New Year's resolutions are BAD for your health

Every year, thousands of us start the 1st January with this 'New Year New Me' and fail by the end of February - but what if I told you - you are not wrong, the date is!

When Time Lost Its Rhythm: Why We’re Living Out of Sync With Nature

We tend to think of time as neutral - just dates, numbers, and calendars keeping life organised. But the way we experience time today is not natural or inevitable. It is the result of centuries of political decisions, religious reforms, industrial demands, and human convenience. And while this system works efficiently on paper, it often works against our bodies, minds, and natural rhythms.

At its core, our modern calendar reflects a linear understanding of time - one that prioritises productivity, deadlines, and constant forward motion. Nature, however, moves in cycles. And that disconnect is quietly shaping how exhausted, pressured, and misaligned many of us feel.

A Brief History of a Man-Made System

The Gregorian calendar, now used globally for civil and business life, evolved from earlier Roman calendars that were inconsistent and often out of step with the seasons.

Over time, political leaders and religious institutions adjusted it to improve administration, taxation, and religious observance.

Julius Caesar’s Julian calendar introduced the leap year to stabilise seasonal drift, but even that system wasn’t perfect. Small inaccuracies accumulated over centuries, eventually requiring Pope Gregory XIII to reform the calendar in 1582. Dates were skipped, leap year rules were refined, and January 1st was reaffirmed as the start of the year.

What matters isn’t whether these reforms were “right” or “wrong.” What matters is this: our calendar was built for governance and control, not for biological or emotional harmony.

The Linear Life We’re Trained to Live

The calendar doesn’t just organise dates - it shapes behaviour.

Months are uneven. Weeks repeat endlessly. Productivity is measured in quarters. And every January, we’re told it’s time to “start over,” regardless of what season our bodies are actually in.

Add to that the modern five-day workweek, a structure born from industrial labour negotiations, not human physiology, and we have a system that values consistency over wellness and output over rhythm.

Even our emotional responses follow this structure. Mondays feel heavy. Fridays feel lighter. Sundays carry quiet anxiety. None of this is accidental; it’s conditioned by how time is organised.

Why January Feels So Hard

In the Northern Hemisphere, January sits deep in winter. Light is low. Energy naturally slows. The body craves rest, nourishment, and reflection. Yet this is when we’re encouraged to set ambitious goals, restrict food, increase exercise, and overhaul our lives.

In the Southern Hemisphere, January is high summer, full of heat, stimulation, and outward energy. While it may feel more energising, it can also overwhelm the nervous system, making focus and grounded intention difficult.

In both cases, the cultural pressure to “begin again” in January often clashes with natural reality. When motivation fades, or resolutions fail, we blame ourselves - but the problem is rarely willpower. It’s timing.

Nature Doesn’t Rush — It Cycles

Nature moves through a clear, repeating rhythm:

• Winter invites rest, reflection, and conservation

• Spring brings renewal, clarity, and new beginnings

• Summer supports growth, creativity, and expansion

• Autumn offers harvest, integration, and release

  
  

For most of human history, lives were organised around these cycles. Agricultural, lunar, and seasonal calendars reflected the understanding that growth requires rest, and beginnings follow preparation.

When we ignore this rhythm and try to force transformation during seasons meant for slowing down or stabilising, resistance arises - physically, emotionally, and mentally.

A Gentler Way to Begin Again

This doesn’t mean abandoning the Gregorian calendar. It means loosening its grip on how we measure success, growth, and self-worth.

Instead of one rigid “new year,” consider a seasonal approach:

• Use winter to simplify and reflect

• Use spring to set intentions and begin

• Use summer to act and expand

• Use autumn to refine and release

  
  

When intention aligns with the season, change becomes sustainable instead of forced.

Manifestation as Cooperation, Not Control

Manifestation isn’t about hustling the cosmos on a specific date. It’s about aligning thought, emotion, action, and timing. When we work with nature instead of against it, clarity replaces pressure. Momentum replaces guilt.

You don’t need to push harder. You need to listen more closely.

Because time isn’t broken. But our relationship with it is.

And when we return to nature’s rhythm, life begins to flow - not because we force it, but because we finally stop resisting what has always been there.