Reset button
RE: your well-intentioned, often-abandoned goals
The world has two favorite reset buttons: Mondays and Januarys.
“I’ll start on Monday” is the anthem of so many well-intentioned, often-abandoned projects.
And even though the phrase “New year, new me” is thrown around sarcastically, a small part of us genuinely believes that January 1st has the magical power of giving us a fresh start. We can wipe ourselves clean from 2024 and try again with a clean slate.
But while we wait for January, we put our lives under a microscope in December. We evaluate every aspect of what we’ve achieved in the last 334 days. We take our list of regrets and failures and reframe them into next year’s resolutions — “save more money”, “find a romantic partner”, “eat healthier”.
December is for reflecting, January is for doing.
December is for counting our shortcomings, January is for trying again.
December is for wishful thinking that next year will be better, January is for making that dream into a reality.
It’s no wonder why most resolutions are abandoned in a matter of weeks – we put so much pressure on January to right the wrongs of a whole year.
So here’s my proposal: Instead of waiting for January, hit the reset button in December. Instead of waiting for a Monday, try again on a Thursday.
Make a random Saturday night in March as meaningful as January 1st.
Restart as often as possible, shamelessly, because there’s only a handful of Mondays and Januarys in our lifetime to keep waiting for a fresh start.