Work with Your Season, Not Against It

Jan 19, 2026

They map life into five productive seasons—sowing, fallow, tending, pruning, and harvest—and explain the risks that come with each. Seven distinct kinds of rest are introduced and tied to recovery needs. Practical rhythm advice shows how a Weekly Preview helps you name your season and pick the right next step.

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ANECDOTE

Illness Forced A Pause

Marissa described catching a severe respiratory virus on January 1 that delayed recordings.
She used that experience to illustrate how life seasons sometimes force us to pause responsibilities.

ANECDOTE

Family Medical Scare And Recovery

Joel shared that his daughter Naomi had an adverse reaction to medication resulting in a hospital stay.
The experience was frightening but ended well once the correct diagnosis and treatment were found.

INSIGHT

Align Actions With Your Season

Life has natural seasons and aligning actions to your current season yields better results.
Fighting the season's grain creates unnecessary friction and poorer outcomes.

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Would you plant flowers in December—or plan a ski trip in June? Probably not. But many of us do the equivalent with our goals: we try to force outcomes that don’t match our actual capacity, energy, or reality. In this episode, Marissa and Joel walk through five “seasons” you may find yourself in—sowing, fallow, tending, pruning, and harvest—plus the hidden danger in each one and the most effective response. You’ll also learn seven distinct kinds of rest and how to use the Weekly Preview to identify your season and take the right next step.

Key Takeaways

The Year is Full of Seasons. There’s a natural ebb and flow to life, not just nature. Acting like it’s spring when you’re actually in winter won’t help you. Name the season you’re in and orient around what’s true right now, not what the New Year says.
Sowing Season: Choose Focus Over Frenzy. When you’re ready to start new opportunities, the danger is starting too many things while motivation is high. The fix: pick one or two goals that actually move the needle and let the rest wait.
Fallow Season: Rest on Purpose. After a sprint (or a crisis), your system needs recovery. Choose the kind of rest you actually need—physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social, or spiritual.
Tending Season: Reconnect to Vision. Don’t let “business as usual” make you forget why you started. Keep your why in view so you don’t drift off course.
Pruning Season: Prevent Ineffectiveness. Just like plants, we become less fruitful when we’re trying to do too much at once. Pruning helps you create margin and center your energy where it can have the greatest effect.
Harvest Season: Choose Boundaries (Fight FOMO). Momentum is great—overextension isn’t. Decide what must happen now, what can wait, and when the sprint ends.
Align Your Plans and Your Season. During your Weekly Preview, name your season, watch for its danger signs, and plan your week accordingly. Work with the grain, and you’ll get fewer splinters.

Watch on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/QpzDeHQIjmw

This episode was produced by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound