Notes from the Wild Edge: Returning to Work Without Abandoning Yourself

The mighty Peak District, taken this week on a client Trailblazer Day. Photo credit: Claire Ackers

January has a particular weight to it for capable people.

Not because they are unmotivated. Not because they lack discipline. And not because they do not care enough about what they are building.

It feels heavy because it asks them to resume a pace and a posture they quietly know no longer fits.

The break has been just long enough for the system to soften. Just enough space for the noise to drop. Just enough distance from the day-to-day demands to notice what has been tolerated rather than chosen.

And then the calendar reopens.

The expectations return. The responsibility clicks back into place. The familiar pressure to “get going” reasserts itself.

For many founders and leaders, this is the moment they override themselves again.

Not dramatically. Not consciously. Just in small, habitual ways.

They ignore the body’s signals. They mistrust the quieter knowing. They interpret the lack of urgency as laziness, rather than information. They tell themselves they will listen later, once things settle down.

Later rarely comes.

Over time, this creates a particular kind of fatigue. Not burnout, exactly. More a dull erosion of clarity.

Motivation drops, not because the work is wrong, but because the way it is being done no longer reflects who they have become.

Misalignment often masquerades as a lack of drive.

What is really happening is this: the system is resisting another year of being pushed through something that is no longer true.

January exposes this more clearly than most months because it sits between reflection and action. The old way is no longer convincing. The new way has not yet been articulated.

Most people respond to this by applying pressure.

More goals. More structure. More force.

But clarity does not come from pressure. It comes from honesty.

Honesty about what has shifted. About what feels heavy for a reason. About what is being maintained out of habit rather than conviction.

That kind of honesty requires space. It requires a slower pace than January culture tends to allow. It requires a willingness to feel before deciding.

This is not about abandoning ambition or lowering standards. It is about returning to work without abandoning yourself in the process.

This year, I am more interested in what is true than what looks impressive.