Do you want the next four months to happen to you, or do you want to shape how you finish the year?

For me, summer means pool days, barbecues with friends, skydiving, and soaking up long evenings in the sun. More fun on the calendar than work. The days feel a little lighter, the pace a little slower.

But as summer winds down, kids head back to school, and work calendars start filling up again, many of us feel the shift. The “busy season” is coming. That shift feels unstoppable, a wave about to crash over us. It’s easy to let that shift happen to us instead of taking control of it and riding the wave.

That’s why this is the perfect moment to pause, reset, and set your course for the rest of the year. That way you’re intentionally swimming with the current, not being tossed around underneath it.

Here are a few simple, actionable steps I use (and recommend) to move from summer ease into fall focus:

Reflect

What’s gone well so far this year? Where have you made progress? Where do you feel stuck? Write down 2-3 honest reflections (don’t just think them, write them down so you have a reference point to measure against).

Reset

Identify the habits or routines that served you in the summer and the ones that need a reset. Maybe it’s later mornings, blocking off time for exercise, or scheduling fewer reactive meetings the day of. Ask yourself, how will I keep these positive habits part of my life as the season changes?

Refocus

Choose one priority for the next 90 days. Not ten, not five, just one. What’s the most important outcome you want to create before the year ends? Write it down.

Recommit

Share it. With your team, your family, or even just a friend. When others know what you’re working toward, they can help hold you accountable. (Bonus points: tell them how they can help keep you accountable.)

Recharge

Don’t lose the joy of summer! Schedule in small moments of fun, connection, or rest. Identify the things that fueled you during the summer that you can continue through the rest of the year and turn those into simple habits that will sustain you year-round

As we all know, September through December can fly by in a blur. But if you pause to reset now, you’ll close the year with intention instead of exhaustion. So as summer sunsets, take one more deep breath of that poolside air, smokey barbecue, or salty beach breeze. Then decide what kind of finish you want for your year.

Because the season ahead doesn’t just have to be busy. It can be purposeful and productive.