The ‘Fresh Start Effect’: Why Successful People Set Goals in September – & How To Do It
Summer has come to an end… September’s here and, suddenly, there are just four months left in 2024. Putting aside the big question – where the hell has the year gone? – now is the perfect time to take advantage of that ‘back to school’ feeling and end your year on a high.
While January may be the most well-known month for goal setting and behaviour change, September has huge untapped potential. As chartered psychologist Dr Kimberley Wilson explains, our brains react instinctively to this time of year: “Throughout our childhoods (our main period of development) September was the time when we started a new school year, where we faced fears, took on new challenges and ‘stepped up’.” As the days begin to shorten, your brain has an “implicit memory, that, after the relative slowdown of summer, it ‘expects’ us to gear up for September”.
While January may be the most well-known month for goal setting and behaviour change, September has huge untapped potential. As chartered psychologist Dr Kimberley Wilson explains, our brains react instinctively to this time of year: “Throughout our childhoods (our main period of development) September was the time when we started a new school year, where we faced fears, took on new challenges and ‘stepped up’.” As the days begin to shorten, your brain has an “implicit memory, that, after the relative slowdown of summer, it ‘expects’ us to gear up for September”.
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Katy Milkman, author of How To Change, refers to this as the ‘fresh start effect’ – a passage of time that your brain associates with an ‘old you’ becoming a ‘new you’. It creates the feeling of wiping the slate clean and is a powerful motivator. As Milkman writes: “People are more open to change when they feel they have a fresh start.”
So, let’s use it to our advantage and see how we can get you from where you are now to where you want to be... Here are five actionable, coaching steps I take with clients (and use myself) to define or re-define goals when September rolls around.
Life Coach Lily Silverton’s 5 Steps To Setting Life Goals
- Define Your Priorities – My starting point with any client is their priorities and values. These are the people, things, activities and ideas that you deem most important. Taken together, they dictate how you live your life (both day-to-day and overall). They’re your foundation. So, start by writing down: what’s important to you?
- Don’t Try To Do It All – Focus on one or two goals and choose them by evaluating all the areas of your life: career, family, health (mental and physical), social, finance, spiritual, etc. Consider and rate each area on a scale from 0-10 (0=terrible, 10=perfect). The answers will help you see where to prioritise.
- Think Outside The Box – Remember that self-development and behaviour change takes many different forms. Don’t just focus on physical health or work, consider how a new hobby or a commitment to staying calm under stress could impact your happiness overall. Find meaning behind your goal and you’ll be more likely to achieve it.
- Create A Pyramid – Once you’ve picked a goal, jot down a pyramid shape on a piece of paper. Write your ultimate goal at the top (along with when you’d like to achieve it), then underneath in the bulk of the pyramid, break it down by writing the sub-tasks, micro goals, habits and priorities that’ll help you get there.
- Hold Yourself Accountable + Celebrate The Wins – However you do it, a buddy system or a tracking app, staying accountable to your goal and priorities makes all the difference. And please remember to congratulate yourself along the way! Small, steady steps are the only path to real progress and achieving your goals.
Above all, don’t get discouraged. It’s OK for your goals to shift and change, and for you to adjust accordingly – if needed, move one of your smaller, more manageable ‘micro goals’ from Step 4 to the top of the pyramid and work towards that first instead. Remember to keep one eye on your priorities and the meaning behind your goal – it’ll help you to keep riding that ‘fresh start’ high and achieve something new and exciting before the year is out.
Lily Silverton is a life and mindset coach and the founder of The Priorities Method
