Beginnings are opportunity. 

Many of us stare at a new beginning in the coming days. Wrapped in changing schedules, a return to school, or a relocation. Maybe all of the above. Many of us now exit a sort of hibernation phase. For many of us, this has been the longest ever disruption to our usual routines.

These opportunities mark valuable chances to set precedent and reinforce habits from the ground up.

Sometimes we pick New Years Day or the first day of school. Most calendars declare Mondays their own sort of new beginning. Do we dread them or revel in their possibility?

Deciding on a fresh start can happen any day and any time of year. It is as simple, yet ominous, as deciding on a new course and taking action. Follow-through is nearly everything.

You can predestine future success if you approach this time thoughtfully. You can live the life you want now if you decide to today.

Gather Supplies (and toss out the junk)

When you decide a new beginning lies before you, take stock of the tools you already have for that journey.

For these new beginnings, we are far from tabula rasa. The blank slate is more concept than practice. We approach a new undertaking with whatever running start we had coming into this phase. Sometimes it is the good kind of running start—the boost that great habits like proper sleep schedules or a healthy diet give us. The bummer about habits is we often carry some into new pursuits as baggage guaranteed to slow our progress and hinder our success.

Consider the best things you have going in your daily routine. The habits that amount to your well-being. Can they continue into this new beginning? How might you augment them? These will serve as your grounding rod on the journey to come.

We are not done. Look hard into habits that crept their way in and do you no favors. They are different for each, but we all have them. This may be the hard part and that is okay. Root them out ruthlessly, these patterns, these ways of going through your day that are more hindrance than help. 

Then toss ’em. Put ’em out by the curb. Cut the cord, disconnect the cable, and board up the entrance so those habits won’t come along with you for what is ahead. It’s time for progress.

Starting Line

As Bob Dylan said, “The times they are a-changin’.” 

All the same, beginnings are fraught. If we approach them the wrong way, we lack a means to build momentum. We stall. We may wield good intentions while remaining stationary. This is why the outset is tenuous. It carries possibility for sure. Oodles of it. Energy is sky high for the newness of what lies ahead.

But, we also need to set our course scrupulously early on. We want to aim toward a specific way of being, if not a specific outcome. Once that is clear, we still need to take the first step. Consider the trite saying about a journey of a thousand miles. Many people stall out before that critical first step. I’ve been there. Starting is hard. But, worth the effort. There is another saying about a road paved with good intentions.

Live It Today (don’t put it off)

If you crave change, explore what living your daily life in that changed state will actually look and feel like. You don’t have to wait for future you to reach an imaginary future life. Try it on for size. Take it for a spin. Striving for a new state or a new life is less about getting somewhere than about living that way right now. I heard the neuroscientist Sam Harris remark in an interview, “You can’t become happy. You can only be happy.”

If you admire the idea of starting each day in silent meditation or a yoga session, I bet you can pull that off starting tomorrow morning. See if that is you. Maybe it changes your life or makes for a better day. Finding out is free.

It sounds almost too simple. How do you exercise daily, play fewer video games, or eat more vegetables? You do it by, here it comes… exercising daily, playing fewer video games, or eating more vegetables. Simple doesn’t always mean easily done. Nor is it guaranteed. But, simple does mean the barrier to entry is often lower than we realize. 

There are a million courses, crutches, or tips to help us grow. Sometimes the most direct route is best. You do by acting as if. Grow your conversational skills by conversing and your culinary skills by cooking. If public speaking terrifies you, please know this is almost universal. So is our habit of succumbing to the spotlight effect. No one cares more about our own discomfort than we do. Is remembering this helpful? It can be.

Brené Brown reminds us, “You learn to swim by swimming. You learn to courage by couraging.”

One and the other

Beginnings are opportunity. Embark on yours today with the tools you can use having left those that are unwieldy or unhelpful behind. Chart your course around living and behaving with integrity and kindness rather than a singular future outcome that will dictate success or failure. Then move forward.

Chart a course and start walking today.

Figure out your big adventure and leap.

Realize the critical conversation you crave deep inside and create that dialogue. You are more prepared than you know and freer than you realize. Make the most of one day, put it behind you, and make the most of another. Good beginnings lead to good lives.