It's that time of year again. When the new year's resolutioning kicks into high gear, you start seeing nonstop ads for gyms and weight-loss solutions, and you feel the pressure (and sometimes real desire!) to improve every aspect of your life.

There's nothing innately wrong with using the energy of the new year to make changes. I've spent many hours over the past few weeks both reflecting on 2022 and visioning for 2023 - and I'm excited to move towards that vision and do some things differently this coming year.

I also know it can be a lot. The motivation to change can turn into the weight to change which can morph into the inner critic punishing you for NOT doing the change perfectly pretty darn quickly.

How do you know when to be persistent and stay the course - and when to make a change? In my experience, this comes down to four words: SLOW DOWN. TURN INWARD.

A few weeks ago I was thinking about what I wanted to do this summer and the thought came to me: One of my GOALS is to spend more time in the mountains.

Even though it was my own thought (hello past programming!), I immediately recoiled.