Tap Into Cycles: A Different Take on New Year’s Resolutions
By Nebulum
From The Nebulum Podcast, Episode 14
It’s the beginning of a new year, and if you’re like most people, you’re probably thinking about resolutions, fresh starts, and what you want to change about your life. But what if the traditional approach to New Year’s resolutions is fundamentally flawed? And what if there’s a deeper, more natural way to think about change—one that’s rooted in cycles rather than arbitrary dates?
In this conversation, we explore what the New Year really means, why natural cycles matter, and how to create lasting change that actually resonates with who you are.
The Significance of the New Year
When asked what the New Year means to him, Grant admits he’s not the type to strictly adhere to tradition. “I think I’m more inclined to feel like it’s just another day or something like that,” he says. But he acknowledges that it’s impossible to ignore the collective significance everyone else places on it.
Zale points out something deeper: cycles are fundamental to human experience. “Even before we had the Gregorian calendar, we operated in this world by noticing the patterns of cycles—the rising and falling of the sun, the seasons passing. This is how we understood how to migrate, how to plan agriculture. We’re not separate from the environment.”
One revolution around the sun isn’t arbitrary. It’s a literal new cycle beginning. And that brings a certain weight to the moment—a natural invitation to reflect, reset, and renew.
The symbolism runs deeper too. Winter has traditionally been thought of as a kind of death—leaves fall, some plants die, the world slows down. In that context, the New Year becomes a slow emergence back into the birth of spring. Our cultural celebration of New Year’s likely carries echoes of ancient traditions tied to these seasonal transitions.
The Problem with Tying Beginnings to Specific Dates
While cycles have natural significance, Grant raises an important caution: “I don’t like tying beginnings to particular dates because then it makes me wait for that date.”
We’ve all experienced this. “Oh, I didn’t do it this year. I guess it’s next year again.” Or “I didn’t do it this Monday. I guess we’ll have to start on Monday again.” Or even, “Well, it’s 3:32. I have to wait till 4:00.”
This mindset can be paralyzing. It gives away your power to arbitrary markers, making you dependent on external conditions to begin something important.
Grant prefers to reflect and set intentions not just at New Year, but also on his birthday and “whenever I feel lost and I need to get back into it.” The key is maintaining the ability to start fresh at any moment, rather than waiting for permission from the calendar.
The Power of Collective Ritual
That said, there’s real power in collective ritual. When an entire society marks a moment together, it creates a kind of energetic momentum that’s hard to ignore.
Zale reflects: “If we do it together, it’s kind of like we amplify each other’s intentions in a way. There’s this collective energy and excitement about new beginnings.” It’s a form of resonance—when individual waves align, they create something bigger.
This is why New Year feels different from any random Tuesday. The collective belief that “this is a time for renewal” creates an actual experience of renewal, even if the date itself is somewhat arbitrary.
The key is to leverage this collective energy while not becoming enslaved to it. Use the momentum when it’s there, but don’t let its absence stop you from making changes when they’re needed.
Reflection Over Resolution
Rather than jumping straight into resolutions, Zale emphasizes the importance of reflection first. He shares his New Year practice: taking time to revisit memorable moments from the past year and asking himself what patterns emerge.
“I write down, okay, what do I want more of? What do I want less of? And let that be my compass for moving forward in this new cycle.”
This approach roots your intentions in actual lived experience rather than abstract ideals. You’re not chasing some imagined version of yourself; you’re amplifying what already brings you alive and reducing what depletes you.
The Importance of Enjoyment
One of the most overlooked aspects of building new habits is this: you have to enjoy it.
Zale puts it bluntly: “If you don’t enjoy it, then the moment you’re no longer disciplined, it’s gone.”
Discipline can carry you for a while—maybe weeks, maybe even months. But eventually, life will throw you a curveball. You’ll get sick, or busy, or distracted. And if the only thing keeping you going was willpower, the habit will collapse the moment willpower falters.
But if you genuinely enjoy the thing? “You’ll keep doing it,” Zale says. “You’ll find a way back to it even when life gets messy.”
This doesn’t mean every moment has to be pleasurable. Exercise can be hard. Writing can be frustrating. But somewhere in the practice, there has to be something that genuinely calls to you—something that feels right, that fills you with meaning or joy or purpose.
Grant builds on this, sharing how lifting became inherently fulfilling for him once he recognized it as “an act of gratefulness to life.” It’s not just about building muscle; it’s about “maximizing the opportunity that life gives us to have a body.”
When you connect an action to something deeply meaningful, the practice itself becomes the reward.
Systems Over Goals
Both Grant and Zale emphasize thinking in terms of systems rather than just goals.
As Grant explains, if you set a goal like “I want to lose 15 pounds,” you’re setting yourself up for a binary outcome: you either achieve it or you don’t. And what happens after? Do you stop? Do you keep going? The goal doesn’t tell you how to live.
