Hi Leader,
January 9 has earned itself a name.
Quitter’s Day.
The day studies show more than 50% of people have already quit their New Year’s Resolutions.
If you are anything like the people I’ve worked with over the years, that probably makes you laugh. Because quitting is not an option for people like us. So when I heard today was Quitters day, I thought…for who?
If I had to guess, quitting on Jan 9th is not your issue. Overcommitting is.
So here is where Quitter’s Day actually gets interesting.
If you caught my newsletter earlier this week, we talked about how January does not start clean. It starts in motion. You picked up this year exactly where you left off last one. Same responsibilities. Same pressure. Same unfinished business.
And by January 9, that reality is no longer theoretical.
Most leaders are not starting the year fresh.
They are starting it tired.
Because you did not leave last year neatly behind on December 31. You carried it with you. The conversations you avoided. The decisions you delayed. The situations you told yourself you would deal with “after the holidays.”
And right about now, it is catching up.
That low-grade burnout that started creeping in around November did not disappear. It just went quiet long enough for you to push through year-end. Now the calendar has flipped, and the weight is still there.
That is why Quitter’s Day hits differently for people in our positions.
It is not about giving up on goals.
It is about realizing you are still carrying last year’s baggage into this one.
And here is the part most people miss.
The problem is not that you are doing too much.
It is that you are carrying too much that no longer belongs to you.
Responsibilities that made sense in a previous season.
Commitments you never reassessed.
Weights you picked up because you were capable and never put back down.
That is what overcommitment actually looks like at this level.
So when you think,
“I am holding it together, but something feels off,”
that is not weakness.
It is your system telling you something needs to be released.
Because leadership does not break down when people quit too early.
It breaks down when they hold on too long.
And that is where good leadership quietly turns costly.
When Good Leadership Quietly Turns Costly
The story I shared in the video is uncomfortable for a reason.
What started as good leadership slowly crossed a line. Coaching turned into compensating. Patience turned into protection. And instead of reassessing, I kept carrying responsibility that no longer belonged to me.
That is how misplaced commitment forms.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
And by the time you feel the weight, it has already been costing you.
Your clarity.
Your credibility.
Your momentum.
Good leadership does not usually break in one moment.
It erodes through unexamined loyalty.
Why Your Brain Starts Pushing Back
Here is where neuroscience matters.
Your brain is constantly scanning for alignment between reality and responsibility. When those drift apart, tension builds. Not because you are failing, but because something is out of sync.
That tension shows up as:
Mental fog
Slower decisions
Frustration that feels out of proportion
A constant sense of drag
That is not burnout yet.
That is your brain signaling that awareness is lagging behind responsibility.
And unfortunately, ignoring it does not make it go away. It just pushes the cost somewhere else. Into your energy. Your judgment. Or your team.
The Leadership Audit That Changes Momentum
Quitter’s Day should not be about giving up.
It should be about stopping long enough to ask better questions before a breaking point forces them.
Not emotional questions.
Evidence-based ones.
What am I carrying that no longer aligns with the role I am in now?
What does the data actually say, not my intentions?
If I keep this commitment for another year, what will it cost the team and the business?
Those questions are not disloyal.
They are responsible.
Strong leaders do not avoid hard decisions.
They avoid unnecessary delay.
They understand that staying committed to the wrong thing is not loyalty. It is misalignment. And misalignment always shows up somewhere else. In culture. In performance. In trust.
So instead of asking, “What am I quitting this year?” ask the question that actually changes momentum:
What am I ready to stop carrying so I can lead with clarity again?
That answer is often the turning point.
Next Steps While You Wait for the Next Edition
If this conversation surfaced something real for you, here are a few ways to keep moving forward without piling on more.
Stay connected.
Make sure you are subscribed so you do not miss what is coming next. And if you want guaranteed access to future paid editions when they return, this is a good time to upgrade your subscription.
If you lead people, ask yourself this:
Are you protecting growth, or protecting patterns that no longer serve the team?
If that question lands, take the Leadership Assessment. It is designed to surface where awareness and responsibility may be out of sync.
→ Find Your Leadership Type
If influencing or selling is part of your role, ask yourself this:
Are your commitments accelerating trust, or quietly slowing decisions down?
If that feels familiar, take the Sales Assessment to understand how your approach is being experienced today.
Watch my free sales training.
If influence feels harder than it used to, this training breaks down what has changed and how to adjust without relying on pressure or outdated tactics.
→ Register for my free sales training
👉 Bring Me Into the Room
From founder teams to Fortune 500s, I work with organizations ready to replace fear with trust and turn culture into a competitive edge.
This is not about quitting what matters.
It is about letting go of what no longer does.
I will see you in the next edition.
Stephanie
