Finish it before Christmas: The Big Push 2026

Most of us have at least one regularly relegated task on our to do list, something that has been hanging around for months. It is not difficult, exactly, and it is certainly not unimportant: finishing it would unblock something, stop a recurring problem, or make the next stage of growth easier. And yet every week it is overtaken by something with a client attached, a supplier on the phone, or a deadline imposed by someone else.

We all succumb to it. Urgent work is often more visible – other people see if it gets done or not. Important work, the kind that builds the business rather than serves today's client, is known only to you, and so it waits. And it will go on waiting until something happens to escalate it up the priority list.

What the Big Push is

The Big Push is a free group accountability challenge, now in its second year.

For seven weeks, from late October to early December, a group of designers each commit to finishing one specific business task before the year ends. I take part too, with a pledge of my own.

The mechanism is simple, and the simplicity is the point. A good intention is private, which makes it very easy to drop: nobody notices when you quietly let it go, including, after a while, you. A promise made in front of other people, with a date attached and somebody asking how it is going, behaves differently. It gives the important task the one thing it lacked, which is someone else lobbying for it. 

What I learned last year

Twenty designers took part last year. About 70% stayed the whole course, and everyone who stayed told me they were glad they had, including those (the majority, it has to be admitted) who did not hit their exact target.

When I went back through the pledges afterwards, I expected the difference between those who finished and those who drifted away to be about commitment, or talent, or how busy people were. It wasn’t. The pattern had very little to do with any of those; what mattered was what people had chosen to pledge.

Most of the pledges were habits rather than tasks: post more often, network more. A habit has no finish line. You can keep it up for five weeks, miss the sixth, and feel you have failed, which is when we often give up. The pledges that succeeded had an end you could measure: thirty-nine new names added to a mailing list; a blog launched with three posts; a photoshoot completed and put to work for PR; a website portfolio updated with two new landing pages.

So this year, the most useful thing I can do before anyone pledges is help you choose.

Six tests for a good pledge

1.  It matters. It unblocks something, fixes a recurring problem, or supports growth. This is business development, not client work.
2.  It has a finish line. At the end you can say "done" and point to something.
3.  It is one thing. One project, not a bundle.
4.  It is in your control. Finishing does not depend on anyone else's decision, including an algorithm's.
5.  It is finishable in seven weeks, alongside client work and before Christmas. If in doubt, make it smaller. I would much rather you finished something modest than abandoned something ambitious.
6.  It keeps getting bumped. If you would do it next week anyway, you do not need the Big Push.

Here are three of last year's pledges, with what went wrong and what I would suggest instead.

"Post on Instagram three times a week until Christmas." A habit with no finish line. Better: plan and batch-produce eight posts by 4 December.

"Reach 2,000 Instagram followers." The result sits in the algorithm's hands, not yours. Better: pledge the work rather than the outcome. Publish ten reels and review what the insights tell you.

"Film two videos a week." The real obstacle here was not the schedule; it was being on camera, and a schedule does not fix fear. Better: name the uncomfortable part first, then pledge to record and publish your first three videos. A voiceover counts.

That last example is why the pledge form asks you to finish the sentence "The uncomfortable part is…". Very often the task that keeps getting bumped is not short of time at all. It’s something that makes us anxious, and there’s a good chance you won’t ever do it until you admit this.

If you want a starting point, good pledges look like this:

• write and publish a fee structure and letter of engagement
• turn three completed projects into case studies for your website
• create a client onboarding pack
• set up a project tracker, or CRM, or enquiry log
• prepare and send out a seasonal message, shake up those referrals
• rewrite your services page
• set up bookkeeping software and reconcile the year to date
• decide your 2027 prices and draft the email to existing clients 

How it runs

Here's the wording of your pledge. You write it on the form and, if you come to the ceremony, say it aloud:

By 4 December I will have [done X]. I'll know it's finished when [observable result]. I'll do it by [method], in [specific days or time blocks]. The thing most likely to stop me is [obstacle].

Each clause earns its place. The observable result gives you a finish line. The method and the time blocks move the task out of good intentions and into your diary. And naming the obstacle in advance means that when it turns up, you recognise it rather than mistaking it for a reason to stop.

The dates:

•  Tuesday 20 October: pledge form returned to me by the end of the day.
•  Thursday 22 October, 10am: the pledge ceremony, live online. It is optional, but people who come are more likely to succeed.
•  Thursday 12 November: first check-in. I’ll email you for an update.
•  Monday 30 November: second check-in. Ditto.
•  Friday 4 December: pledge deadline. The task is finished. You report in on how it went.
•  Thursday 10 December, 10am: celebration and wash-up, live online.

Check-ins are not meetings. Just a quick message from me, asking what you have done, your next step and anything you need. It takes five minutes, at any time within 48 hours. There is also a closed WhatsApp group for participants, where people share progress and borrow a little energy from one another; give your mobile number on the pledge form and I will add you.

JUST SO YOU KNOW: Separately, on Thursday 26 November, I am running a year-end review to start shaping 2027. It is open to everyone, whether or not you are taking part in the Big Push. More to follow in my newsletter, and on Instagram.

The deal

Back to the Big Push, I take care of the structure: the meetings, the check-ins, a reply to every report, and help if you get stuck. You are responsible for your work and the reporting.

If, at any point it becomes clear that you pledged too much, simply scale it down, and there is no shame whatsoever in doing so. Smaller and finished beats bigger and abandoned. My one request is that you tell the group rather than disappear. If you go quiet, I will nudge you once. After that, the next move is yours, because the work is yours, and I would rather treat you as the capable adult you are than chase you.

Whatever happens, you are welcome at the celebration in December. Finishing is the aim; turning up to say honestly how it went is the commitment.

Seven weeks of something larger

The Big Push is, in miniature, how my year-round accountability groups, the Designers' Boardroom, works: we choose things that matter, being specific, committing out loud, reporting back, and adjusting without shame. If seven weeks of it suits you, the Boardroom is where it continues, and I am filling places for 2027 now. Let me know if you are interested. 

Choose your task

Before Tuesday 20 October:

1.  Write down the task that keeps getting bumped.
2.  Run it through the six tests, and make it smaller if it doesn't fit the fifth.
3.  Complete the pledge form, you’ll find a copy in the Hothouse group, or send me a message (Instagram) or email.
4.  Put Thursday 22 October, 10am, in your diary for the pledging event.

If you missed the launch session, you can watch the recording again here.

Now, I’m off to think about my pledge for 2026. I'll see you at the meeting on 22nd October.