In How to Change, Dr. Katy Milkman tells us:
“An ideal time to consider pursuing change is after a fresh start. Fresh starts increase your motivation to change because they give you either a real clean slate or the impression of one; they relegate your failures more cleanly to the past; and they boost your optimism about the future. They can also disrupt bad habits and lead you to think bigger picture about your life. Fresh starts can be calendar dates that mark new beginnings (a new year, season, month, or week), birthdays, or anniversaries. They can also be triggered by meaningful life events, such as a health scare or a move to a new town. And finally, resets—when the metrics you’re using to track your performance are set back to zero—can also offer fresh starts. Although fresh starts can jolt you into positive change, they can also interrupt you when you’re on a roll, reversing your progress, so beware. A particularly effective time to encourage other people—employees, friends, or family members—to pursue positive change is after fresh starts.“
I love the idea of fresh starts. Dr. Milkman discovered fresh starts after Google approached her about the best time to encourage employees to start healthy habits.
Consider this: If you embrace a fresh start each month, you give yourself 12 opportunities a year to initiate change. If you start anew each week, that’s a whopping 52 chances a year. And if you opt for a fresh start each day, you’re looking at a staggering 365 opportunities a year for positive change.
Can you think of an upcoming fresh start day or event you would like to take advantage of?
