Reframing resolutions: exploring the New Year through a disabled lens
- Katie Manasse
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
How January “motivation culture” lands when you have access needs.
Every January, I watch the same wave roll in across social media, email lists, and coaching spaces: “New Year, New You!” “Big goals! Big action! Big change!” “Start strong or fall behind!”
And I feel my whole body tighten.
Not because I don’t believe in reflection or intention-setting – I do. Not because I’m against planning – I’m not. But because the way we talk about January rarely reflects the way real people live, especially if you’re disabled, neurodivergent, managing chronic illness, or carrying burnout into the new year.
For many of us, the start of the year isn’t energising. It’s actually one of the hardest points in the calendar.
January doesn’t automatically reset anything
The thing people rarely say out loud is that the world doesn’t magically shift just because the date does. Our access needs don’t suddenly change. Our energy doesn’t refresh overnight.
Sometimes we’re carrying over exhaustion from the previous year. Sometimes the winter months make everything heavier. Sometimes our capacity is unpredictable, and committing to a 12-month plan on 1st January feels unrealistic, if not impossible.
But because the culture around us is so loud and so insistent, it’s easy to slip into feeling like you’re “behind” before the year has even started.
And yet the messaging insists: “Set your goals now. Decide your whole year today. Push. Hustle. Transform.”
But I don’t think transformation is the problem. I believe the problem is pressure — specifically pressure that ignores access needs.
Pressure isn’t the same as support
A lot of January messaging pushes urgency: decide now, do more, be more, start strong.
But for disabled and neurodivergent people – and honestly, anyone with fluctuating capacity – pressure isn’t motivating. It’s overwhelming.
What actually works is gentleness, spaciousness, and being honest about what’s possible right now. It’s asking different questions:
What does my capacity look like at this time of year?
What pace feels kind and sustainable?
What do I actually need to feel grounded, not pushed?
This is the way I’ve learned to approach my own planning, because the alternative – forcing myself to fit into a motivational structure that wasn’t built for me – has never worked.
Self-employment, disability, and the story we don’t tell
The January “productivity boom” also ignores a reality I see constantly in my work: many disabled or neurodivergent people set up their own businesses because traditional employment settings are inaccessible or unsustainable. Self-employment often gives us flexibility, but it doesn’t make capacity any more predictable. If anything, it can heighten the pressure to “get it right” in January, because you feel responsible for everything.
This also conflicts with the practicalities that come up in January, like doing your tax return!
Many of the leaders I support in coaching tell me the same thing: “I want to plan, but I don’t know where to start,” or “I feel like I should have everything mapped out already.”
I don’t think the answer is more pressure. It’s better support.
If you’d like support with your own “gentle January”…
I’m offering January Reset coaching calls — a session just for you, to:
untangle the pressure you’re carrying into the year
look honestly at your capacity
shape goals and intentions that feel realistic, not punishing
build a rhythm that works with your needs
create clarity without forcing yourself into a rigid system
If January has felt overwhelming, too fast, too loud – or just too much – you don’t need to navigate that alone.
You can book a Reset Call with me here →
If you’d rather meet me first to check this is for you, book a free no-pressure 30-minute Discovery Call here →
Also letting you know about my small group coaching workshops; a way to tap in to some coaching exercises, let by me, with a small group of other clients
