Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: I don't know about you, but for me, January can feel like everyone else hit the go button while I'm still standing in my living room wondering, did a bomb go off during the holidays?
If you're still putting decorations away, finding glitter in places glitter shouldn't be, and feeling like you're already behind on a year that just got started, I want to invite you to take a breath. You're not doing anything wrong.
Today I want to talk about the gift of a gentle start, especially for those of us who are highly sensitive persons.
No rushing into the New Year, no reinventing yourself with New Year, new you, and no pressure to hit the ground running.
In fact, you don't need to hit anything.
I want to just invite us to take a calmer, kinder approach to the New Year.
Welcome to Grit and Grace, the podcast for highly sensitive Christian women. I'm your host, Sherry Gregory.
Are you tired of the overthinking, overwhelm and exhaustion that can come with being a highly sensitive person?
Are you ready to stop worrying that something is wrong with you and start understanding and nurturing yourself as an hsp?
Together we'll build resilience, practice self compassion, set healthy boundaries, unlock your creativity, and learn to embrace, not fight, your God given sensitivity.
Let's dig in.
Hey friend. I'm so glad you could join me. Today we're going to do something a little different. In this episode, I'm going to share a few short clips from videos I've done over the last few years because I want you to hear how a key concept has developed over time.
If you've heard me talk about February 1st as HSP New Year's Day, this will help you understand the why more clearly. And if this is a brand new idea to you, no worries, you don't have anything to catch up on. You're right on time. Okay, so this first clip was originally recorded February 1, 2023. Hey, it is Sherri Gregory and I am coming to you today on February 1st to wish you a happy New Year.
Let me explain why. Toward the end of last year, 2022, I could tell that if I was going to end the year the way I wanted to and start the new year the way I wanted to, I was going to have to basically kill myself.
And I came up with this idea which is going to sound really silly, but I thought what if I could look at 2022 as a 13 month year and 2023 as an 11 month year? Like what if I allowed myself instead of having BHAGs you know, big, hairy, audacious goals for January 2023. What if I gave myself permission to try softer, which is my word of the year. What if I gave myself permission to go into the New Year 2023?
However it was, I went into it and used the month of January to just kind of mop up after the holidays, after the end of the previous year, and really allowed myself the gift of not trying to start the new year until February 1st.
And my friends, can I just tell you, it has been amazing. It has been such a lovely way to ease into the new year and to not get panicked that, oh my goodness, 1/12 of the year is already over. And I it's actually kind of surprising how much I've already gotten done. But more importantly, it is absolutely lovely the pressure I have not put on myself. You know, New year is kind of arbitrary. The whole idea of January being this fresh start and if you don't do things perfectly and wonderfully in January, ah, the whole year is ruined. All of that is such an arbitrary way to live. What would it be like for you if you considered February 1st? Happy New Year. When I shared that back in 2023, I honestly thought it was just a one time experiment. I needed permission that year. I didn't expect it to become a pattern. But within a few days this happened. Hey, it is Sherri Gregory. And I wanted to give you kind of a part 2 to the video I shared with you last week where I wish you Happy new year on February 1st. And I explained it was because I just needed January to be the 13th month of 2022. Like I wasn't ready to just dash into 2023 as the new Year. I had things that needed to be cleaned up and mopped up and kind of batten down the hatches. I needed to put the year to bed before I could start this new year. Well, I heard from several of you who said that that whole concept really resonated with you and the whole idea of being less punishing and more protective of our HSP brains and bodies really made sense. And then I heard from somebody else.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Who gave me the best idea.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: She said, sheri, this is so unbelievable. I decided to make February 1st the start of my new year for the same reasons. Overwhelm, unrealistic New Year's expectations, pressure to do everything perfectly. Already feeling way behind and stressed out, I actually wish myself Happy New Year yesterday morning. And she wrote this on February too.
So I decided 12 months is 12 months and it didn't matter which 12 months I chose to make up my year so I will start every year henceforth on February 1st. I didn't start my word of the year or make resolutions or vision board or set yearly goals or try to alter my body size or shape or determine to drastically improve my other habits last month. Just small bits of starting here and there and easing into it as you say. Mostly mopping up from the holidays and 2022. It has been so good to regroup and finish stuff, put things in order like my desk and closets and heavy cleaning and just take time to think.
Your awareness to be less punishing and far more protective of my HSP self really resonates with me. Thanks for helping me not feel odd. We've got this. That email from a sensitive and strong community member was a turning point. It helped me realize this wasn't just about my burnout, it was about choosing rhythm that actually fits how we're wired as highly sensitive persons.
So a year later, here's what I shared.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: Just a little reminder for anybody here who might be new the HSP New Year does not start January 1st. HSP New Year's Day is February 1st. I mean obviously life goes on and we keep having to go to work and the humans need to be fed and all the other stuff, but January is a wonderful wrap up month for those of us who are HSPs. We do not need to hit the ground running. We don't need to hit anything, by the way. We do not need to go bigger, go home. We don't have to have big, audacious, hairy goals.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: We don't even need to have smart goals.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: We can use January to put 2024 away and to lay the foundation to a strong new year. I'm reading a book right now called Slow Productivity and I am loving it so much. It was recommended earlier this year, but I didn't have time to read it. Oh, the irony. Yes, Cal Newport. Absolutely. Cal Newport. Everything he says is so HSP friendly. And of course what's good for HSPS is good for humans, right? It's, it's so many of the things that we're saying when we talk about what works for us. It's not that we're trying to get everybody to conform, to be like us. These are good principles. And so some of his principles have to do with not trying to do as many things, having larger blocks of time in which to get them done. And January ends up being a good month for that for some of us.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: Now I want to pause here because this is not about pretending life is somehow simple. That's not what I mean by the word ease. I don't mean easy. If your 2026 started out with you in crisis or in helper mode for someone you love, I am not here to glibly assure you that you too can ease into the New year.
