With the new year approaching, have you started thinking about changes you can make to live a little bit better—a little bit happier—this year? It’s time to capitalize on the power a fresh start.
They say that when you move, you should capitalize on that moving and nesting energy in order get as much done as humanly possible—as quickly as possible. Because the tasks you save for later end up being the tasks that go undone for… ever.
Once you’ve lost that momentum, it’s hard to regain it without some sort of inciting incident (like your in-laws coming to stay with you!).
So it goes with any fresh start.
A fresh start brings a boost of energy and enthusiasm that is an incredible catalyst. It can motivate you to get things done, drop habits that weren’t serving you, and form new habits that are in line with your goals and values.
It can also bring clarity, almost as if a change in one area of your life is all you need to see the rest of it with sharper focus.
It’s the power of a fresh start.
Thankfully, a move isn’t the only event that can come with this burst of motivation and personal clarity. Other inciting events may not be as obvious and distinct as a move from one home to another—or one coast to another, for that matter. But if you look for them, they can still have big power to help you design the life you want.
An Accidental Fresh Start
A few years ago, the interior of our family car was the quintessential picture of a vehicle carrying babies and toddlers.
The door next to the baby’s carseat boasted trails of dried milk, left from bottle feedings gone sideways (literally, sideways) while on the road.
The floor was littered with stickers given to us by cashiers at Trader Joe’s, and if you ever dared to pull up a carseat, you’d find an unappetizing collection of crunched goldfish and mangled fruit snacks in its wake.
It wasn’t pretty, but our kids were young, and bottles and snacks got us from point A to point B with minimized screaming. (What more can a mom ask for?)
But as our family grew and it became time to upgrade to a minivan, my husband suggested we used the change to start some new family habits. To his great satisfaction (and our kids’ utter disappointment): no more snacks in the car.
We left the new-car plastic covering the carpet below the seats, and we started talking about the new minivan as if it were our fourth baby. 😉
You know what? It worked.
The kids caught on to our enthusiasm and we all handled the transition much better than I expected.
That accidental fresh start was exactly what we needed to help us live just a little bit more the way we wanted to live.
(That said, a snack-free car isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay! It’s just a representation of a time when a clean slate worked to our family’s advantage.)
Beyond a move and (as it turns out) the purchase of a new car, here are a few more fresh starts you can keep your eyes peeled for, because why miss the magic when you can harness it instead?
More Fresh Starts to Look For
- The start of a new school year or semester, either for you or for your kids
- A new calendar year
- A job change or promotion
- A new relationship
- Enrollment in an online course
- A completed home or office renovation
- The return home after a vacation
“By making ourselves conscious of times of beginning, we can harness these crucial moments of opportunity to forge new and better habits.” Gretchen Rubin
I’d love to hear—When have you experienced the power of a fresh start in your life?
Latest posts by Erica Layne (see all)
- Choosing a Kids Chore System that Works for You - Monday, April 10, 2017
- 10 Low-Input, High-Yield Ways to Simplify Your Life - Thursday, December 8, 2016
- 14 Beautiful Things You Can Learn from a Child - Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Leave a Reply