The New Year Reset That Doesn’t Require Reinvention
January has a way of pressuring us to overhaul our entire lives, yet the reset we actually need often begins with a pause, not a plan.
As we’ve just left the festive season behind us and step into a new year, allow me to share a story, one that feels especially timely for women seeking deeper meaning and clarity for the year ahead.
In December 1968, three astronauts, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, were aboard Apollo 8, the first human mission to orbit the Moon. Their task was straightforward: test the spacecraft, observe the lunar surface, and return safely to Earth.
At the time, the world they left behind was tense and fractured, marked by the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, widespread protests, and an uncertain future. A world overwhelmed by division and fear. Nothing out of the ordinary, sadly.
As Apollo 8 emerged from behind the Moon, something unexpected happened. Earth appeared on the horizon, a small blue sphere suspended in the vast blackness of space. Fragile and quiet.
Bill Anders instinctively reached for his camera, capturing a moment that would later be known as Earthrise.
What I found most compelling about this event was not the fact that humans were launched into space, but a reflection shared by one of the astronauts years later, one that feels poetic to the soul.
Bill Anders said:
“We went to explore the Moon, and what we really discovered was the Earth.”
Perspective doesn’t change reality, but it reframes it.
Their journey didn’t solve the world’s problems. It didn’t end war, hatred, or greed. But it changed something fundamental. Seeing Earth from a distance reshaped how humanity understood itself. Borders disappeared. Division seemed trivial. For the first time, we saw our home not as fragmented nations, but as one vulnerable, interconnected whole.
Perspective doesn’t change reality, but it reframes it. Problems that once felt enormous seemed smaller, while what truly mattered came into sharper focus: life, connection, home. Sometimes, it takes stepping far away to truly see what we’re standing on.
Perhaps today, life feels even more chaotic than it did back then. And as women, the expectations placed upon us are endless. We juggle careers, relationships, families, ambitions, and inner worlds, often so immersed in the details of daily life that we lose sight of the bigger picture. We absorb the opinions of others, the pressures of society, and the belief that we must always do more and be more while holding it all together.
In the process, we forget how precious and interconnected life truly is.
That’s why creating distance matters. Stepping back reveals truths we can’t always see up close. What feels overwhelming in the moment looks different from another angle. Clarity follows distance. Humility blooms when we recognize that our view is limited. And there’s empowerment in realizing that there is always more possibility than we imagine.
As the New Year begins, this mission feels like a fitting metaphor.
The New Year becomes a symbolic moment to ask whether the direction we’re moving in is still the right one, and whether the choices we’re making are in line with the woman we want to become.
Even though nothing fundamental has changed, there’s something powerful about the start of a new year. Days still turn to night. The calendar page turns like any other day. Life continues as it always has. But we collectively agree to pause. To reflect. To pay attention.
We focus on what matters: our families, our friendships, the moments that bring us back into ourselves. We allow ourselves to be present. To enjoy. To look up or step back and gain perspective.
We reflect on the year behind us, on the joys and the losses, on what felt aligned and what didn’t. And this pause gives us the chance to zoom out. The New Year becomes a symbolic moment to ask whether the direction we’re moving in is still the right one, and whether the choices we’re making are in line with the woman we want to become.
The astronauts didn’t plan to see Earth the way they did 57 years ago. But once they did, they couldn’t unsee it. Perspective, once gained, can’t be undone.
We have that same opportunity now.
Not to change everything overnight, but to see differently. And that’s often where real change begins.