What is this Effect?

New Year, New Me…

The Fresh Start Effect is a tendency we have to set goals and aspirations at significant landmarks in our lives. It is best exemplified by the yearly affair of setting New Year's resolutions.

Most people do not follow through on their resolutions.

However, on average, a higher percentage of people keep to the goals they set compared to other periods of the year. This means that it's still a net positive phenomenon.

Other examples include the first day of a new job, the start of a new week or month, or a relocation to a new country. We can all make use of this effect for personal growth.

Its Downsides

On the other hand, if you already have certain goals or aspirations you are working towards, fresh starts can have the opposite effect — it causes you to stray further from what you were working towards.

Do you know our tendency to want to ‘keep the streak going’? Fresh starts create a kink or disjoint in that sense of progress which can cause us to lose motivation to keep up a particular habit.

To counteract this, we simply try to avoid perceiving the change as a fresh start. Instead, view it as just another day, or just another phase of life, it’s nothing major. This smooths out the ‘kink’ in our sense of progress, turning it into a continuous timeline which we are more likely to uphold.

My Experience

I moved to New York last week and will be here for an entire year. As someone that has never stayed overseas for an extended period of time, especially not on my own, I see this as the best opportunity for me to set goals and use the change in my environment for personal growth. However, I’m also feeling stressed about having to keep up with my different habits.

I was asked yesterday if there was anything I wanted to leave behind e.g. mindsets, people, habits. My answer to the question was that I didn’t want to leave anything behind but instead wanted to build upon what I already had. While I didn’t realise it at that time, reflecting on it now, I realise that I’ve subconsciously been trying really hard to avoid the negative fresh start.

Honestly, I’m really struggling to write the article this week. But as the title hinted, I’m ‘forcing’ myself to do it. I think what has really helped me has been to reference the past articles I’ve written to remind myself of why I started writing in the first place.

So I think it may help to recall the initial motivations you had for starting any habits or projects. If upon reflection you realise that your previous motivations no longer apply to the ‘new you’, then you really shouldn’t force yourself to do something you inherently have no desire to.

What is this Effect?

New Year, New Me…

The Fresh Start Effect is a tendency we have to set goals and aspirations at significant landmarks in our lives. It is best exemplified by the yearly affair of setting New Year's resolutions.

Most people do not follow through on their resolutions.

However, on average, a higher percentage of people keep to the goals they set compared to other periods of the year. This means that it's still a net positive phenomenon.

Other examples include the first day of a new job, the start of a new week or month, or a relocation to a new country. We can all make use of this effect for personal growth.

Its Downsides

On the other hand, if you already have certain goals or aspirations you are working towards, fresh starts can have the opposite effect — it causes you to stray further from what you were working towards.

Do you know our tendency to want to ‘keep the streak going’? Fresh starts create a kink or disjoint in that sense of progress which can cause us to lose motivation to keep up a particular habit.

To counteract this, we simply try to avoid perceiving the change as a fresh start. Instead, view it as just another day, or just another phase of life, it’s nothing major. This smooths out the ‘kink’ in our sense of progress, turning it into a continuous timeline which we are more likely to uphold.

My Experience

I moved to New York last week and will be here for an entire year. As someone that has never stayed overseas for an extended period of time, especially not on my own, I see this as the best opportunity for me to set goals and use the change in my environment for personal growth. However, I’m also feeling stressed about having to keep up with my different habits.

I was asked yesterday if there was anything I wanted to leave behind e.g. mindsets, people, habits. My answer to the question was that I didn’t want to leave anything behind but instead wanted to build upon what I already had. While I didn’t realise it at that time, reflecting on it now, I realise that I’ve subconsciously been trying really hard to avoid the negative fresh start.

Honestly, I’m really struggling to write the article this week. But as the title hinted, I’m ‘forcing’ myself to do it. I think what has really helped me has been to reference the past articles I’ve written to remind myself of why I started writing in the first place.

So I think it may help to recall the initial motivations you had for starting any habits or projects. If upon reflection you realise that your previous motivations no longer apply to the ‘new you’, then you really shouldn’t force yourself to do something you inherently have no desire to.