Recharge for a More Balanced 2026
Episode 533 | Author: Emilie Aries
How do you rest and recharge when life (and the world at large) feels chaotic?
How we go about transitioning into the new year looks different for everyone. I’m sure I’m not alone in planning to take a breather in December only to have it turn into my busiest month. If you wondered where the podcast went during that time—don’t worry! I’m back at it. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my own approach to recharging, and I’ve come to a few conclusions I want to share with you today.
Finding a balanced way forward
Where’s the rule that says we either have to create perpetually at the same pace or quit forever? There’s no rest and recharge when we’re stuck on the hamster wheel, so what ball can you drop? For my part, I’m working on identifying the arbitrary expectations I’ve set, like dropping a podcast episode every single week, and accepting a happy middle: focusing on bringing quality and impact with the conversations I have, rather than solely pursuing speed and quantity.
2026: my year of analog fun!
Giving myself permission to step back a bit from the grind—and from doomscrolling on my phone for hours—has given me so much more time to fill with non-digital activities, and I’m loving every minute of it. (Shout out to the BePresent app, which has been a huge help.)
By far the best analog practice I’m leaning into is being a mom to a 15-month-old and a 4-year-old, which is so cute, and so fun, and so important to be present for. I’ve been baking a lot with my son, and I’ve been reading fiction, which I haven’t done in nearly a decade! I just finished The Husbands by Holly Gramazio, and let me tell you—I could not put it down. I also have a solid list of new non-fiction books whose authors I’m excited to interview this year.
Our family is also prioritizing our personal calendar. We’re having fun planning cold and warm weather adventures, as well as the couple's retreat my husband and I take each year! All these offline practices are keeping me focused on the good stuff, and my mental health is better for it.
Detaching without ignoring reality
A break from doomscrolling means detaching from the endless barrage of downright frightening news about our country’s politics and everything going on on the global stage. All this scary stuff comes with a sense of powerlessness, and while I want to push to take collective action and stay engaged in what’s going on, constant news bombardment just isn’t good for us. So, that’s my other goal right now: to hold a healthy detachment from horrifying current events while practicing gratitude for the amazing people and opportunities I have in my life. I’m trying to find the right balance moving forward that still allows me to educate myself on these ongoing crises without feeling completely overwhelmed by them. If you have any guidance on what works for you - I’m all ears!
So tell me: how has the start of the year been for you? What are you hoping to hear and read here in the Bossed Up community? I’m on the other end of every email, so don’t hesitate to hit reply and let me know how I can serve you better. Lately, the Facebook Courage Community has faded a bit (just as well—Zuckerberg doesn’t need our attention), so you can also hop on our LinkedIn group to share, see, and be seen.
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[INTRO MUSIC IN]
EMILIE: Hey, and welcome to the Bossed Up podcast, episode 533. I'm your host, Emilie Aries, the Founder and CEO of Bossed Up and happy new year. Is it too late to say happy new year? Probably.
[INTRO MUSIC ENDS]
Although it's ironic because this episode was scheduled for December, and I had every intention of podcasting right through the end of 2025. And the topic of this episode has been and was always going to be, how I'm recharging as we head into the new year. And then ironically, December ended up being one of the busiest months of the year. And I not only had no time to recharge, I had no time to podcast about recharging because how hypocritical would that have been if I, if I'd been podcasting about the ways that I'm relaxing into the new year? And instead, actually December was like chaos. It didn't happen.
And that's actually my number one update for y'all is I'm still here. I started to get some messages from my most die hard podcast supporters and I so appreciate your loyal listenership. You know, I have up until this past quarter produced every week on the week, like, on the Tuesday with such stringent regularity. It's sort of my uptight type A, Virgo-ness showing. And nobody was really holding me to that deadline except myself. I podcasted well ahead of my maternity leave. So the last time around unlike the first time around, but the last time around with baby Jo, I had released episodes every single Tuesday throughout my maternity leave after podcasting like mad the summer before.
