By Dr. Zachary LaVigne, B.S., D.C.
The week between Christmas and New Year’s exists in a strange biological limbo. The calendar insists something important is approaching, but the body disagrees. Sleep drifts later, meals blur together, and motivation goes quiet. Then January arrives, and we expect discipline to snap into place like a switch being flipped. That mismatch explains why so many New Year goals collapse by Valentine’s Day.
Your body does not recognize resolutions. It responds to patterns, signals, and environment. When goal setting ignores biology, it becomes wishful thinking masquerading as self-improvement. January 1st may be culturally useful, but it is arbitrary. There is no internal reset button waiting to be pressed. From an evolutionary standpoint, winter was a season of conservation. Energy was protected, movement slowed, and repair mattered more than progress.
Modern culture pushes the opposite approach. Reinvent everything. Push harder. Fix yourself fast. The body resists, and it should. A better starting point for the new year is not asking what you want to change, but asking what your body needs more of right now.
Most resolutions focus on outcomes. Lose weight. Build muscle. Fix pain. Be calmer. Those goals skip the middle. The body operates on capacity, not willpower. Joint range, nervous system resilience, sleep quality, and strength that leaves you better afterward all determine whether change sticks. When capacity is low, discipline feels exhausting. When capacity improves, behavior shifts with far less effort. That is physiology, not mindset.
Instead of setting a resolution, choose a direction. Something you can move toward imperfectly without requiring a personality overhaul. The most effective shifts often sound unimpressive on paper. Walk most days. Eat protein earlier in the day. Sit on the floor regularly. Go to bed slightly earlier. Strength train in a way that feels restorative rather than punishing. These actions send signals of safety and predictability to the nervous system. Safety allows change. Chaos, even when self-imposed, keeps the body defensive.
January is also a poor time for dramatic overhauls. Energy is lower, daylight is limited, and expectations are high. That combination breeds guilt quickly. Use this month as reconnaissance. Notice which foods leave you steady versus foggy. Pay attention to movements that reduce tension rather than adding to it. Track what drains you socially and what restores you. That information becomes the real plan.
Late winter and early spring naturally support expansion. Longer days, better sleep, and rising energy make change easier. Your body already understands this rhythm, even if your calendar pretends otherwise. Sustainable change does not come from declaring war on your body. It comes from cooperation. This year, skip the reinvention fantasy. You do not need a new body. You need a clearer relationship with the one you already have.