Motivated by a Fresh Start or a Clean Slate

This essay originally appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 3/1/21.

Sometimes I wonder if I might be a “fresh start junkie.” Mondays are my favorite day of the week because of all the possibilities. I’ve loved writing previously about things like creating a mantra for summer and what I find interesting about the season of Lent. And while some people loathe them, I love the tradition of New Year’s resolutions. So much so that I usually set another round of resolutions around my birthday.

But recently I discovered some research makes me question if it’s actually the fresh start itself I’m drawn to or rather the increase in motivation that typically accompanies a new chapter.

University of Pennsylvania psychologist Katy Milkman has done extensive research on something she calls the “fresh start effect.” The basic idea is that we all have ebbs and flows in motivation, and when something feels like a “fresh start,” motivation is likely to be particularly high. And according to Milkman, New Year’s is not the only moment that gives us a sense of a fresh start. Rather, there are many moments or “temporal landmarks” throughout the year, such as a new week, a new month, or a new season, that can also feel like a fresh start and give us a boost of motivation to evaluate and consider new directions.  

This idea reminded of a strategy I read about recently in Gretchen Rubin’s book Better Than Before: Mastering Habits of Our Everyday Life. In the book, Rubin talks about The Strategy of the Clean Slate and how any beginning presents an important opportunity for habit formation as “there’s a magic to the beginning of anything. We want to begin right, and a good start feels auspicious.” She notes obvious examples of clean slates include the start of a New Year or a birthday, but a slate can also be wiped clean by changes in surroundings, relationships, or major life aspect, like a new job or graduation.

Especially on this Monday, which marks the start of a new week, a new month and – depending on your location – a new season, I find myself reflecting on these two concepts. Something I liked about both of the ideas is the acknowledgement that motivation to keep up a habit or routine is not constant. It’s a given that it will likely start off strong and taper off. Instead of being discouraged by this, I think it’s incredibly helpful. If we know when we’re more likely to feel motivated, with a little effort, we can take advantage of that window of possibility to adopt a new habit or routine we’ve been wanting to pick up.

In my own life, I’m relying on both of these ideas today. After having the wonderful opportunity to end 2020 and begin 2021 living with my family in Florida, I’m headed back to Chicago this morning. With so many factors up in the air and because I’m always sad to leave family, I really struggled with making the decision of when I should return to Chicago. However, when I saw that March 1 fell on Monday, I knew that, for me, it could be a great opportunity to harness the power of the fresh start effect and strategy of the clean slate. I knew the combination of all the fresh starts (new week! new month! new living circumstances!) would bring some enthusiasm and motivation to something I was apprehensive about.

Now that the day is here, I am excited. I’m also really glad to have the opportunity to reexamine and reevaluate my current habits and routines. I may love habits and routines more than the average person and think they are amazing tools that free us up to pay more attention to things that matter, but I also know it’s easy to slip into an auto-pilot mode of living just out of habit and not out of intent. As one of my favorite lines from Better Than Before reads, “habit is a good servant and a bad master.” 

If you feel like a recharge of motivation could be helpful, I hope you’ll join me in recognizing today as one of those “temporal landmarks” Milkman mentioned and as an opportunity to reexamine, reframe and refresh those resolutions we set a few months ago. With a new month beginning on a Monday, it just feels right. Happy Monday & Happy March!

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