132. Not Feeling the New Year? Let’s Talk About That

This is the first episode of 2026 and I’ll be honest: I’m not feeling the New Year hype.
 
If you’re exhausted by the "new year, new you!" messaging and secretly wondering why you’re not motivated yet, it's okay! You’re human. In this episode, I’m giving you permission to stop forcing it and offering a gentler, alternative way to move forward without spiraling or staying stuck.

What You’ll Learn

• Why not feeling “motivated” in January makes complete sense (and why it’s not a problem)
• Why forcing goals too early often backfires—especially for ADHD brains
• How to let yourself land instead of launching into pressure
• How a simple 3-day observation reset builds clarity without overwhelm
• How to choose a North Star that fits where you actually are right now

If This Resonates…

If you’re tired of "should-ing" on yourself and want support easing back into focus, balance, and structure—without burnout—I’d love to help. You can book a free 1:1 consult right here. 

 And if you want extra support and real conversations with other SLPs who get it, come join us inside the Facebook group (name change coming soon 👀).

Keywords

work-life balance for SLPs, ADHD time management, overwhelmed SLP, New Year burnout, executive dysfunction, productivity coaching, ADHD routines, goal setting with ADHD

To find out how I can help you improve your work-life balance, click here.

Come join the SLP Support Group on Facebook for more tips and tricks!

Learn more about Theresa Harp Coaching here.