And in the, something in the last quarter really shifted for me. I finally saw this project, the podcast, as less of like a binary black and white thing. Like, should I keep going or should I quit? It's so intense. Like, the schedule I had myself on was starting to really feel challenging just because of how busy I've been. Mom of two, basically, with two full time jobs, right? Running Bossed Up and the full time in house leadership development specialist position I took on almost two years ago now. It's a lot. It's a lot.
And I've seen some big podcasters in this space recently quit, like Jenna Kutcher. I don't know if any of you have followed her show or her work. She kind of focuses more on the entrepreneurial space than I do, but she quit her podcast. And I get it. Like, I get it. There is peace in getting off the content hamster wheel. And I am particularly dismayed by big tech and social media. Like, I just cannot bring myself to get into the short form video stuff. Even though I know I watch a lot of short form video and I understand the virality to it, I understand the potential for reach there. And I just feel like social media has become a negative for society. I really think it's like bad for us.
And I'm trying to reshape my relationship to big tech, my relationship to like doom scrolling in the age of a dystopian nightmare that we're living through. Politically, it's just not good. So I'm getting myself detached, offline. And I just don't believe in doing anything to put more dollars in the pocket of Mark Zuckerberg or more eyeballs on Instagram. I just can't do it. I can't get into it, I can't get behind it. And so, I've been really like wrestling with what to do about all of that because I love this community. I love our little corner of the Internet, I love the podcast, I really do. I love podcasting and I love our email list. And like, that to me is our space, not social media, which is not our space. That's borrowed space, right? That's just us being the product for advertisers. And I just don't feel good there.
So anyway, I've been wrestling with this and I've really found a very beautiful and balanced way forward. And here's what it looks like. Not making my schedule all the time. Like not making my once a week production schedule all the time. And so I was just joking with Irene, the fabulous programs manager we have here at Bossed Up. We had brunch last week to kind of kick off the new year and reflect on 2025. And I said, how funny is it that the podcast I scheduled and just didn't have time to record for December was all about recharging and resting into the new year. [LAUGHTER]
And so my answer to how you recharge and rest, as I did myself going into 2026, is to quit some s***, like, drop the f****** ball. Drop the ball that you deem like most able to live without for a moment. And it doesn't mean you're quitting forever. That's what really shifted for me. I felt like if I missed week, I might as well just throw my hands up and, and ditch the whole podcast forever. No, it does not need to be that way, you know? And so for me, resting and recharging into the new year meant going dark on this podcast for a couple of weeks in December. Hopefully you enjoyed your holidays. I don't really think that's like the most podcast listening time of the year anyway.
To me, the holidays are like the mom Olympics around here. So I was booked and busy with fun, with family time, with like offline time, with recharge time, with like deepening my deepest relationships time. And I was busy and booked for business. And so I just, I think it's okay to give myself and all of us listening permission to just choose what we're going to not do. And that's true for going into 2026 too. So if I'm less predictable on the schedule, that's why. If I'm not in your inbox every single Tuesday morning, that's why. And like, also, who cares? I don't think you're waiting at the keyboard for my email and podcast to drop necessarily.
So if you, if you notice that things here are becoming a little more sporadic. That's why. And now that I've said that, maybe I'll produce every single Tuesday morning like always and you'll never notice, but I just think there's some serious liberation in detaching from the outcome a little bit and reminding myself, okay, the quantity and like speed with which I produce podcasts is not the goal here. It's the quality of the conversations, it's the quality of the takeaways, and it's the impact that these conversations have on you and on all of us that brings me back to the mic every week or, you know, every other week, depending on what's going on.
So here's how I actually recharged in the past few weeks because I did. And I'm feeling really good going into January, going into 2026. Personally, even though I feel really not so good about the state of the world. I'm also coming off week like, eight of head colds because it's JoJo's first winter in full time daycare. Yay for JoJo, but boo for all of us because man, she is sick all the time. The immunity of that first winter is just unrivaled. Like the immunity boosting constant chronic illnesses. The poor baby's been, had some kind of illness since Thanksgiving and so my voice has been like, also sporadic since Thanksgiving.
