January naturally brings with it great pressure to change. It’s long been known as the month for planning and fresh starts. A month ago, we were taught to set resolutions, make a new plan, and do things differently. New year, new goals, new habits, new you.
But I want to ask a different question: What if January actually isn’t the best month for change?
I think it only gets that title because the calendar flips, and we collectively decide it has to be the month of change.
But I spent the past year sitting with the question, observing your own rhythms, watching patterns within the community here, and paying attention to what actually worked. What I realized suprised me, but it also brought a deep sense of relief.
Why January Is Actually the Hardest Month for Change
January may be the most popular month for change, but it’s also one of the hardest months to create it. If it weren’t for the calendar shift, I honestly don’t think most of us would even attempt major life changes in January. It’s like we inherently know, we’re not really for it.
That sums up the exact reason why it’s one of the worst months for change. The reason is simple. You don’t have the capacity for change.
Coming off the holiday season, most people are depleted in ways they don’t always recognize. December is joyful, festive, and meaningful, but it’s also demanding. Late nights. Extra social commitments. Endless cookies and treats. Travel. Disrupted routines. Little sunlight. And for those of us living in the northern hemisphere, winter adds another layer of heaviness.
All of that takes resources. It takes energy, focus, emotional bandwidth, and even physical resilience.
By the time January arrives, many of us are running on low. We want change, but we don’t actually have the support systems in place to sustain it. We try to force ourselves forward anyway, because that’s what we’ve been taught to do.
But forcing change in January is like trying to make a tired puppy go for a long walk.
It’s not that the puppy is incapable. It’s that it’s exhausted. Leaving you dragging along a puppy that has no intention of ever taking a step. Not because it doesn’t want to, but it has greater needs, like sleeping in a warm bed.
Life can feel a lot like this. It’s dragging you along when all your body really wants is rest, warmth, and a slower pace. It really needs time to recharge. And when change feels like another thing to carry instead of something that supports you, it rarely lasts.
Why 75% of People Quit Their Resolutions Before February
The reason 75% of people give up on their resolutions before February is not that we have commitment issues or that we’re undisciplined or lacking willpower. It’s a lack of capacity that comes across as all of those things. It’s what creates the lack.
The good news is that it also spells out the answer. We must build capacity and clean up our lives before we enact change and create resolutions.
Seasonal Rhythms and Realistic Change
While January may not be the best season for change, there are seasons that invite it. Those seasons tend to be the transitional ones, like spring and fall.
These are the seasons when energy is rising or recalibrating, when nature itself is shifting, and when our bodies and minds are more resourced to adapt.
But here’s the important part: just because January isn’t ideal for big change doesn’t mean it’s a wasted month.
January simply has a different job. That job is to clean up and set the stage for the year ahead.
The Step We Often Skip: Cleaning Up the Foundation
Cleaning the foundation. Setting the stage. Building capacity are the steps we often skip when we talk about change. We assume step one is change, but there are actually numerous (and even critical) steps that must happen in order to create change. Especially in the wellness and personal growth space.
We get so focused on adding new habits, new goals, new routines. But we rarely talk about what needs to be cleared out first. We rarely address the foundation on which we intend to build the new — can it even handle it?
That’s why I started planning differently.
Instead of setting big resolutions and charging ahead in January. I now use this month to evaluate and clean up. To prepare the foundation.
I still cast vision. I still name outcomes and intentions for the year ahead. But before I march forward, I slow down and tend to the foundations that will either support me or trip me up.
This approach is deeply woven into the Nourished Planner philosophy. We don’t rush growth. We create space for it.
A Simple Example of Cleaning Up First
If you know you want to feel calmer and more nourished this year, don’t start by adding a complicated morning routine or committing to a perfect schedule. Start by noticing what feels heavy, cluttered, out of alignment.
Maybe it’s the overstuffed kitchen drawer that spikes your stress every time you open it. Maybe it’s a calendar that’s too full, leaving no margin for rest. Or maybe it’s a pile of unfinished projects quietly draining your energy.
Cleaning up those spaces doesn’t look dramatic. It’s not hard and often not time-consuming. But it’s incredibly powerful.
When you remove friction, change becomes easier. When you reduce noise, clarity naturally follows.
Why January Is Perfect for Cleanup
January is an ideal time for this kind of work because it invites reflection without pressure. It’s quieter. Slower. More inward. Instead of asking, “What should I add?” ask, “What’s getting in the way?”
This shift alone can completely change how the rest of your year unfolds. Think of January as preparing the soil rather than planting the seeds. You’re not behind. You’re laying a foundation and that foundation matters.
When you clean up first – your spaces, your schedule, your expectations – you create a container that can actually hold the change you want to make. You’re no longer trying to overhaul your life while standing on shaky ground.
This is why the Nurisehd Planner emphasizes rhythms and outcomes over resolutions. They flex with the seasons, they help you see what precise action you need, and they support consistency without demanding perfection.
Enter: The Life Edit
As we move through January together, I want to invite you into this slower, more sustainable way of planning. To go back through your life and edit it.
Cast your visions and dreams and set your outcomes. But go back in and take a look at what might be in the way. Use this month to clean it up. It might be cleaning out your pantry or it might look like burning your list of expectations. It might be changing what you fuel your body or adding an extra hour of sleep each night to charge up your body.
This isn’t about doing more. It’s about making room.
If January has felt heavy, slow, or unmotivating, let that be information, not failure.
You’re not meant to sprint right now. You’re meant to clear the path for when the time comes for change. When it comes, you’ll be ready to meet it with a foundation that can hold it. This is the nourished way!
If you want to use January as your Life Edit, purchase a planner to get started! It includes prompts, white space, and a task list to use in January to clean up and set the stage for what’s ahead.
