🎄🪫 Back at work after the festive break can feel… heavy 🏋️‍♀️

Full inboxes. Big expectations. Quiet pressure to make this year count. Here’s the reframe I’m sharing with leaders this week. The best years aren’t launched with intensity, they’re built with intention. January doesn’t need grand declarations or heroic routines…it needs rhythm.

What the science keeps reminding us 👇

Behaviour change research shows that small, repeatable actions are far more likely to stick than ambitious resets

(Lally et al., 2010 - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-22273-010).

Our nervous system adapts best when change feels safe and achievable, not overwhelming

(McEwen, 2017 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28856337/).

And self-efficacy, the belief that “I can do this”, grows through consistency, not perfection

(Bandura, 1997 - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-08589-000).

In simple terms…progress compounds when pressure is reduced 👇.

So what does that mean for leaders back at their desks today?

✔️ Don’t design the whole year. Design the next week.

✔️ Choose one behaviour that supports your energy, not your ego.

✔️ Protect recovery early, before the calendar fills.

✔️ Measure success by how sustainable your pace feels.

This is how the “best year ever” actually starts, Quietly. Calmly. Repeatedly.

Not with burnout disguised as ambition…but with habits that you can sustain until October and beyond.

High performance isn’t about going harder this year 🚀, it’s about lasting longer… with clarity, health, and purpose 💚

Small steps.

Long horizons.