After the hustle of the holidays, the new year arrives with its own expectations. 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, 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—for conserving energy and staying still. 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 mothers.

So much of motherhood is lived in motion. We’re constantly anticipating needs, adjusting to meet the demands of others, and moving even when what we really need is rest. Nature offers a reminder many of us desperately need to hear: January doesn’t have to become another moment of doing more or becoming better. Instead, it can be an invitation to reflect without urgency and consider the year ahead without asking yourself to become someone new.

As you step into the year ahead, we’ve put together this guide to help you gently reflect and take inventory. These aren’t questions about setting goals or optimizing routines. They’re soft prompts—meant to meet you where you are.

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?
    

You don’t need to answer all of these at once. Some reflections will arrive fully formed. Others will take time to surface. 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.

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