New Year, New Overwhelm… and How to Fix It
January is a wonderful time of year - it signals new beginnings, fresh starts, and an opportunity to change things for the better.
It can also feel overwhelming. It’s time to go back to work after the holidays, which was (hopefully) a period of joy and rest. For a lot of my clients, it’s their slowest financial time of year, which brings anxiety about finances and how the year will play out. It’s also a time where society expects us to make big plans and resolutions. Throw in cold weather, dark afternoons, Dry January, the L.A. Wildfires, and the Inauguration (UGH) on top of everything else… and you’ve got a recipe for overwhelm.
If you’re not in the mood to make this “Your best year yet!” - you’re not alone. And you know what - that’s okay. Not all years are meant to be #thebest. Some are meant to be periods of change and reclamation, or rest and recovery, or even grief. Don’t let some life coach on the internet tell you this needs to be your most “kickass year eva” because they want to sell you their latest book. You get to decide what your year is, based on what you need it to be.
Personally, I’ve found that making too many resolutions is a recipe for changing nothing (we’re just not wired to make that many changes at once - this is especially true if you’re a business owner and dealing with constant change already), so I’ve started choosing one area of my life that I want to focus on and letting that be my yearly guide.
I’m a big believer in the Morning Pages and I do this exercise every year — so between those two things, I’m able to narrow down my yearly focus. The thing that kept coming up for me this year, was that I felt like I was playing too small. So, I decided 2025 is going to be the year of playing bigger. Now, every time I’m unsure what to do, I fill in the blank: “If I was playing bigger right now, I would ____________.” (Today the answer was to sit my arse down and write this blog post.)
You can do the same thing with almost any goal. For instance:
Getting Healthy: “If I was prioritizing my health, I would ______________.”
Prioritizing Your Own Needs: “If I chose myself right now, I would _______________ .”
Overcoming Anxiety: “If I wasn’t afraid, I would _______________.”
If coming up with your focus for the year or answering one of those questions feels too overwhelming right now, that’s okay too! Try asking this question of yourself: “What do I need right now?” (Shout out to my therapist - sup, Kate!) For me, it’s usually it’s a glass of water or a shower or a nap. Sometimes it’s something bigger like - deleting TikTok. In general, once I do that thing (or those things), I’m able to reset and refocus.
So today, I’d like to ask you: “What do you need right now?”