Has your “New Year” motivation started fading away? Not as excited to keep that fitness plan going? Has your dry January, gotten a little wet? Maybe that new planner you bought, has only been written in once or twice?
If this resonates, you’re not alone.
This is usually the point where people start telling themselves a familiar story:
I always do this. I start strong, then fall off. Why can’t I stick with anything?
But here’s what doesn’t get talked about enough:
losing motivation this time of year is incredibly common and it doesn’t mean you lack discipline, desire, or follow-through.
It usually means you’re trying to build something new on top of pressure instead of creating from a space of workability.
Motivation Spikes Don’t Equal Sustainable Change
New Year motivation often comes from emotion:
- hope
- urgency
- comparison
- a desire to be “better”
That energy can feel powerful, however, it’s not stable.
When feeling motivated is the only thing holding change in place, it disappears the moment life asks something else of you. Stress increases. Energy dips. Old patterns resurface. And suddenly it feels like you’re back at the beginning.
The problem isn’t that you “failed.”
The problem is that feeling motivated, is like any other feeling – it’s fleeting.
So often people wait to feel motivated before taking action, when in reality it’s the other way around.
You take action and then you feel motivated to keep going.
So what actions did you say you’d do, that you haven’t sustained?
Sustainable Change Is Built in Relationship, Not Force
Real transformation happens when you start relating to yourself differently.
Not when you try harder. When you get honest with yourself.
Sustainable change asks questions like:
- What actually works for me?
- What pace can I maintain?
- What support do I need?
- What patterns keep repeating in my life and why?
This is slower than motivation spikes.
It’s also far more reliable.
Instead of relying on willpower, sustainable change is built through:
- awareness
- consistency
- accountability
- support
- self-trust
None of those come from pressure.
Ask yourself: where have I been relying on motivation instead of consistency?
Why Willpower Keeps Letting You Down
Willpower assumes you should be able to override your reality.
But most people aren’t struggling because they don’t want change. They’re struggling because:
- they’re exhausted
- they’re holding too much alone
- they haven’t had space to look at what’s actually in the way
- they’re trying to outpace patterns that haven’t been understood or processed yet
When change is approached without context, compassion, or support, it eventually collapses.
Not because you’re incapable, because a reliable structure wasn’t there.
Transformation Happens in Community
One of the biggest shifts I made in my own life was stopping the belief that I had to handle everything on my own.
Even with experience, tools, and self-awareness, I still work with coaches and mentors. Not because I’m broken, because clarity is easier to access in community, not isolation.
Working with a coach creates space to:
- name what you’re avoiding
- see blind spots
- interrupt repeating cycles
- take grounded action instead of reactive action
This is how transformation becomes something you live.
Where in your life, can you see having a supportive community would make a difference?
If you stopped trying to do everything alone, what might become possible?
If You’re Ready to Do This Differently
If motivation has already faded this year, consider this an invitation, not a failure.
You don’t need another plan.
You don’t need more pressure.
You don’t need to “get it together.”
You may need:
- space to slow down
- a place to be honest
- accountability that’s supportive, not shaming
- a way forward that actually fits your life
If that resonates, there are two ways to create momentum in your life now:
- Book a free 30-minute discovery call
A grounded conversation to explore what’s getting in the way and what kind of coaching would contribute to your life. - Join Creating Life On Purpose – my weekly Sunday evening group coaching call (7:30–9:00 PM on Zoom)
The first call is free. It’s a space to reflect, reset, and leave feeling clearer and more connected to yourself.
Change doesn’t come from forcing momentum.
It comes from building something you can stay with.
And it’s okay to start again, differently this time.
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