But what have I been doing? Okay, I've been having a lot of offline fun. I'm not interested in being glued to my phone. I've mentioned here before that I have a terrible Instagram doom scrolling habit. And so I installed this app, I like, paid for an app. I felt like I had to put some money on the table to like, actually will myself to do this, called Be Present. And I've actually found it to be pretty helpful. I'm on like day 36 or so of limiting my Instagram scroll time in a very big way. It's made a huge difference. I can feel it on my mental health.
I also replaced some of that time with reading fiction. I haven't picked up a fiction book in I, I want to say like a decade. And I was at the library with my kiddos, where I go very regularly, shout out to Denver Public Libraries, which are incredible. And I was picking them up some books and I thought, why not me? So I had a nice little chat with our librarian and she made this recommendation for an awesome fiction book called The Husbands, based on the librarian's recommendation. She said people have been raving about it. It's a, it's a novel. The first novel by Holly Gramazio and holy s*** y'all, I was glued to that book. I have been reading non stop and I, like, couldn't put it down. It was like the most heart pumping, exciting, funny, surprising book I've read in ages.
And I just finished it last night and I, like, I still am thinking about it, I'm still talking to Brad about it, and I'm hooked. I'm like, ready for this to be a year of reading fiction again. I need a little escapism and TV is just not quite cutting it, you know what I mean? Like, I'm sort of sick of the cliffhangers. I'm sick of the, the whole goal of every television show now. It feels like it's just to keep you addicted to having the next one. Like a slot machine almost. And I just don't like that feeling. And so I found a lot of joy in reading for fun. And I'm, um, of course reading some nonfiction for the podcast, and excited about some new titles coming out that I can't wait to interview the authors for, for all of you.
But just like bringing my eyeballs offline has been the best feeling. I'm also baking more than I've ever baked before, which at elevation here in Denver is pretty tricky to figure out. And really fun. It feels like a scientific experiment. Max, my 4 year old, is so into cooking and baking. He's like my little assistant by my side. And even Jojo is pretty good at stirring. And it's just been a lot of offline analog fun. My little sister Izzy is crocheting for the first time. And she and I have been joking that, like, this year is all about analog, offline, joy and that there's some rebellion. There's something revolutionary about unplugging from big tech and saying I will, I refuse to give my attention to big tech. I refuse to give my money via the form of my eyeballs to Instagram and Facebook perpetually. I just can't do it. LinkedIn to me feels a little different. I really like LinkedIn, but you know what I mean, like, it's just, it's just not good for me.
And so what I've been spending a lot of January thus far doing is just thinking big and dreaming big for the new year ahead. I started with my personal calendar. I think I've podcasted about this before. I don't know when, years ago now. But to me, one of the most revolutionary shifts in recent years was starting the new year by really reflecting first and foremost about what personal adventures I want to have, what vacations do I want to have, what like even staycations do I want to put on the calendar first and then put work all around that.
So I've been spending the last few months doing that. We just booked our first ever ski vacation for, as a family of four for spring break. Max has been figuring out skiing, which has been really fun thanks to Brad's help teaching him. So I'm really excited about that in March. And then we've got some bigger plans for the summer that are coming into focus. Brad and I are gearing up for our annual couples retreat, a self imposed 24 hour escape locally where my parents, bless them, shout out to Mamé and Puma. These are their given names that they chose. By the way, the grandparent titles they went for was Mamé and my dad went for Puma. You'll have to ask him what that means sometime. But, they're coming over and they're babysitting our two little kiddos for 24 miraculous hours, which is exciting.
Brad and I are sneaking out to a hotel downtown and we just like are creating some expansive space for us to reflect on our values on the past year and on what we are dreaming and scheming about for the year and years ahead. It's an annual thing we do and it makes such a big difference.
And then I'm just like generally trying to be gentle with myself. It feels like the world is stressful enough and I don't know, for the first time in my life, I'm really embracing survivalism. Like, to me, surviving is thriving right now. Like, I feel really good about focusing locally and focusing, like, kind of like what's, it's not even that I'm reducing my ambition. That's not necessarily what I'm saying. I'm just really remaining grounded and grateful for what I already have. Because I have a lot of great things in my life that I do not take for granted in a time of massive upheaval, in a time of massive hardship, and in a time of, like, really scary uncertainty.
