What we get wrong about the New Year

I’ve talked about how I don’t like goals here before , and if you’re a coaching client you know exactly what it looks like to make progress without a predefined expectation.

There is a ton of beauty and growth when we begin to trust that growth is an inevitable part of being human. That forcing ourselves to try to operate at our Personal Record best all the time seems like a fast track to burnout.

So when New Years rolls around and it feels like we get just buried in NEW YEAR NEW YOU MAKE THIS THE BEAT YEAR EVER START THR YEAR RUNNING messaging, a healthy dose of my demand avoidance kicks in, because none of that feels like my cup of tea.

My family and I live in Canada, so as I sit here writing this, I’m watching a snowstorm hit and it reminds me that we are truly at the beginning of winter.

And if I get a lil philosophical for a moment, winter is meant to be a season of rest. Of quiet and cozy and slow.

Which can feel at odds with the New Years hustle vibes.

Until I remember that REST ISNT A REWARD, it is a prerequisite.

That if I want this year to be full of adventures and growth and exploration, I first need to prioritize rest and connection. That it is all well and good to have big lofty plans but if you’re stumbling into them burnt to a crisp…. It’s not likely to look the way I expected.

I can feel the urgency in the air, the push to do more, be more, boldly declare a new path and charge forward.

And I can also feel how that would set me up for failure, rushing forward on a tank running on empty, headed towards goals set by urgency rather than my values.

I’m turning that push to CHOOSE a path, into a push to define and explore the kinds of rest I need so I can make my next steps with intention.

Every journey begins with refuelling.