Locking in Success

Get locked in for the end of the year

It’s that time of year when everything starts to feel a bit different.


The mornings are darker, the diary is filling up, even December is starting to feel busy. And we’ve all got that friend who has already started to do their Christmas shopping, that may even be you!

But there is usually something that you haven't done, that’ something maybe sitting on your shoulder nagging you with...  “you should probably get me sorted…”

It’s easy to slip into I’ll start again in January mode, but these few months of the year are an incredible time to shift gears — not with a long to-do list, but with one clear, deliberate intention.


Something that you can look back on in December and think, yup, I did that! 

The psychology of “locking in”

Our brains looooove closure.


When we complete something — even something really small — it lights up our reward circuitry and gives us that delicious sense of done. It’s calming, regulating, and helps us focus.

So rather than trying to do all the things before the year’s out, I want you to pick just one.


One goal that, if you committed to it now, would help you end the year feeling grounded rather than drained.

Maybe it’s:

• finishing a piece of work that’s been hanging over you,
• a creative piece that you want to complete

• or a habit you want to embed, like a walk everyday.

Whatever it is, choose the one that feels meaningful to you — not the one that feels worthy.  You have to want to do it, and it needs to feel aligned with your values.

Why micro-goals matter

Once you’ve chosen your one thing, break it into fragments so small they almost feel ridiculous.
Because here’s the thing: micro-goals build momentum.


Tiny, specific actions. Re-train your brain to trust you’ll follow through. First think of those actions. Let’s take walking as an example,

• Week one plan three routes that take 30 minutes.
• Week two get up at 8am for a week
• Week three get dressed and put shoes by the front door.
• Week four do all of this and then put your coat on leave the house if you want,
• Week five you go for your walk for maybe 15 minutes, or longer if you feel the urge.
• Week six, start building - three days to start with then, build it to 4 the next week, then build it to 5 the next week.

This is called “dopamine scaffolding” — stacking small wins that keep motivation alive.
 It’s how you quietly move mountains without trying to sprint up them.

Use rehearsal imagery — not willpower

This is where hypnosis can boost dopamine stacking. If you imagine doing those things in your mind, you can accelerate the win, and it can feel easier. You can use hypnosis imagery before you go to sleep at night to connect with the best part of going for a walk. That might be when you feel refreshed when you get back, it might be when you are out with the wind on your skin,

You may prefer to go forward and imagine that it’s mid-December.
 You’ve done your one thing and you have been routinely walking up early to go for a walk.
You’re sitting somewhere calm, maybe with a cup of tea and that quiet satisfaction is there in your body.


Notice how it feels.
This called rehearsal imagery: you’re wiring your brain for success before you start.

Every time you replay that feeling, you strengthen the pathway.
It’s not daydreaming, it’s training a habit.

Locking it in

So instead of starting the year on a surge of resolutions, what if you ended this one with a sense of powerful achievement?

Try this:


Before the week’s out, decide what you’re locking in.
 One thing.
Then rehearse it, feel it, and start small.
 And if you need a hand keeping your mindset steady while you do it, I’ve got a new hypnosis track on rehearsal imagery that pairs beautifully with this practice — you can find it