And so I want to hold both of those truths. I want to be grateful for what I have. I'm grateful for this business and this community. I'm grateful for my family's health and wellbeing and the adventures that we're having that are like small, cheap fun. You know what I mean? I'm so enjoying motherhood right now. Having a one and a half year old, almost a one and a half year old, she's 15 months and a four year old, is just such a joy. Yes, it's exhausting. Yes, Jojo doesn't really sleep through the night yet, which is f****** wild. But man, they're so funny. They're so fun. It's like she's coming up with new words every day. Max and her are learning to play together and fight and wrestle, and it's just like, it's just the cutest season of my life ever. And I'm just really, really enjoying it without holding myself to such high standards, you know?
And so I don't know what this is. Maybe motherhood does that to you. Maybe motherhood, like, helps people like me who are like, super type A and high achieving, like, kind of fixated on outcomes. It's just really helped me unclench a little bit. It's like helped me detach a little bit and just be really in the moment, which I'm so grateful for. And I want to hold that truth right alongside not tuning out the hardships of the world, right? I'm not saying I want to bury my head in the sand. I'm just like, recognizing that my individual ability to affect the self scary, massive shifts that are happening in our, like, global stage right now is limited.
Like, I do feel a little powerless and I want us to feel more powerful and I want us to take collective action. I do. But I'm also, like, not going to torture myself in the meantime. I'm not gonna. I can't be so plugged in to the news. I'm sure many of you feel the same way. I just can't. And we've talked about this before in the podcast, but it's just not good for me. So right now we're surviving, and surviving is thriving. And being clear about what you want and like almost being realistic about being grateful for what you already have.
And as you think about what you want next, like, that's what I'm trying to drive home here in the podcast this year. While continuing to serve job seekers, promotion seekers, raise seekers like, leaders on the rise. Like continuing to serve the women like you who listen to the show, who are fighting the good fight, who are advocating for yourself at work and beyond. Because it's not easy out there. It really isn't. It is not an easy season, especially for job seekers. So we have, as a reminder, tons of free resources on the website at BossedUp.org I will link to in the show notes today our free job search resources, our step-by-step negotiation guide, our leadership resources. There's tons of good stuff out there, not to mention 500 some odd podcast episodes to listen to. And we're going to keep doing that. I'm going to keep showing up and producing high quality content because that's why I'm here and that's why this community is so powerful.
So I want to hear from you, like, what are you looking for? If you could ask me anything, what would you ask me on the show? Like, how can we, how can I serve you? Because, right now I'll be totally handed. Irene and myself, we're coming up with some topics and show ideas and things to cover for the weeks and months ahead. And I'd love to hear your suggestions. So as always, my inbox is open at emilie@bossedup.org, or we can always keep the conversation going on our LinkedIn Group, Bossed Up, and of course in the Courage Community on Facebook, which by the way is kind of wilting because Facebook sucks. [LAUGHTER] Like, I get it. Like, I'm just like not trying to be so attached there. So just know that my email inbox, like my email program where we have 10,000 subscribers on our email list, like there are so many of you who get that email every Tuesday and beyond, like just replying. There is a powerful way to communicate with me as well.
So know that I read every single email that comes in and the LinkedIn Group is probably a good place for us to connect professionally with one another as well. But I hope for you a gentle start to the new year as well. I don't know if you are into Astrology like I am, and I have only become more into it in recent years. But if the stars tell us anything, it sounds like we're in for it this year. It sounds like there's some revolutionary stuff coming our way, particularly in February. So I'm kind of just, like, tying up loose ends, battening down the hatches, remaining grateful for what I have and focused on what I want and, like, nothing more, right? Like, just, like, giving myself permission to rest, giving myself permission. Permission to have some analog forms of fun and really stay present in my life.
[OUTRO MUSIC IN]
And I, I wish that for all of us. So tell me how the start of the new year is treating you. And as always and forever, let's keep bossin’ in pursuit of our purpose, and together, let's lift as we climb.
[OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]
