January Newsletter

How to prepare to COME ALIVE in 2025 (I promise I didn't intend for that to rhyme...)

Happy New Year!

I still can’t believe it’s 2025… When I imagined this year as a child, I envisioned a Jetson-style utopia where we all had robots as housekeepers and travelled through pneumatic tubes. Instead, we’re still driving gas-guzzling cars and cleaning our toilets by hand. Oh well, it gives us something to look forward to right…?!

Anyways…

If you’re like me, and it takes you a few weeks to acclimatize to a new year after the whirlwind holiday season, I have good news: according to human design, the New Year doesn’t technically start until January 22nd when the sun transits into gate 41. Personally, I find this idea quite comforting because it takes some of the pressure off to hit the ground running on January 1st.

In this month’s newsletter, I will expand on our collective journey toward the Rave New Year and how you can tap into this potent window of time to lay the proper foundation for the year to come.

This month is all about figuring out what makes you come alive. In other words, what makes you feel high on life — like you’re exactly where you’re meant to be, exactly when you’re meant to be there, doing exactly what you were meant to do?

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, it’s easy to set goals that sound impressive on paper — or on Instagram: lose 10 pounds, read 20 books, meditate daily, do a sober January, etc.

And there’s nothing wrong with these goals. They’re just a little vanilla. Plus, they’re often the result of a mental calculation: if I do this, then I’ll feel ____.

Achieving these goals will make you feel a temporary boost in dopamine, but it will be just that…temporary. Because when the initial high wears off, you’ll realize that nothing else has changed. You’re no closer to living your dream life. The “goal” you were chasing was simply a pretty penny that will quickly lose its shine.

If you want to unlock a new level of aliveness in 2025, it’s not about the goal(s) you set, but about why you set them.

You can read 20 books, but it’s not going to satisfy a generator or make a projector feel successful unless reading these books brings you in greater alignment with your design. Because only then will it make you come alive.

So how do you set goals like this, you might be wondering…? That’s exactly what I’m going to help you discover this month. If you want the step-by-step formula, be sure to join my Purpose by Design challenge which starts on Sunday, January 5th. Otherwise, following along on social and Substack for more inspiration on how to come alive this year.

As I shared in the introduction, the Rave New Year starts on January 22nd when the sun enters gate 41. This gate is known as the only “start codon” in human design and the gene keys…in other words, it’s where everything (including our literal gene sequencing) begins.

The four gates the sun transits through between now and the third week of January all serve to prepare us for this new beginning.

Currently, the sun is transiting through gate 38 (until January 5th). This is the gate of struggle, and it asks us to find meaning in our trials and tribulations. It encourages us to reflect on what is worth fighting for and connect to your higher purpose. This is an excellent time to consider where you might be struggling, and determine whether that struggle is in or out of alignment based on your strategy.

On January 6th, the sun moves into gate 54, the gate of ambition. This is when you may start to feel your focus shift. Instead of reflecting on the past or status quo, you will look ahead at what you want to achieve this coming year and what you want to be recognized for by your community.

Gate 54 is often accompanied by a pressure to perform (it lives in the root after all). Allow yourself to indulge in the extra momentum, but remain intimately connected to your inner authority. It can be tempting to compromise on your internal guidance system when you’re presented with exciting opportunities to level-up and transform, but these opportunities will only result in fulfillment if they’re truly aligned for you.

Next, the sun moves into gate 61 on January 11th. This is the gate of inner-knowing and truth. It encourages us to reflect on why our ambitions and goals for the new year are important to us. But it’s not about rationalizing our intentions. It’s about trusting that you feel called to achieve certain things for a reason. It’s about honoring your body’s wisdom without needing there to be a logical explanation for it.

Finally, the sun enters gate 60, the gate of acceptance, on January 17th. Gate 60 is the great change-maker in the bodygraph. But change is often inspired by obstacles. Because limitations require creative solutions. So, before we officially move into a new year, gate 60 pushes us to acknowledge and accept our limitations so we might innovate around them.

And that brings us to gate 41, the gate of contraction. Don’t be fooled by the gate’s title…gate 41 really represents the potential for expansion. It’s the gate of the dreamer, the visionary, and — in my observation — the entrepreneur. It’s driven by (root) pressure to build and take action towards your big, audacious, sometimes fantastical dreams. It’s that fresh, inspiring new year’s energy we're all waiting for.

So, be patient. Don’t rush the process. Embrace every stage of the journey between now and January 22nd and I promise that you will feel ready to embark on a new cycle.

Every January, I pick a word to symbolize the energy I want to embody in the next 12 months. It helps me hone in on what I want to prioritize in this particular season of life — and it’s a lot easier to remember than a long list of resolutions.

This year, to no one’s surprise, my word is ALIVENESS. So, I made a list of all the things that make me come alive, as a reminder of what I want more of in 2025. Here’s my list so far:

• Moving my body.

• Making core memories with my kids.

• Eating food that feels nourishing & vibrant.

• Translating human design into simple, easy-to-implement strategies that empower people to create their dream life.

• Trying new things that nudge me outside of my comfort zone.

• Sunset beach walks.

• Quality time with my people, ideally going deep and chatting about life, love, and everything in between.

• The moments I forget I’m a mom who needs to be “responsible”.

• Getting dressed up and dancing all night.

• Traveling to new places.

• Listening to live music.

• Helping other people embrace and live out their purpose.

What would your list include?

Hands-down, the most common question I get is a variation on: “What can my human design chart tell me about my purpose?”

The answer is quite a lot…as long as you know where to look!

In my Purpose by Design Challenge, I will help you translate your chart into a purpose statement and use it to set more aligned goals for your relationships, career, and lifestyle.

If you want to discover what makes you come alive and make 2025 your most fulfilling and transformative year yet, I invite you to join us. We start this Sunday, January 5th.