It never fails: writing a book forces you to slow down and really think about what you want to say and, most importantly, what do people most need to hear?

​AJ Harper consistently says:

A book is not about something, it is for someone. (italics mine)

Knowing a book will be edited, designed and printed makes choices about the content, flow and story feel weighty and supremely important.

Ideally, all of our client-facing work and IP should be this way, but often in the spirit of getting things done, not overthinking and bringing something to market, we lose the practices of craft.

If you don’t watch out, you will look back at a year right around this time and see a pile of “deliverables” that did require a lot of effort, but that may not be things that you feel particularly proud of creating.

My friend Jonathan Fields just delivered a TEDx talk on this topic: Why craft matters now more than ever.

As you make your plan for next year, consider doing these three things that will allow you more time and space to practice your craft:

My freshman college writing teacher brought home the idea that turning in the first draft of a paper was just that: a first draft. The craft of writing, she said, is what happens when you take that draft, get feedback on it then rewrite it and rewrite it again.

Is there a product or a program in your business that you know still has legs, but needs revision or rebranding? Do you keep putting off adding a key new tool, idea or chapter?

Instead of creating something totally new, consider a serious revision of a solid project. It will be like refinishing furniture with great bones: it will have a whole new life of value and use.

Is there something you have been offering that just doesn’t work anymore, and feels like a bummer to deliver?

Maybe it is time to retire it.

Think of it as cleaning out and cleaning up your workshop, making room, and time, to focus on what matters for the future of your business.

It can feel hard to say goodbye to programs or products that have helped people and made you money. This is why people often hold on to work that is no longer effective or energizing too long, just because it sells.

You are not doing your clients a favor selling them something that you know is not the best-crafted solution to their problem.

Let it go.

We go through cycles in our body of work.

You might have spent a period on the road speaking — then got exhausted from the grind.

You may have had a legacy of delivering great in-person events or retreats — and gotten sidelined during the shutdown.

You may have felt a passion for writing books or a newsletter and then slowly felt your flame of interest snuff out.

Is any offering or work mode from the past calling your name?

It may be worth examining to see if you can remember those parts of yourself that came alive in an earlier iteration of your career.

Like recalling a language you learned long ago from the recesses of your brain when you visit a foreign country, so much art, experience and craft lies dormant in you, waiting for a renaissance.

I encourage you to ponder these three opportunities during the end of year pause, and walk into 2026 with more space for craft.

You and your clients will appreciate it.