Have you ever noticed that even when you’re doing everything “right,” it can still feel hard to sustain your leadership capacity and influence?
I’ve been having more and more coaching conversations lately in which my high achieving clients say something like, “I know what to do — I just don’t have the same reserves to draw on the way I used to.”
January often brings a desire to reset. Do you feel that way? But what I’m seeing as we begin the 2026 calendar year is different. The reset leaders are asking for isn’t about sharper strategy or more output — it’s about how they are operating internally while leading.
As we move through the final month in the year of the Wood Snake – as this past year has been called in the Chinese astrological calendar – we have a “last chance” to confront and release the behaviors, mindsets, and choices that no longer fit with who we are becoming.
When I sit with high-performing leaders, a few themes come up again and again:
- The pace feels relentless and there’s very little room to recover between demands
- Decisions feel heavier and harder to make
- “I can no longer push myself to do work that doesn’t “feel” right to me”
Traditional leadership approaches tend to push thinking faster, optimizing more, and powering through. But sustainable performance requires something else — regulation.
My prior training in yoga, meditation, and Reiki exposed me to practices that support nervous system regulation. More and more, I work with my clients to intentionally regulate their internal state so they can:
- Make clearer decisions under pressure
- Respond instead of react
- Lead with a steadier, calmer authority
Before you roll your eyes and stop reading, I invite you to recognize that these are not fringe practices, nor is this a topic relegated to wellness alone. Instead, these are foundational practices for sustainable leadership capacity, ensuring that your system can actually handle the demands of your role so you can not only perform but also have positive influence and impact.
When I work with my clients in leadership roles to help them learn how to calm their system and stay present under pressure, something shifts:
- Decision fatigue softens
- Confidence becomes more grounded
- Results come with less force
As you begin this new calendar year and a new era in human leadership, I invite you to consider:
- Are you asking yourself to perform at a level your system can no longer sustain?
I’m in the process of developing a new offering for 2026 focused on helping leaders strengthen nervous system regulation so performance becomes more sustainable. If this resonates and you’d like to learn more, you’re welcome to schedule a call with me in the new year. Click here to do so.