January has a way of making even the most optimistic people feel behind. The calendar flips, the decorations come down, and suddenly we’re surrounded by messages telling us it’s time to reset, optimize, and become a better version of ourselves immediately. After weeks of holiday gatherings, disrupted routines, late nights, indulgent meals, and emotional highs and lows, that pressure can feel overwhelming rather than motivating. The promise of a “New Year, New You” quickly turns into burnout, especially when resolutions are built on exhaustion instead of intention (or built on the idea that we need change at all). Add in the winter darkness, packed schedules, and the quiet letdown that often follows the holidays, and it’s no wonder motivation feels elusive.
If you’re struggling to find momentum right now, it doesn’t mean you’re failing the new year. It means you’re human, recovering from a season that asks a lot and leaves little room to rest. Sometimes motivation returns not through discipline, but through rest, reflection, and choosing one small shift that helps you feel a little bit more like yourself again. Below are a few books to hopefully rekindle your inspiration.
Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg
Tiny Habits is an antidote to the all-or-nothing mindset that makes New Year’s resolutions so fragile. Instead of relying on motivation, which is often depleted after the holidays, BJ introduces a behavior-change framework built around simplicity, ease, and self-compassion. The book emphasizes that lasting change comes from actions so small they feel almost effortless, like flossing one tooth or taking a single deep breath.
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
This book is a deep exhale for anyone who feels crushed by the pressure to “do better” in January. Brené explores how perfectionism, shame, and comparison quietly drain our motivation, especially when we’re trying to reinvent ourselves overnight. Instead of pushing self-improvement, she encourages self-acceptance, showing that motivation grows more sustainably when rooted in worthiness rather than fear.
Drive by Daniel H. Pink
Daniel dismantles the myth that motivation comes from pressure, rewards, or rigid goals. Instead, he explains how autonomy, mastery, and purpose fuel sustainable energy. If traditional resolutions feel hollow or draining, this book helps you understand why, and how to reframe motivation in a healthier way.
Start with Why by Simon Sinek
When resolutions feel disconnected from meaning, this book helps realign goals with purpose. Simon explains that motivation flows naturally when actions are rooted in values rather than external expectations. This book is ideal for reevaluating why you set certain goals in the first place.
Wintering by Katherine May
This book speaks directly to those moments when motivation disappears, and the instinct is to panic or push harder. Katherine reframes low-energy seasons (both literal and metaphorical) as natural, necessary periods of rest and recalibration. Drawing from memoir, nature writing, and cultural history, she shows that withdrawal, quiet, and stillness are not failures, but forms of survival and renewal.
Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
Burnout explains why so many people enter the new year already depleted. Rather than framing exhaustion as a personal shortcoming, this book explores the science of stress, emotional labor, and societal expectations that quietly drain motivation. The book offers practical, research-backed strategies for completing the stress cycle, restoring energy, and reconnecting with joy while offering validation for your feelings.
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
This book is meant to be opened on hard days and does not need to be read straight through. A collection of short reflections, lists, observations, and gentle reminders, it offers moments of calm when motivation feels unreachable. Matt writes with warmth and honesty about anxiety, sadness, hope, and the quiet beauty of ordinary moments.
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Reframing creativity not as output or productivity, this book focuses on ways of being present in the world. Rick draws on decades of experience to explore how intuition, attention, and openness fuel creative energy. For anyone feeling blocked, uninspired, or disconnected at the start of the year, this book offers a quiet but profound shift in perspective. It reminds readers that motivation often returns when we stop forcing results and instead reconnect with curiosity and awareness.
As we turn the page into 2026, our readers submitted their favorite reads of 2025. Here are a few of the books submitted: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (by far the most recommended so I’m picking it up next!), The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict, Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert, and Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall.
Featured in the January 10, 2025 issue of The Independent
