I'm not saying summer could change your life...but also, maybe.

Five brain-backed reasons to make summer your reinvention era

I’m writing this huddled up in a hoodie with socks on my feet. It’s 34 degrees (celsius) outside, but the ‘feels like’ says 38, and it’s not even 9am yet. The only sanctuary from the heat is the malls, where bikinis and summer dresses hang in the shop windows even though the beaches are empty. The parties and events have dried up. Families have escaped for the school holidays. And those of us remaining who work desk jobs are inside, shivering in the A/C trying to keep the humidity at bay.

This is what I find most disorienting about summer in Dubai. That in many ways it actually feels more like winter.

I didn’t realize how much it was affecting me until I was in a coaching session with one of my clients this week. He lives in Europe, and was sharing how much better he’s been feeling as the days have been getting sunnier, and the evenings longer.

Tasks he’d been putting off are now coming more easily, and things feel like they’re finally clicking.

“I wouldn’t say I get seasonal depression in the winter,” he said, “but I do feel noticeably better now that it’s summer.”

I, on the other hand, feel the opposite. I’m fighting for my life to keep up the habits I know are good for me. And if I’m honest, with my routine upside down, I’ve been feeling unusually unmotivated, more isolated, and a little lost.

As we wrapped up the session, I checked in: “Is there anything you think could be a challenge in the progress you’re making?”

“Just keeping it up I guess,” he said. “The ups and downs of staying motivated, especially given how draining my day-to-day can be. But these past few weeks, I’ve been more able to counterbalance that.”

Which is not a coincidence.

We usually look forward to summer as a season of more rest and play, which it is.

But it’s also a powerful opportunity for the kind of clarity and action that can change our lives, if we understand how to make the most of the motivational wave.

Because everything we’re talking about here reflects a simple truth:

Your ability to make aligned decisions depends on your nervous system state.

In other words: Regulation supports reinvention.

Momentum feel easier when your brain is more resourced to imagine, plan, and act.

So if you’re lucky enough to be basking in those delicious summer vibes, here are five neuroscience-backed reasons why this is the perfect season for your reinvention era.

1. More sunlight = more serotonin = ⬆️ mood & motivation

With the days start earlier and ending later, you start getting more sunlight exposure, even if you didn’t change anything about your daily routine. You’re also more likely to spend more of your social time outside. Think walks in the parks, al-fresco lunches or reading on your balcony.

All that extra sunlight boosts serotonin, our “happy hormone”, which improves mood and motivation, making it easier to start the things we’ve been meaning to do.

Add in the boosted Vitamin D, and we’re more energised to keep going.

2. Our nervous systems are more regulated

So many of the things that shift us into our parasympathetic nervous system, our “rest and digest” mode, are so much more available and feel more effortless in the summer. Time with friends, outdoor activities, warmth, movement, beauty.

This is the state where cognitive flexibility, creativity and connection all live. Summer helps us open up again, see things differently, and make us more likely to start taking those first steps.

3. Slowing down sharpens our intuition

With many people in and out on vacation, summer is also usually a built-in slow season. We have lighter calendars, longer deadlines, and more weekends away.

Summer gives us space to think. We have less urgency, and more headspace.

We’re more likely to notice and listen to the things we often push aside the rest of the year, when the daily grind feels more relentless. There’s also more space for your brain to wander, which is when it’s more likely to make new connections and surface new ideas.

4. You’re already disrupting your routine

Autopilot is one of the biggest enemies of progress in your career. Client after client has confessed to me in discovery calls that they’ve known for a while that they need to make the change that they’ve come to work on, but just never got around to it as they trudged through their day to day.

Eventually it took a crisis to force them into reevaluating their options and making different decisions.

The good thing about summer though, is that it shakes up that autopilot. More gently, and with more fun.

Whether it’s vacations, festivals, summer hours, friend’s weddings, long lunches, kids out on school holidays, or even just everyone else out on vacation - summer shakes up the autopilot of work life.

And that break in rhythm serves a pattern interrupt to the automatic neural pathways of your routine, and creates the space for you to identify and integrate new ones.

5. Your dopamine menu turns into an all-you-can-eat buffet

With more light and earlier wake-ups, summer stabilises dopamine - the brain’s reward and motivation chemical. Add in all the stuff we’ve already discussed and the fact that you’re probably doing more movement (hikes, swims, walks) and spending more time in nature, even if it’s just your local park, and your system has access to a richer menu of nourishing dopamine hits.

Because there’s all these other juicy things to do, your screen time is also probably lower than in winter, which also helps stabilise your dopamine without the peaks and crashes that scrolling gives you.

So, if there was ever a time you’re ripe for a burst of motivation, it’s now.

But just like the most memorable summer moments, it’s fleeting.

Don’t let the window pass you by.

P.S. Here are three practical ways you can use your summer vibes to kickstart your reinvention era.