Transcript

squadcaster-994c_1_01-05-2026_141753: 0:28

Hey podcast listeners, welcome to the podcast. Welcome to a new episode. Welcome to a new year. If you're listening to this in live time as it's coming out, and if you're listening to this at another part of the year, that's fine too. So this is the very first episode of 2026. And I gotta be honest, I'm not feeling it. It's not that I'm not feeling the podcast or the podcast episode that I'm very much feeling. It's the new year that I am not feeling. And I decided to podcast about this topic because if you are listening to this, when, when this podcast is released. And by the way, if you aren't, stay with me because this information is still gonna be really valuable. It's just especially relevant right now. But if you are listening to this at the beginning of the year, you are likely surrounded by a million posts and pictures and articles on your newsfeed, all about the new year, new Year, new you. You know, new goals, 2026 resolutions, what's your word of the year, right? All that stuff. And here's the thing, that there's nothing wrong with any of that. Okay? Like there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I find myself in this space. I mean, loving this, this time of year, like all the time. It, it is one of the, it's one of the seasons that I typically love, like fresh start, new calendar, fresh start, fresh page. Big plans, big goals. I typically start planning out or mapping out my year in October. I don't do anything super, super crazy. I, you know, at least I don't think I do, but I have a good plan in place for the year by the time the, the holiday season is upon us. I have that. I kind of have that mapped out Now, do I stick to it every year? No. Do I stick to it to a tee? Absolutely not. That's not the point here though. The point being, typically I've got goals in mind. I'm prepared, I've got ideas. I'm excited, I'm motivated. But this year, I gotta be honest, I am feeling just kind of me, just like me. That's all I can. It's the best way I can describe it, right? If you are listening to this and you are not feeling that new year energy, you, maybe you're feeling a little me yourself, right? Like me. That's okay. I want you to know that you're not alone. I want you to know that it's human and I want you to know that you don't have to force yourself to like drum up excitement, motivation, and big plans and goals just because everyone around you is doing that. Okay? So if you're in a space right now where you're feeling a little low, you're feeling a little lost, you're feeling a little slow, not the kind of stereotypical new year feeling mindset, right? It's okay. It's okay. I could spend lots of time sort of unpacking and analyzing why. I'm in this head space and like as somebody who is very curious by nature and, uh, you know, very interested in personal development and awareness, right? Self-awareness. I could spend some time digging into that and I could come up with lots of answers. I'm not going to though. I mean, let's just say for those of you who are listening, if you need some kind of plausible or. Um, understandable explanations about why you might not be feeling all that motivated. I'll give you a few, I'll throw a few out. Right. Post holiday crash, right? This is the aftermath of Christmas. If you celebrate or Hanukkah or New Year's, like what? All of that holiday rush, that end of the year madness is now over, and when I'm recording this, we're in that time of year where it's like, what day is it? Wait, what? What? What day of the week is it? What day of the month is it? I have no idea what's going on. Am I getting out of my pajamas today? Am I not getting outta my pajamas today? Right. You've got decision fatigue galore. Probably leftover decision fatigue too, from the craziness of the winter months of, or from the holiday rush, right? The emotional hangover, the physical and mental exhaustion. Right. And then let's throw in. Now, I don't know where you live, what the weather is like right now, but for me, I am in New Jersey, east coast. It is cold, it is dim, it is dreary, and you know, I'm a girl who really likes the warm sunshine, the vitamin D, so lots of. Realistic, understandable, plausible explanations for why we might not be feeling that New Year's excitement. And I want you to hear this. Okay? Just because we have changed the page on the calendar doesn't mean that you have to change overnight. It doesn't mean that you have to automatically get on board with goals, transformation development. Okay? You can allow yourself some time and space to be where you're at. You don't have to force yourself to drum up the excitement and motivation if that's not where you're at right now, okay? Just let that be and don't judge. Don't judge, you know, don't should on yourself and shame yourself and tell yourself that you're lazy or that you're behind. Right? I mean, let's see. This episode's gonna come out January 6th, I believe, and you may already see posts about people, you know, posts from people saying it's already six days in the year. What, you know, what have you accomplished so far? How are you go? How are you keeping your resolutions? Top of mind, blah, blah, blah. Right? Well, let's just breathe for a second. Let's give your, your brain and your body and your mind a chance to settle back into real life because that pressure to launch, right, launch into goals, launch into growth, launch into development, launch into change. That pressure is cultural. It's cultural. It's not biological, at least not right now, at this time of the year. It's not like a, a switch that happens in your body and your mind January 1st. Okay. It's just the messaging and the story that surrounds us from all angles. And again, I say this as somebody who is typically full of excitement and motivation at this time of year. I'm just not there right now, and that is okay. So I want you to let that be okay? And I want you to think about another way forward. Because here's the thing, some of you may get stuck, right? Let's say you're, you are in agreement with me. You're on board with allowing yourself the time and space to just be. Not pushing yourself into a season of change and resolutions. Maybe you're on board with that, but eventually you're gonna want shift something, right? I don't think you wanna stay like this the whole year, at least I don't. And so while we can allow time and space for where we're at, let's have some sort of plan in place, ironically, right, of how we can. Move through this, this time of