Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 42 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Fresh start
— From WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Dan Pink
July is the start of the second half of the year. Where did the first half go? It evaporated!
How did you do? Did you move forward in your goals? What did you accomplish? Where do you need to change course? Where do you need to start again?
I did very well in some areas and, frankly, I’m not proud to admit that I had no progress whatsoever in others… (!). But I must accept and learn what went well and what didn’t, so as to course-correct and move forward.
Tama Kieves, in her book A Year Without Fear, says “Focus on your present chances, not your past disadvantages. Are you repeating history by repeating the story of your history? The past is over. It’s a new dawn. It’s a new you. There are infinite chances to reinvent yourself. The past is over.”
As we move on with the rest of the year, today is one of those infinite chances to reinvent yourself. So, how about starting again in this second half of the year with those goals that stalled somewhere between January and June?
Dan Pink, in his book WHEN, says that “Just as we human beings rely on landmarks to navigate space—‘To get to my house, turn left at the [gas] station’—we also use landmarks to navigate time.” These dates are called temporal landmarks.
Further, some people use these temporal landmarks to start anew, and this is called “the fresh start” effect. Pink explains, “ To establish a fresh start, people [use] two types of temporal landmarks—social and personal. The social landmarks were those that everyone shared: Mondays, the beginning of a new month, national holidays. The personal ones were unique to the individual: birthdays, anniversaries, job changes.”
“Temporal landmarks interrupt attention to day-to-day minutiae, causing people to take a big picture view of their lives and thus focus on achieving their goals.”
Pink offers a list of 86 days in the year that are especially effective to make a fresh start:
- The first day of the month (12)
- Mondays (52)
- The first day of spring, summer, fall, and winter (4)
- Your country’s Independence Day or the equivalent (1)
- The day of an important religious holiday—for example, Easter, Rosh Hashanah, Eid al-Fitr (1)
- Your birthday (1)
- A loved one’s birthday (1)
- The first day of school or the first day of a semester (2)
- The first day of a new job (1)
- The first day after graduation (1)
- The first day back from vacation (2)
- The anniversary of your wedding, first date, or divorce (3)
- The anniversary of the day you started your job, the day you became a citizen, the day you adopted your dog or cat, the day you graduated from school or university (4)
- The day you finish [reading WHEN] (1)
ACTION
TODAY: Decide to make a fresh start on those goals that you want to get done this year. Today is the beginning of the second half of the year and a Monday too. Happy temporal landmarks!
FUTURE: Pick a few temporal landmarks between now and the end of the year to check in on your progress. That way you can always course-correct, pivot or start anew, remember that there are infinite chances to reinvent yourself.
Know someone who could use a fresh start today? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!