It's easy to start off the year with huge goals to be better, stronger, and more productive than the year before. We set objectives and tactics that maybe feel realistic at the time but after a month, we are dwindling. We are exhausted and the pace we thought we could sustain we can't.

I have always been an off and on journaler. One of these structured practices that I have been engaging in for years is an end of the year reflection. It helps me track my own progress each year and reflect on the ups and downs. It helps show me how much I've grown and synthesize lessons that I've learned. It has been so valuable to me, especially in filling the weird days between Christmas and New Year's.

With shorter and shorter days approaching Winter Solstice, I find my regular routine pushing up against the boundaries of daylight. I frequently work days that start before the sunrises and end after the sunsets. I feel sleepier and wanting to go to sleep earlier but aren't sure if I should. All these things tell me, something needs to change.