Instead, I'll just encourage you to seek small ways that you can be gentle to yourself even as you're giving so much of yourself.
What I will say is that for many of us, January is when our bodies finally tell us the truth about how much the end of the previous year took out of us.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: This whole idea of HSP New Year being February 1st rather than January 1st. This is something we've been doing for a year. So I can't remember how far back it goes, but it came up when I realized that trying to hit the ground running after for those of us who live in where Thanksgiving is in November and then run so immediately into Christmas and then especially if we, if we're involved in schools or churches at all, the mixture of programs and special events and baking and cooking and grading if you're a teacher and still lesson planning and all that kind of stuff.
After almost 30 years in in Christian education, I found myself getting to January crispy. Just absolutely burnt out. Crispy and with no optimism. And of course then I found out I was an HSP and started putting the pieces together and going this is horrible.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: This is bad for us.
[00:09:47] Speaker B: Why are we doing this? You know, just because the calendar says certain things doesn't mean that we have to go along with it.
[00:09:54] Speaker A: This was the point where I stopped blaming myself and and started really questioning the system.
And honestly, that question has only gotten louder as I've watched how aggressively January is marketed to us.
This next clip was recorded just over a year ago in early 2025.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: So this was a little story I was going to tell you. Last Friday we drove again to Central Valley to see my mother in law who was transferred from the facility she was in to Daniel's brother's home where she is now officially on hospice. And we were there for three days. He spent the whole time reading to her, reading his favorite scripture passages, singing, playing guitar, playing piano as we were driving and as we were there. I'm going through my email and I'm going through Facebook.
I will not tell you how many things I almost bought or almost signed.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: Up for, but there was one that.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: Was just so well marketed and I did. And then of course the upsell you guys probably have done this before where you buy something for $9, but then you turn out to spend just under 100. Because when you go to the cart, they have this special deal just for.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: You, just for now.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: And there's this countdown timer. And so I just found myself.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: I was like, oh, and of course.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: Why did I do it? It was because I was feeling vulnerable. I was feeling vulnerable and I was feeling depleted. And this sounded like an answer. And, oh, if there's anything I love in my life, it is new things. It is something new and shiny that offers me promise this will be the solution.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: This will get me off to the right start.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: I fell into the same trap that I am keenly aware of. Like I did it hook, line and sinker. So I just am saying this as an awareness that we're always looking for the. We're always looking for the fix. We're always looking for the cure. We're always looking to improve ourselves.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: Wanting something new doesn't mean we're undisciplined or foolish.
But for many of us, it might be a sign that we are depleted.
January is a time when tired people are very vulnerable. Vulnerable to pressure, to promises and to pitches that this next thing will finally fix everything.
And that's why I've started treating January as a month for nothing new. Not as a rigid rule, but as protection.
And I say this even as I've had to fight the urge to buy a new planner every single day this month. Here's what I shared with the members of the Sensitive and Strong Community Cafe just about a week ago. I am avoiding the siren song of a new planner. You guys are laughing. So you know what I'm talking about, right?
All of the algorithms have figured out that I looked at one new planner.
One.
And so now I'm being deluged by new planners. And of course, nowadays, they're for adhd, they're for. They're for ocd, they're for neurotypical women. It's the only planner that really understands you. And I'm like, really? Really? If you understand me, I will pay so much money for you. But fortunately, I understand myself and I know it will gather dust and it won't solve anything. And they tend to go on sale, like in February and March when they're no longer brand new.
And if I still want it, then that's when we start the new year anyways. So I don't need it January 1st, because I probably wouldn't be using it. But I've just found this year, for whatever reason, a spiral bound planner. My brain thinks that's the solution and I'm just being like, oh, you're such a cute little brain.
It's so cute of you to think that's going to solve anything. So just a gentle reminder as we close up here, you can consider January a wrap up month, a processing month, a month where you don't add anything new just because the calendar flipped.
February 1st is coming and it's a perfectly good day to declare Happy HSP New Year.
Thank you for listening to Grit and Grace, the podcast for highly sensitive Christian women.
I hope this episode leaves you feeling encouraged, equipped to thrive, and at peace with your pace.
Be sure to follow in your favorite podcast app and share this episode with a friend.
Now, if you're brand new to the whole HSP concept, come take the Am I a Highly Sensitive Person? Quiz. You'll find that link in the show notes.
And remember, God created you. Sensitive in Christ.
You are always strong.
I have one more little invitation for you before we wrap up. The Sensitive and Strong Community Cafe is technically closed right now and won't reopen until late spring 2026. But if you've been listening and thinking, I think I'd really belong in the cafe, just drop me an email@sherryeri gregory.com I would be happy to send you a personal link and welcome you in. That's C H E R I @ C H E R I G R E g o r y.com I'd love to see you in the cafe, mocha in.
