After the hustle (and exhaustion!) of the holidays, the new year always seems to arrive with demands for more. The internet fills with resolutions and declarations of reinvention. Marketing language urges resets and new routines, and the narrative is loud: Set loftier goals, change your habits, and become the best version of yourself.

But nature tells a different story.

January sits in the heart of winter, and in nature, winter isn’t a season of striving or expansion. It’s a time for rest and pause. Animals are hibernating. Flowers and trees exist without visible blooms. The ground holds what it needs, quietly preparing for what comes next.

It’s something worth noticing, especially for moms.

So much of the holiday magic is created by moms. After decorating all the things, hosting parties and gatherings, buying gifts, and cleaning the house a million times over, the last thing we need is to launch into the new year with more to-do's and a 50-point plan for "becoming better." What we need is rest.

So that's what our team is leaning into as we transition to the new year—and it's what we're inviting you to do as well. Think of January less as a time to become a new you and more as a time to thoughtfully reflect and consider what you actually need in this season.

To guide your reflection, we’ve put together 10 questions to help you take inventory. These aren’t questions about setting goals or optimizing routines. They’re soft prompts meant to meet you where you are and help you move softly into a season reflected by the world around you. Think: Less striving and pressure for growth, more rest and space to just be. 

10 Questions to Ask Yourself for the New Year

1. What did the past year require of me, and how did I respond?
   
2. What expectations—my own or others’—am I ready to loosen or let go of?
   
3. Where did I stretch beyond my capacity, and where did I feel sustained?
   
4. What moments of quiet or presence stayed with me the longest?
   
5. What am I holding that no longer needs my attention this year?
   
6. How has my body carried me through this year, and what does it need now?
   
7. What am I craving more of? (quiet, support, creativity, space)
   
8. Who could I reliably look to for support and help this year?
   
9. What rhythms from the past year feel worth protecting?
   
10. What do I want to experience more of in the new year—rather than accomplish?
    

Don't feel like you have to answer all of these questions at once. Some reflections will arrive fully formed, others will take time to surface. Rest assured, winter allows for that kind of contemplation. 

Regardless of your answers, our hope is that you’ll join us in pushing back against the narrative that you need to remake yourself this year. If you don’t run the 5k or read 50 books, but you show up each day giving your very best as a human and a mom—that is an accomplishment worth honoring. Honestly, it's one worth celebrating!! Doing your best is a huge feat. 

And if you’re not proud of yourself for that, we’re happy to be proud on your behalf.

Cheering you on always, and wishing you a deeply restful, renewing new year.

xx,
The Solly Team