Start Your Year
Because we all know that setting New Years resolutions isn't working.
You want a big, delicious, and motivating plan for 2024… but it’s already February and you’re wondering if you’ve missed the boat.
Or, perhaps, the precious resolutions that you set on January 1st are already buried beneath the rubble of your life. (Alongside your dreams for last year. And the year before that.)
Or, perhaps, you are ACING 2024, running on adrenaline and excitement… but fear that those motivators will only get you so far and you’re worried about crashing andt burning by summer.
There is nothing wrong with you. It’s not too late. The year isn’t too far gone.
Your lack of motivation or willpower isn't why you aren’t able to get the shit done that you really want to get done year after year.
Knowing WHAT to prioritize, how to create sustainable commitments, and how to contribute to the world around you in the ways that you want to without burnout aren’t skills you were ever taught.
(Me neither, btw.)
That’s where Start Your Year comes in.
Have you been living your life for everyone else but you?
Hey there, I’m Mara (she/her).
I teach fellow needy humans to uncover the most vulnerable and true expressions of themselves and learn how to deeply tend to their needs.
I support people to reclaim space for their own humanity and create ambitious lives filled with meaning, without abandoning themselves in the process.
And, I can’t tell you how many years I rushed into the new year excited for a fresh start, shiny planner in hand and READY TO TAKE THE YEAR BY STORM…
This will be the time. I will finally get my shit together. I will finally make those dreams happen.
…only to overwhelm myself into an absolute freeze of inaction by March 1st.
I think we all know what happened next: The year flew by while I held on for dear life behind it, barely conscious of what I was working on while I jumped from emergency to emergency, only to end the year in a crispy burnout bonfire of self-loathing and self-judgment.
Then the year would start anew and the cycle would repeat itself. For years.
So, what’s a well-intentioned human with big plans for their one precious life to do?
For those of us in the northern hemisphere, January is an absolutely shitty time to set resolutions or make big plans.
I am fully aware that there is an entire industry devoted to pressuring us into diving in on January 1st… but, you don’t have to do things the way that other people do them.
You can genuinely make your own plans, on your own timeline.
You can, for example, wait until March to do your big year planning work, bolstered by the longer days and delicious first taste of the spring energy.
You can wipe your plate clean of everything everyone else expects from you to get crystal clear on what YOU want and need from this year of your life.
You can absolutely prioritize the things that matter to you most and figure out how to approach them in a way that is not only sustainable but downright ENJOYABLE.
And that’s exactly what we will be up to in Start Your Year.
Over the course of the month of March + right in time for the spring equinox, I will guide you through an entirely different approach for planning the rest of 2024 – one rooted deeply in both what you WANT and what you NEED.
A delicious and robust off-shoot of my popular workshop The To-Do List Makeover, Start Your Year is a small group coaching program that will urge you to focus on YOURSELF.
Your needs. Your wants. Your vision for your life. Your big, unanswered questions. Your unique preferences and ways of doing things. Your business, if you have one and choose that track. Your fears. Your strengths.
Praise for Tend
Before signing-up for the To-Do List Makeover, I had tried every planner on the planet. I love Mara’s gentle approach to dealing with real-life even when it’s not instagram-worthy. My goals were to really identify the things I needed to do and get a better plan to make things happen.
- Claire F.
Join Start Your Year to work with me + a delightful crew of like-minded folks who want to dive deep into the heart of crafting a big vision for the year ahead AND creating a tangible, sustainable plan for bringing that big vision to life.
To join this offering, I invite you to choose one of two tracks:
Start Your Year, which will focus on crafting your vision for your life + developing a plan to bring that vision to life.
Start Your Year For Business Owners adds an additional delicious session which will support you in crafting a plan FOR YOUR BUSINESS that reflects your big vision for your life, values, and needs.
join Start Your Year
3 Powerful workshops to help you hone your big vision for the year ahead & craft a plan for making it happen
Delicious prompts, practices & rituals to support you in honoring your needs & creating systems of sustainable productivity
Access to the private SYY podcast for recordings
A bespoke plan to stay connected to your vision all year long
Join Start Your Year
for business
3 Powerful workshops to help you hone your big vision for the year ahead & craft a plan for making it happen
PLUS, a transformative 3-hour retreat to make a plan for your business for the year ahead
Delicious prompts, practices & rituals to support you in honoring your needs & creating systems of sustainable productivity
Access to the private SYY podcast for recordings
A bespoke plan to stay connected to your vision all year long
Now, I know you’re the type who has tried everything.
You’ve gotten the planners. You’ve listened to the podcasts. You’ve tried the morning routines and the lifestyle hacks. You’ve tried to solve the problem by doing more. And more. And more.
And perhaps you are feeling a little crispy from all of the trying.
Start Your Year will not be just another thing to try or add to your very long to-do list.
In fact, during Start Your Year, I will invite you to do less in 2024.
The truth is that you can do (almost) anything with your life, but you absolutely cannot do everything and you certainly cannot do it all at the same time.
Start Your Year is the work of freeing yourself from the scattershot approach of pleasing the people in front of you by saying yes to whatever crops up – which is why your life is full of shit that other people want you to do instead of what you actually want to do, btw.
Let's get real, it absolutely sucks to say no, especially to things you really want to say yes to.
But, as heartbreaking as that can be, it is also a huge relief to fully settle into knowing that you’ve been sold a lemon. You can’t actually do all of the things, no matter how hard you try.
And ultimately, there is such grace and ease to be found in prioritizing deeper work vs doing All The Things.
