The work-life balance and lifestyle business crowd like to take stabs at what they call "hustle culture."

They talk about taking a "digital detox" and "time out to disconnect" at this time of the year; holding themselves up as paragons of zen virtue to their adoring followers who nod approvingly in the comments.

In the era of Anti-Hustle we're now treating a day or two off as something to be applauded.

"Look upon me, you overworked masses and weep!"

Ok, I'm being a little dramatic here, but there is always a nugget of truth in sarcasm.

I don't take days off.

Not because I am a "hustle bro" but because I love what I do enough that there are parts of it that don't feel like work at all.

And this is what I think so many of the Anti-Hustle Heroes are missing.

Not all of us are stressed out by what we do to the point where we need to announce that we are taking a few days off over Christmas.

In fact, Christmas has become a big lead generator over the last few years.

The "dead-period" is far from dead.

Where I live in Darwin, there's an attitude that everything dies in the Wet.

That's the period from September to May, where there's fewer tourists, fewer seasonal workers and a general lethargic attitude as we head into mythical mindsets like "mango madness."

The reality is that my business interests take in the times outside these bigger months. And I know that bucks the trend of my fellow consultants and brain workers.

And Christmas / New Year is no exception. In fact, it's providing to be a big driver of leads, bookings and even revenue for the year.

While any consultant or trainer will tell you that December is their worst month, followed closely by January, I'm going to tell you that those months are both in the top six of my biggest revenue months.

And I put that down to how I approach them.

The city that closes at 2 pm.

It is common practice in the central business district I work in for all the cafes and restaurants to close at 2 pm. Most of them seem to close their kitchens at 1.30 pm. Which poses a problem when you want to have a meeting outside the office.

I work on top of one cafe that is a perpetual offender in this regard.

They are overpriced as it is. The quality of their food has been in decline for a year. And they aren't open when I need them to be.

My only choices nearby are a cafe across the road on a notorious corner (where you can't sit outside for fear of being harassed and spat at) or one just outside the entrance to Woolworths where you'll be humbugged for money and get to enjoy watching two people yell at each other in a drunken rage.

It feels like there is an opportunity for someone to stay open a bit longer here.

Surely I can't be the only one who takes meetings outside in the afternoon. In fact, I know I'm not the only one, because those I meet with complain about the very same thing - "Why is there nowhere to go for coffee in Darwin City after 2pm?"

A similar thing is happening around Christmas time online.

The 24/7/365 channels that go dark from Dec 20.

I dread being online in December for two reasons.

All my favourite YouTubers and Podcasters stop producing content for the year, or they do something even worse.

They do a "Best of" or "2024 Recap" show. Ugh.

At the one time of the year where I have more time to read, watch and listen, everyone decides to stop producing good content.

Because of how the dates and weekends align this year, I expect that this won't just be a week of crappy recaps and zero updates - it will run from December 21 to January 5.

Now we might not all be as active on LinkedIn, but I'm betting on the idea that a lot of us will still be very active not only on LinkedIn, but on YouTube and in our inboxes.

This idea that the country shuts down and tunes out because Santa delivered a baby Jesus to a women sleeping rough because of terrible travel planning is frankly, ridiculous.

It doesn't happen.

We are still consuming content.

While some of that might be the cringeworthy scripted banter between Sylvia Jeffries and David Campbell on Christmas Eve as a bunch of performers from RSL clubs across the country sing the same songs they've belted out for the last twenty years, a lot of it continues to be what we always consume online.

That's tutorials, motivation, how-to videos and updates from people whose advice and viewpoints we trust.

The audience for this kind of thing might be half what it is outside of the Christmas period, but it's still there - and it's of a very high intent.

These people are the ones who are persistent, loyal, repeat viewers and highly motivated. Exactly the kind of clients and customers you want.

How I'm approaching the holiday period.

The Christmas period is Business As Usual.

That's three posts per day on my social channels, holding free webinars through the holiday period, and producing newsletters each Saturday regardless of what date falls on it.

I'm staying the course because of this one core reason.

The few people who will read, watch and tune in are going to be the most motivated, most intentional and most likely to want to take action in early 2025.

And that's what building a pipeline involves.

1. Identify your best possible audience, even though there might be only one person who responds.

2. Serve them what they need to get what they need to get done, done.

3. Keep on serving that until they need to engage you to do more.

4. Keep on serving after that.

5. And watch the bookings happen month after month.

Even in December and January.

I'll be producing this content and being present on the platforms on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day. But I'll still be sleeping in a bit and probably taking an afternoon nap on those days as well.

I'm not a complete robot.