trying to accommodate last-minute requests. I informed my team about changes we were making.
And here's the mindset shift that made this possible: Someone else's sense of urgency or lack of planning is inherently not my problem.
I can be empathetic. I can do my best for clients. But their chaos doesn't get to cost me my sanity. There has to be compromise somewhere, and I decided it wasn't going to be my boundaries anymore.
Sleep optimization that actually works
My second non-negotiable is sleep. Not just getting enough hours, but optimizing the quality of that sleep.
I sat down with my health coach and mapped out all the red zone weeks ahead. Three client events in one month, travel, time zones, jet lag. We looked at everything and built my non-negotiables into that schedule: three workouts per week minimum, hotels with gyms, travel day massages, walking meetings on packed days.
Then I got serious about my sleep hygiene. I stopped taking my phone into the bedroom (I'd been bringing it in for a meditation app, but it wasn't worth the distraction). I turned my Opal app back on to block Instagram. I committed to the idea that after 9 p.m., my only goal is getting into a good sleep state, not squeezing in more work.
But I also went deeper. I got a new silk sleeping mask that completely darkens the room. I added mouth tape and nose strips to my routine. I started using a Pulsetto vagal nerve stimulator to help my nervous system shift out of fight-or-flight mode.
The result? My first night with this full setup, my Oura ring sleep score was 94. I actually felt it too. I woke up without wanting to snooze because I'd slept so deeply.
For a highly sensitive person like me, creating that sensory-deprivation environment at night has been life-changing. No light, no sound, nothing to pull me out of deep rest.
Strategic rest instead of reactive recovery
Here's what I used to do: I'd work myself into the ground during busy periods, then try to recover afterward. Maybe I'd book a massage the day after an event or plan a rest day when everything was done. I thought I was acing it.
But I learned something game-changing from a custom cortisol coach GPT I created: You need to rest BEFORE the busy periods, not just after.
I now look ahead at my calendar and identify all the red zones. Then I strategically build in rest beforehand. I stock up on sleep before events. I make sure I'm eating enough protein and carbs during client days, even when I'm not hungry, because that prevents the crash afterward.
This shift from reactive to strategic rest has been huge. Instead of naively thinking I'll figure it out and then crying when I crash, I'm anticipating my needs and planning for them.
Protecting your energy from other people's chaos
The final piece of this Q4 health strategy is about boundaries with other people.
In September, so many of my clients went through panic periods. The economy is shifting, AI is changing everything, emotions were running high. I found myself managing a lot of one-on-one clients on top of my group programs, and their chaos started pulling me in.
When something triggers you, that's on you to deal with. So I had to hold up a mirror and ask: How can I lead them better? The answer was to lead by example.
I stopped replying to messages all day long and created clear blocks for communication. I stopped doing last-minute calls and adjustments. I gave everyone my calendar and let them book time with me instead of constantly accommodating their schedules.
But more than logistics, I made a mental shift. I can't control my clients' panic, my team's chaos, or anyone else's drama. What I CAN control is whether I let it drain my energy.
Sometimes you have to tell your environment: I can't deal with this right now. You need to support me in this. Deciding to choose yourself is one of the most powerful things you can do as a business owner.
Your business should serve you
Your business is here to serve you, not destroy you.
You didn't become your own boss to live on everyone else's terms. You did it to design your life the way you want it. But if you're not taking yourself as seriously as you take your work, you're not actually behaving like the boss.
Q4 is challenging. Q1 will be challenging too. But you don't have to white-knuckle your way through these seasons waiting for confidence or energy to magically appear. You can be strategic about managing yourself the same way you're strategic about managing your business.
Map out your ideal week. Protect your meeting-free days. Optimize your sleep. Rest before you need it, not just when you crash. And stop letting other people's urgency dictate your peace.
You are not just here to build a business. Your business is here to serve you. Make it fit you, not the other way around.
Listen to the full episode for more details on my Q4 health habits:
If you want to take it even further, download my Ideal Week Template + ChatGPT prompt here: fastforwardamy.com/weekplanner
It's the same exercise I walk every client through (even the ones paying me €50K) to help them design their business around their life.
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