December can feel like shaking an Etch A Sketch.
Routines loosen. We pause. We reflect. We’re surrounded by people, emotion, memory, and meaning. For a moment, it can feel like we’ve set some things down.
"This isn’t the moment to boil the ocean. It’s the moment to make small, intentional shifts.."
Scilla Andreen
CEO of Impactful Networks
And then January arrives.
School resumes. Work picks back up. The pace returns. And quietly, the same thoughts, feelings, and habits we carried last year begin to creep back in.
The truth is, the holidays don’t erase what we’re carrying.
They interrupt it.
And interruption, when we notice it, is an opportunity.
Why January matters more than we think
January is a rare window when awareness is high and patterns haven’t fully locked back in. Before we slip back into autopilot, we have a chance to do something different—not everything, just something.
This isn’t the moment to boil the ocean. It’s the moment to make small, intentional shifts.
The power of micro habits
Real change doesn’t come from sweeping overhauls. It comes from micro habits—small, repeatable actions that slowly change how the brain responds to stress, emotion, and challenge.
When we understand even a little bit of brain science, something empowering happens. We begin to see that thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations aren’t separate. They’re one connected system. And when we make small adjustments in one area, the whole system responds.
These small actions create awareness first.
Understanding next.
And healthier patterns over time.
We often call these brain hacks—simple tools that help interrupt old patterns and build new ones without overwhelm.
And here’s the hopeful part: anyone can learn this.
- A five-year-old.
- A teenager.
- A parent.
- An educator.
- A wise ninety-nine-year-old.
Meeting people where they are
This is the work we do at Impactful Networks—creating and providing mental health education for youth, families, educators, and employees that meets people where they are.
Not only in moments of crisis.
Not only at the margins.
But upstream—inside classrooms, homes, and workplaces—before someone falls in the river.
Because when we invest in prevention, we don’t have to spend all of our energy fishing people out later.
Building stronger foundations, one small shift at a time
Over the past year, we’ve been building what we call Voyages inside our Creative Coping Toolkit. They’re designed to make this kind of learning simple and accessible—small doses, low lift, easy to return to.
No guessing where to start.
No pressure to do everything.
Just guided ways to build healthier patterns, one step at a time.
A new year doesn’t mean a clean slate.
But it does mean the story is still unfolding.
And January is a powerful place to begin building something stronger—through small, repeatable habits that last.
Why we do what we do -- it's for all of us.
If you’re looking for simple, science-based ways to support students, families, educators, or employees right now, our Creative Coping Toolkit was built for exactly this moment. It helps turn awareness into habit—one small shift at a time.
Scilla Andreen, CEO & Founder Impactful Networks