Most of you know by now that I am an avid gardener. One thing that brings me particular joy is planning the landscaping around my home to ensure there is at least one plant blooming each month of the year. This is a lot easier where I live in the Southeast than in cooler climes, but it still takes planning and intention.
That’s because even here, most plants slow down and die back, leaving little more than cold, bare ground visible at this time of year.
As I wander around my gardens at the start of December after a year marked by all the complexity and poignancy of family caregiving, I’m reminded that people are not so different from plants. We,too, need to pull back at times so we can bloom again.
A ritual of rest and reflection
The natural world’s alternating cycles of growth and retrenchment serve an important purpose. A plant (or a person) that appears to be experiencing a quieter period above ground may be accomplishing something very important below the surface: reinforcing root structure, building resilience or simply waiting out the colder months.
Like plants, people typically cannot maintain the same pace of growth for months or years on end. We may flourish for a period of time, but then we need to pull back and attend to personal needs, reset priorities or simply catch our breath. It’s these moments of quiet that position us for the next phase of growth.
This seasonality looks different for different people. For me, it often takes the form of intentional year-end rest, reflection and planning for the year to come. I often take a winter break of sorts — a holdover from my years in academia. This involves several weeks off from day-to-day meetings and paperwork, so I can spend more time with family and friends, as well as on a handful of planning projects and other deep work that are harder to wedge into a busy calendar.
In my life, this period also involves year-end contemplation and setting intentions for the year to come.
Sowing the seeds of the life you really want
My annual goal-setting process usually includes selecting a word for the year.For 2025, I chose two: Foster joy. In many moments, I was able to do just that.But it was also a challenging year at times, largely due to family health issues, including a few of my own (everyone is stable now, thankfully). So as I look ahead to 2026, I’m looking at how to channel my theme of fostering joy into the life I want to craft in the year to come.
One way I’ll approach this is by using the YearCompass tool. This free resource serves as a helpful guide for capturing takeaways from one year and using them to frame intentions and goals for the next. If you like a structured process for reflection, try printing it out and settling in somewhere cozy to work through the questions. You can do it alone or alongside someone else — although you should each fill out your own document.
As you craft your vision for 2026, you may find it helpful to consider the skills and support systems you’ll need to achieve your goals.The world has been marked by VUCA — volatility, complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity — this year, and that’s unlikely to change in the next 12 months. I have become a fan of the VUCA Prime framework as one model for creating positivity and constructive progress amid VUCA.
I also recommend intentional rest for maintaining creativity and resilience in challenging periods. In fact, you can think about this type of rest (and its cousin self-care) as the fertile ground for the growth you can’t see, much like what’s happening in most of my garden now that the leaves have fallen and we’ve had a hard freeze.
Winter blooms
Not everyone pulls back at this time of year. We all have our own seasonality in work and life, and some of you may be enjoying a period of wild growth right now. If that’s the case, soak it up! That’s exactly what is happening with the camellias in my garden right now.
What’s important is that wherever you are on your journey,you stay plugged in on how you are doing and the ways your needs may be shifting. Then, when it’s time to pull back, you’ll be ready to create space for it — knowing that it’s nothing more than preparation for your next season of growth.
