Hello, First nameIt's November!
Does the beginning of a new month feel like a fresh start to you?
When I was little my Dad would often be arriving home from a night shift as we woke up, so at the start of a new month along with my brother and sister we would race downstairs to be the first person to say ‘White Rabbit’ for good luck. I have strong temporal associations with firsts of the month.
We also had a kitchen calendar that hung on the wall with birthdays, parties and other special dates written on, every year one of us would get to choose the calendar for the following year, another example of a strong temporal associations.
The fact is today we we have fewer fixed visual monthly markers in our homes, in our kitchen we have an electronic screen and speaker that rotates between the time and links up to the family calendar. Do new months still have a psychological impact on us?
Yes, if new months and special dates conjure up strong associations for you, they are good places to make a fresh start. Research shows that these new month or special day associations help us create lasting change, and it's why New Years Resolutions create great starting points for some people (more on our individual quirks of lasting change in my November Newsletter!). The first of the month is a good a time to get started on goals if you are feeling stuck.
Our temporal associations with new months and special days have an additional motivating effect, it helps our changes become ‘sticky’. I'll be chatting to Marketing and Business expert, Niki Huchison about goal setting and making the most of our special dates on a special date of my own, my birthday! join us on 11th November at 11:30 (IG link here).
If you don't want to wait until then, and have a new month goal to get started on, let's chat.
p.s. A word of caution, if you've been on a roll recently, creating a false fresh start can do more harm than good, keep doing what you are doing.
