January makes it feel like you need to commit to a goal: to pick a direction, lock in a plan, and start moving before the window closes. But the first mistake isn’t picking the wrong goal, it’s rushing the decision without understanding what that goal is responding to. This post breaks down the difference between escape goals and support goals, how each shows up in your finances, and what to check before you build your year around one.

You don’t need another fresh start. If resetting your goals, tightening your budget, or promising “this time will be different” keeps landing you in the same pressure (just more tired), it’s not a motivation problem. This post breaks down why rebuilding without changing the demands underneath never works, how that strain shows up in your money, and what needs to be named before you plan what’s next.

2025 felt hard for a reason. Now that the pace has finally slowed, relief isn't what's showing up. It's something impossible to ignore: the realization that you did everything you were told, adjusted again and again, and it still didn’t work. This post names what broke, why pretending it was normal made it worse, and how to enter next year without recreating the same exhaustion.

We’ve been taught to call it resilience, but it’s really burnout with good PR. You keep holding it all together, thinking the calm will come later. But what if “later” has already turned into your lifestyle? In this week’s post, I’m unpacking the real cost of burnout (financial, emotional, and personal) and what it looks like to make rest your most practical financial strategy in 2025's burnout economy.