Hello Readers ,

Happy New Year! We’ve made it past quitters day 🎉
(fyi, the 2nd Friday in January).

I admittedly cringe at that recognition we’re not so great at keeping resolutions. At the same time, it’s also funny, and a relief that we’re not alone. Whether your New Year’s resolutions are business or personal, about adding or removing, doing or being, or still being formed, they can be tough to sustain. Maybe it’s not the resolution that’s the problem, but how we set it, and our expectations.

Image by christianhorz, via Canva Pro

🏋🏻We tend to add something to do, rather than a way of being (which guides our interacting and decision-making).
🦘We tend to hope for big steps or changes, allow no buffer, and frustrate ourselves after 2 weeks of intense denial and little progress (using up our will power, vs fueling it), instead of allowing for indirect and small, daily changes (see Atomic Habits by James Cleary, and short reflections in the prior newsletter)
⛽We also tend, especially in Westernized culture, to forget to make time not only for the new practice, but for any practice that fuels us, prioritizing the “responsibilities” over the longer-term thinking of strengthening our characters and capacity.

Now is the time to take small steps, and channel the inspiration, perseverence, and self-compassion ✨ to keep yourself (and your team) going, each day and after pauses. All three are important, because resilience also means understanding that it takes time to make changes, and sometimes “sh*t happens”. It’s also about letting yourself get back up in the saddle after a mistake or a hard knock (you might want to check out Dr Lucy Hone’s TED talk).

➡️For my small and medium business folks, check out this “friends link” to my pre-published article on corporate wellness in resource-stretched environments, with a little humor, some stories and statistics, and why the investments provide return (& how).

This year, perhaps more than others, we are called to both acknowledge the crises, polarization, and despair around the world; and to fuel and share our light. Keep returning to hope, so you can move from overwhelm, to taking one step.

In both business and personal life, it’s easy to focus on the gaps and mistakes, and I’m not saying to ignore them. But that focus can drag us down. Instead, this year, I will shift my focus to fueling through, rather than pushing through. I will focus on celebrating the small victories rather than rushing to my next to-do, and allowing the rest and fallow time. How will you fuel through 2025?

Happy new year, and keep fueling through.
Thanks for reading.

Rachel