I’ve got a new relationship with January this year and I have to say: I’m liking it.
I wrote last week about the Roman calendar and that January and February weren’t supposed to count. They were supposed to be hibernation months where we hunkered down, reset and got our you know what together.
The NYT thought this was important, too. Last week, they also wrote about these in-between winter months, once unnamed, and void of the expectations and pressure they now hold.
It occurred to me how often we try to rush through winter – tolerating January and February only wanting for spring to start NOW.
One truth: these can be hard months for cabin fever and little people who need to get out.
Also true: January and February can be amazing opportunities to embrace the limitations of weather and simply give in to what they might offer if you’re not fighting them all the way.
Tony Robbins reinforced the idea of seasons in his recent conversation with DOAC Steven Bartlett. His point is that every season has a purpose. If we wish it away or try to make it be something else, we miss the gift that’s in front of us.
Winter is meant for something significant.
To reflect on the year.
To shed what’s dead.
To decide what to rebuild.
To declutter the NOs so you can make room for the YES.
Winter is a slow down – on purpose.
A lot of us don’t know how to slow down. 🙋🏻♀️
This is *the work* for me and maybe for you, too.
Slowing down almost always requires removal – of commitments, old stories, sometimes people.
Sometimes removal has to be ruthless – it may mean you default to NO until you can determine your HELL YES.
Sometimes, it can be hard to know where to start. Here are some categories and questions we’re using in our circles for this pruning process. They may be slow, but they’re ultimately creating action:
1. Calendar Clutter: What’s filling your time without filling you? This could be standing meetings that no longer need to exist or “busy” masquerading as “important”. Ask yourself: Where is my calendar saying yes while I’m quietly saying no?
2. Mental Clutter: The open tabs in your mind, unfinished decisions, background worry, stories you keep rehearsing over and over again instead of resolving. Ask yourself: What am I carrying mentally that doesn’t need my attention right now?
3. Emotional Clutter: The truth is, unprocessed feelings take up real space, mentally and emotionally. This could be resentments, disappointments, roles you’ve outgrown but haven’t released. Ask yourself: What feeling keeps resurfacing because it hasn’t been acknowledged?
4. Relational Clutter: This one is touchy. Are there connections that drain more than they nourish? Or relationships that feel more obligatory than life-giving? Ask yourself: Where do I need a boundary instead of more effort?
5. Identity Clutter: Old versions of ourselves don’t always fade away on their own.
Maybe there are expectations you didn’t choose for yourself or ways of operating that once worked—but don’t anymore. Ask yourself: What am I still doing because “this is who I’ve always been”?
Which one of these feels like the biggest burden right now? What would happen if you removed and released it?
I know for me, sitting with these questions will help me determine what I REALLY want to fill my time and space with. This exercise feels “fun, interesting and like something I can think differently about.” Thank you, Arthur Brooks for that mindset shift. (If you missed it, I wrote about it in my newsletter last week.)
Cheers to stopping what no longer serves you, so you can truly step into that version of 2026 you want to create.