Issue #5: Your New Year’s Resolutions Start Today
Let’s use these last weeks of the year not just for closing out, but for opening up.
If you follow lunar cycles, you’ve probably heard the full moon phase occurs over a period of about 3-5 days. While the moon’s complete fullness technically occurs only for a brief moment in time, the energy of the full moon is considered particularly influential over the two to three days leading up to the crescendo of its full illumination from the sun, as well as a few days after. When it comes to leveraging the full moon’s potent power, we are encouraged to take action both before and after its grand entrance.
I couldn’t help but think of the moon while watching a few friends ready themselves for the New York Marathon. In the months, weeks, and days leading to November 6, I witnessed a beautiful energetic build-up. The increasing intensity and commitment to training. The big day. And the lingering energy and drive to keep running even after they crossed the finish line.
We experience this same rhythm when it comes to welcoming the new year. Those last 2-3 months of the year, we start thinking about tying those loose ends, getting final work out the door, clearing space for a better you, better business, better life come midnight December 31st.
But there’s something missing here.
All this pre-New Year’s prep? This is akin to preparing for a marathon by doing everything but the training. You can clear your calendar for marathon weekend, buy new running shoes, and carbo-load to your heart’s content. But all of that will make very little difference if you aren’t actively practicing for the performance you are promising to yourself and the world.
You would never start a marathon without training, would you?
So why do we fall into the trap of setting New Year’s resolutions without any prior testing or practice?
We tend to see the New Year as the starting point for new habits and mindsets. And there is certainly a magic in the resetting of the calendar and opening a fresh day planner to 1-1-23. But it will be all the more powerful if you show up already having initiated this shift.
Studies show that 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by February. Let’s flip this.
This year, use these last weeks not just for closing out, but for opening up. Think: how might you start stretching your New Year’s muscles now? The New Year brings an assertive energy to crush it, dominate, and go full force revolutionary. But the key here is: conviction before commitment. You are far more likely to stick with your resolutions if you already know they are going to work for you.
Don’t worry if you don’t know what your resolutions are yet.
If you don’t know what your resolutions, goals, or word/theme for the new year will be, that’s totally ok! I certainly don’t :) This post is not a call to action to get your shit figured out. Rather, it’s a call to start warming yourself up. Start by observing where you are now and what you would like to see change in the next year. Even just setting an intention to identify your goals can make a world of a difference. I know it’s kind of meta...but it works! Encourage your thoughts to explore, and your resolutions will reveal themselves in time.Do a test-run of your intentions.
What your resolutions look and feel like in the mind, don’t always match up to how they present in the real world. I made this mistake a few years ago when I signed up for the nearby YMCA, thinking I would surely take advantage of all their exercise resources at such a reasonable monthly membership rate. By March I was done with it—disenchanted by the facilities and lack of rigor in its yoga programs, and back to square one. All that is to say: if your resolutions require going to new places, seeing new people, or using new materials, take the time now to find the right fit. What this looks like: finding the gym or yoga studio that inspires you every time you walk in; trying different volunteer groups to find the one that feels like a second family; cultivating the writing environment that’s comfortable and supportive to your craft and your goals.Start making the shifts in your schedule and budget now, for success in the future.
This isn’t about 100% commitment. It’s about building the muscle memory, and getting your brain to start thinking about these things more actively. For instance, if you declare next year as the year you go #plantbased maybe this means more frequent home cooking. Maybe it means following a new route home from work to pick up fresh produce for dinner, or rethinking your weekend schedule to incorporate a trip to the farmer’s market. Perhaps this requires outsourcing grocery shopping and meal delivery—and making room for that in your budget. The same goes for any activity: morning writing, work-free weekends, taking a music class, or anything else you’d like to welcome in the new year. Time is a finite resource. When you set the intention to welcome something new or different in your life, often there needs to be a complementary shift to accommodate that change.Reflect and refine your New Year’s goals.
After all your test-runs and shift-making, revisit your original intentions. Do they still ring true? Are there ways you can get even more specific, to create the results you really want? Maybe a resolution to “get more organized” really means “pack school bags and prepare lunches the night before.” “Enjoy nature more” might transform to “explore the woods with my dogs on the weekend.” The benefit of starting early is being able to iterate sooner and quicker. This brings out a more authentic embodiment of your new year vision.
It’s a tall order to ask your future self to upend their life in the name of some well-intended New Year’s resolutions. It’s a common psychological tendency that we believe we will be more mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially equipped in the future to handle the resolutions we set in the present. But that won’t be true unless you start doing the actual work now.
And the number one reason to start your resolutions early? There’s less pressure if you start now. You don’t need to declare it to the world. You just need to start with yourself. Here’s a chance to do something more aligned with your values and heartfelt desires, than be wrapped up in the social pressures to commit to a “new year, new you”
Every day is a new chance to start fresh. You can accomplish a lot between now and the end of the calendar year, even with just a few shifts. Let me know how it goes 🤍