year in a different way, in a way that honors, you know, where we're at right now, but doesn't give us an excuse to stay stuck. So I've got some, I've got three tangible tips or suggestions, ideas that I. Implement right now in my life at this point as I'm recording this episode, and I wanna share it with you in case it is helpful. So first and foremost, let yourself land. And if you are listening to this at any time of year and you're like, I know that there are things I wanna change, but I'm just not really finding the motivation to change them right now, or I'm not really sure where to start. Just give yourself time to breathe before you launch into anything. Allow yourself to arrive in the year or in this place right now, wherever, whatever time of year this is, that you're listening. Okay. Instead of thinking about all the shoulds, all the things you should change, all the resolutions you should make, allow yourself time to land, anchor in. Just notice. Okay, so number one is let yourself land. And if you need some support with that, like just getting back into the landing and getting your bearings, because even that can be overwhelming after the chaos of, of the Christmas season and the holiday season. Maybe you just one routine at a time. You pick one routine to let yourself ease back in. Get back on track with that routine, whether it's bedtime or maybe it's getting up in the morning, maybe it's preparing a meal, right? Maybe it's checking your email. You get to decide, but one routine that you can reestablish that's going to help you with that landing. Okay? Step number two is instead of thinking about all the shoulds. Let's just start with the noticing. I want you to just notice, so before you jump into all the shoulds, all the things you should change, blah, blah, blah, right? Pause and just allow yourself three days to notice. Try a three day observation. Now you can adjust this always, everything I say, take. Take it, change it, adjust it as you see fit. You know you best, you know your, your work best, your personal life best. So take this and make it your own. But what I'm doing is a three day observation because this is when this episode airs. This is my first week back at work. First week back with the kids in school, I'm just allowing myself three days. That gives me a start and an end. I'm gonna observe. I'm gonna notice what is working and what is not working, like where are the sources of friction? Where are the parts of my life or parts of my day that feel relatively peaceful at ease, smooth. Just notice. So this is all about awareness. This is not about pressure. This is not about making any changes yet. This is just about noticing, okay? So noticing what is working and what's not working, and I'm also in this kind of three day observation. I'm noticing my thoughts. Where does my mind go? What is my brain telling me? Is my brain offering me a bunch of limiting beliefs? A bunch of shoulds, a bunch of, you know. Um, am I perseverating on certain areas? Just notice what my brain offers me and I, and I'm, it's just information. That's what I tell my clients all the time. Your thoughts are just information. They're not true. Okay? They're not true. They're observation their information. So notice, and then after that three days is up. That's when I will pick my North star, that's when I'll start to sit down and make some sort of plan. Okay. Now it could be, there's so much I could say about this part. It could be a 30 day plan, it could be a yearly plan that would be a bigger, a way bigger lift. It could be, um, a quarterly plan. It just be. A word for maybe not even a word for the year. Maybe it's a word for the month. I don't know. You get to decide what that looks like, but some focus, something one North Star. It doesn't have to be a, a list of goals. It doesn't have to be a list of resolutions. It does not have to be a list of all of the changes that you're gonna make Before we hit 2027, just look at your, your observations. Look at your. From your three day observations, right? Look at, look at what came up and decide where you wanna focus your energy and start there. And you know that like this is, we have an entire year and time is a construct, right? I mean, that's a whole other topic, but just because it says January doesn't mean that you have to set your goals into motion. The first month, you have to have them all hit by the end of the month, by the end of the year. That's not what it means, right? So just if you release some of that pressure of the timing of things, imagine what might come up for you, okay? Just let that guide your next steps. It does not have to guide your entire ear. So again, I want you to know. If you are not feeling it this year, if you are not feeling it right now, if you are not feeling the motivation, the excitement, the rejuvenation, you're not behind, you're not broken. You're just human. And notice any pressure that you're feeling. Notice where it's coming from. Is it coming from internal? Is it coming from external? And then try those three simple steps that I mentioned. Let yourself land, replace the plan, everything with just notice something. And then after that three day observation period, pick your North Star. Okay? And if you want help with this, let me know. Reach out. There's always a link to book a free consult in the show notes. Book a call, hop in. The SLP support group, which by the way, that name will be changing and it will be changing soon. So stay tuned for that. But the link to join is in the show notes. I would love to have you in there, would love to support you this year as you ease your way in, or if you are gung-ho, tackling goals, making changes. Amen. More power to you. I'd love to support you in that process as well. Feel free to reach out. Okay, that's it for this episode. Happy New Year. Um, two things. Two last things. Number one, if you want some kind of like fresh ideas spins, fresh spins on goals and resolutions and stuff like that for the new year. Maybe you're listening to this and you're not feeling. Stuck or you're not feeling blah, and me go back to last week's episode because last week's episode and episode 1 31, I have some really good stuff in there. And then number two, next week I've got a fun episode planned. I have a guest who's on the show. It's a guest interview. We're gonna be talking about Easy Report Pro, which is an amazing platform that you can use to help make report writing easier. So make sure you come back next week for that episode, episode 1 33. You do not wanna miss it.