But if you build a system—”I’m going to work out three times a week”—you create a sustainable way of being. The system becomes the thing, not the outcome.
Zale references James Clear’s Atomic Habits: “You want to build an identity. You don’t just want to achieve a goal.” You want to become the kind of person who works out regularly, not just someone who worked out until they hit a number on the scale.
The goal might give you direction, but the system is what carries you forward day after day.
Navigating the Cycles of Motivation
One of the most honest parts of the conversation comes when they discuss motivation. Because here’s the truth: motivation isn’t constant. It waxes and wanes like the moon.
Zale describes his own experience: “There are periods where I feel less motivated, and I always ask myself, is it healthy to force it? And I find sometimes the most healthy thing is to not force it and just take a break.”
This is crucial. We’re taught to push through, to be relentless, to never stop. But that’s not how natural cycles work. There are seasons of expansion and seasons of contraction. There are times to push forward and times to rest and integrate.
Grant adds that when he does feel less motivated, he doesn’t abandon the practice entirely—he just reduces it. “I’ll still go to the gym, but I’ll just do 20 or 30 minutes instead of an hour.”
This is the art of consistency without rigidity. You honor the cycle, you give yourself permission to ebb, but you don’t let the thread break completely.
The 80/20 Rule and Giving Yourself Grace
Grant introduces the concept of the 80/20 rule: aim to show up 80% of the time, but build in space for the 20% when life happens.
“If you’re trying to be perfect all the time, you’re setting yourself up to feel bad about yourself,” he says. “And feeling bad about yourself is not conducive to building a habit.”
This is such an important point. So often, we think the key to discipline is being harder on ourselves. But actually, self-compassion is what allows us to keep showing up.
If you miss a workout, don’t spiral into shame. Just notice it, adjust, and come back. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s consistent return.
Environmental Changes as Catalysts
Toward the end of the conversation, they discuss the power of environmental changes to create fresh starts.
Grant shares research from flow state studies: when your attention starts to wane, “changing your position or changing your environment completely can give you another boost.”
His mom recently moved her bed, and “that gave her so much energy because she felt like her room was a completely new, fresh place.”
Cutting your hair, rearranging your desk, even changing where you sit while working—these small shifts can create a sense of newness that reignites motivation.
This is why moving to a new city, starting a new job, or going through a major life transition can feel so energizing. The environment shift signals to your brain: this is a new chapter. It’s an opportunity to become someone different, to establish new patterns.
You don’t need to wait for life to force these changes. You can create them intentionally.
Tapping Into the Cycles
As they wrap up, Zale offers a beautiful summary: “Notice the cycles. Tap in and leverage the cycles. That’s how we resonate, right? When we match a wave, you get resonance.”
This is the heart of it. Life isn’t linear. Growth isn’t linear. We move in spirals, in rhythms, in seasons. When we try to force ourselves into a straight line, we create unnecessary friction.
But when we learn to notice the cycles—in nature, in our energy, in our motivation—and when we learn to work withthem rather than against them, something shifts. We start to move with more ease. We start to feel more alive.
That resonance, as Grant puts it, “inherently fills us with meaning, joy, purpose—all the things that make life beautiful.”
Journal Prompts
They leave us with two powerful prompts to reflect on:
From Zale: Take a moment to reflect on your most memorable moments from the past year. Write them down. What patterns do you notice? What do you want more of? What do you want less of? Let that be your compass for moving forward in this new cycle.
From Grant: If you have any New Year’s resolutions or dreams, do some deeper reflection. Don’t just focus on the outcome—focus on the cycles you want to create. If it’s working out, how will you fit it into the cycle of your day? How will you navigate through the waxing and waning of your motivation?
And one more: Reflect on what’s intrinsically fulfilling for you. What activities or practices fill you with meaning, regardless of any external outcome?
Final Thoughts
The New Year isn’t magic. The date itself doesn’t hold any special power.
But the collective pause it creates—the invitation to reflect, to recalibrate, to dream—that’s real. And the natural cycle it represents, one full revolution around the sun, that’s real too.
So yes, use this moment. Leverage the energy. Set intentions. Dream big.
But also remember: you don’t need to wait for January 1st to begin again. Every morning is a new cycle. Every breath is a fresh start.
Tap into the cycles. Work with them, not against them. Find what’s intrinsically fulfilling. Build systems, not just goals. Give yourself grace when you waver.
And most importantly, enjoy the process. Because if you don’t, what’s the point?
Here’s to a fulfilling year—not because the calendar says so, but because you’re choosing to live in resonance with the rhythms of life itself.
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You're Setting Goals Wrong...
The Nebulum Podcast · EP 14 · 46 min