Happy New Year, dearest reader! 🎉 It's so good to be back and it's good to have you here. 🤩
I think anytime I decide to go on a writing break, I need to consider a come back plan. Else I risk not returning at all.
About the holidays
I had a well-rested Christmas break even though I had to work and plan for 2024. I slept a lot but was also on the move. I was trying to have a balanced life - and if you ask me, I'll say I tried. I went to 2 places - one with an old friend and the other, a new one - all in the space of one week.
Another highlight of my holidays was receiving a message and call from 2 dearest readers, saying how they were looking forward to my next piece. That warmed my heart. There was one person who wrote an essay explaining how the blog posts resonated with him and made an impact. I was over-joyed and wanted to cry.
Anyway, how did you spend your holidays? Did you have a full break or you had 3 days? Did you do anything you hardly do or have never done? (You can share with me in the comments - I'd love to hear them.)
The new year
So we're in a new year. 2024.
Honestly, I think I froze when we entered the new year. I became blank and numb. I can't tell why and I don't think I was in high spirits - even now. I'm just okay.
In 2023, I planned my year in Notion and created a vision board in Canva. I did same this year too. Things are a bit more organised this year and slightly different.
For instance, for my vision board, instead of just having words like I did last year, I tried to have the words on one side and the images portraying the words on the other. It's perfect!
The image below is the template I used. I changed the colour theme, pictures and moved the photo collage to the left and had my goals in their various categories at the right. You can get Creative Pixi's free vision board template here.
Plus, I finally transferred my weekday time blocks on Apple Reminders to my Outlook Calendar (so I can have both personal and work reminders in one place - and synced across my phone and PC).
I think I now have a process I'll replicate every year. This means less time on planning and organising. Proud of myself.
I want to document my process and if I succeed, I'll consider sharing it but it may take time. So you may probably get it next year or whenever it's ready. 🤣 It could be earlier, don't mind me.
Do I have anything for you this month?
Not really. It's quite hard putting my thoughts together (since I've been away) but I want to talk about The Fresh Start Effect.
The Fresh Start Effect
The fresh start effect is when people feel more motivated to pursue their goals at the start of a new time period, such as a new year, new month, or new week.
According to Jason Hreha The Behaviorial Scientist, this phenomenon is attributed to the psychological association of new beginnings with a clean slate, providing an opportunity to leave past failures behind and start anew.
I believe the definition speaks for itself.
What I'll add is that it's okay to say New Year, New Me. Or to want to be better at the start of every new year, quarter, or month. It is normal. If it’s not, why then do we even reflect and plan if we're not looking for change or trying to be better?
I don't remember explicitly saying new year, new me in any year. However, I'm also not against it. What I do instead is to say the new year is like a new chapter in my life. So it's also a fresh start for me. It's another chapter in my story. And it's totally okay to want to do things differently and even start anew.
While I will not advice to always wait for new time periods to come before you try to be better, it's okay to want to be better at the start of new time periods due to the fresh start effect. Additionally, you can leverage every new week, month, or quarter. So you don’t necessarily have to wait for a whole year even though that's what's common.
Every day is another opportunity to learn and grow. Today is one, and you can start now.
I hope you have an excellent month and new year!
Cheers,
D.
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