In SYY, you will learn how to choose what matters most in the moment. And, you will work to rebuild your self-trust so that you are able to be on YOUR OWN SIDE about your choices.
It requires gentle discipline and deep self-respect to stop piling things on your plate with great optimism only to crumble under the weight of internal and external expectations… but to be clear, that approach was always a setup that all but guaranteed your failure.
(The approach itself was a failure. YOU are not a failure – though, I know that’s what it’s felt like.)
In Start Your Year, together we will make a plan for you to stop spreading yourself thin doing a bajillion things, so that you can focus on the few priorities that you most want and need to welcome into the center of your life. And, I will invite you to consider your own needs, joy, and felt experience as EQUAL TO or MORE IMPORTANT than your productivity. You’re welcome.
Praise for Tend
I am not naturally organized. I love structure, I need structure and I resist it wholeheartedly. Working with Mara captured my ideas and my heart AND also provided the structure I struggle to find on my own with wisdom, acceptance, compassion, humour and grace. Sign up, it will help.
- Tanya Levy, Heartlady
During Start Your Year, we will explore:
- Connecting with your WHY + your big vision for what life you want to say yes to this year
- Getting crystal clear on what you need to say no to in order to say yes to what you want
- Making sustainable commitments that put your needs at the top of your to-do list
- Crafting a bespoke Wheel of the Year that will illuminate the parts of the year that need more tending + when it is best for you to get shit doneeeee
You will finish SYY feeling blissfully clear, robust, and resourced, able to approach the year ahead of you proactively instead of reactively putting out fires all around you.
But, perhaps better yet, when you follow through with the deliciously humane and generous plan you’ve created for yourself, you will finish the year feeling proud of everything you’ve shown up for instead of exhausted, depleted, and regretful that you bailed on your big dreams yet once again.
Workshop Dates for Start Your Year:
Recording available immediately upon sign-up: Unearthing + Giving Voice to Your Big Vision
Saturday, March 9 | 11-1 pm Eastern: Honing Your Own Personal Wheel of the Year
Saturday, March 23 | 11-1 pm Eastern: Crafting Crystal Clear Priorities + Sustainable Commitments
Workshop Date for Start Your Year for Business Owners:
Wednesday, March 27 | 11 - 2 pm Eastern: Your Business, Your Rules
Plus, you're going to receive this powerful support from me:
- Email support access to me during the month of March
- A deceptively simple monthly ritual to touch base on our work together all year long
- The opportunity to add a 1:1 session with me at a special SYY-only price
You could muddle through 2024 and try to make it work, again. OF COURSE you could.
Or, you could dive deep to learn these essential skills in good company and make this the last year that you are flying by the seat of your pants and only finding yourself at the very bottom of to-do list after lengthy to-do list.
join Start Your Year
3 Powerful workshops to help you hone your big vision for the year ahead & craft a plan for making it happen
Delicious prompts, practices & rituals to support you in honoring your needs & creating systems of sustainable productivity
Access to the private SYY podcast for recordings
A bespoke plan to stay connected to your vision all year long
Join Start Your Year
for business
3 Powerful workshops to help you hone your big vision for the year ahead & craft a plan for making it happen
PLUS, a transformative 3-hour retreat to make a plan for your business for the year ahead
Delicious prompts, practices & rituals to support you in honoring your needs & creating systems of sustainable productivity
Access to the private SYY podcast for recordings
A bespoke plan to stay connected to your vision all year long
Your Questions, Answered
What’s the deal with the extra workshop for business owners?
Start Your Year for Business Owners has been created specifically to work with humans who already have/run a business of any type and are looking to craft a business plan for the year ahead that is rooted deeply in sustainable productivity, bespoke priorities, and a calendar of offerings that honor their own natural energy rhythms and needs over the arc of the wheel of the year.
Working with business owners in this way is a particular joy of mine, as I know personally how gloriously impactful it can be to bring more of yourself into business planning. After all, if you hadn’t wanted to build a business that enabled you to thrive… you’d be working for someone else, right?
What happens if I have to miss a workshop?
All workshops will be recorded and added to our online classroom within 24 hours. While, of course, I would love to see and support you live on the calls, I completely understand that it may not be possible or preferable to do so. This is one of the reasons why I added the month of email support to this offer. If you watch the recordings and have questions about the material, I hope you will reach out to me! I will be happy to support you.
Additionally, if you would like my personal support through this offering, you will be able to add a 1:1 session with me to your order when you check out. I no longer coach publicly, so this special opportunity is only available to people within the program.
Can I purchase just one of the workshops?
Sadly, no. While I do occasionally offer one-off workshops, SYY has been crafted to support participants through the full arc of moving from crafting a big vision to getting crystal clear on how to follow through with it. Thus, the workshops' material is interwoven and built upon one another.
Additionally, the small community in each group is a delicious aspect of this work. I have kept this offering intentionally small so that each participant might have the opportunity to feel more connected with the group and receive more support from me throughout the process.
What will I need to participate in Start Your Year?
A computer, high-speed internet, notebook + writing implement, and the desire to show up differently in order to bring more intention and self-compassion to the year ahead.
We will be doing all of the work live on the calls, thus there will be no homework to add to your to-do list. Whether you join us live or watch the recording, you can expect to spend about 2 hours a week on your SYY work for the duration of the month of March.
Will you be offering this again in 2024?
I will not! Huzzah! This is a spring equinox offer, thus, if I offer it again, it will be in March 2025.
That said, I do teach all of these concepts in my year-long circle Roost – and so much more! Doors for Roost 2025 will open up in October. You can sign up for the Roost 2025 waitlist here.