THE FRESH START EFFECT
“You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.” Mary Pickford
TEMPORAL LANDMARKS AND THE FRESH START EFFECT
New Year’s Day is a significant date or point in time which behavioral scientists refer to as a temporal landmark. Other examples of temporal landmarks include: (1) momentous life events (e.g. birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries), (2) social timetables (e.g. the start of a new week, month, or season) or (3) significant public events (e.g. national elections, yearly rituals or annual memorial and dedication services).
Katherine Milkman, Hengchen Dai, and Jason Riis are the behavioral scientists who are famously known for their collaborative research on the “Fresh Start Effect“. According to the trio, experiencing temporal landmarks may produce a psychological phenomenon known as the “Fresh Start Effect” which is when people become more motivated or inspired to change, pursue new goals or adopt new habits. Their work also revealed how temporal landmarks also help to create a psychological distance from past failures while simultaneously increasing optimism.
Popular changes that people typically seek as part of a “Fresh Start Effect” often involve: making health improvements, recovering from a failed relationship and/or exploring a new career. However, despite its good intention, the “Fresh Start Effect” can become a double edged sword if one does not set realistic goals. Consequently, small slip-ups are treated like complete failures thus causing one to rapidly return to old dangerous and destructive habits.
HABITS VERSUS RESOLUTIONS AND THE FRESH START EFFECT
“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” —Carl Bard
At the beginning of a new year, making new year’s resolutions often become a very popular topic of discussion. Making New Year’s resolutions is also connected to the “Fresh Start Effect”. However, making resolutions alone doesn’t mean that one will conquer their desired goals. Consequently, instead of focusing on making New Year’s resolutions”, there are some healthcare professionals, like Dr. Caroline Leaf, who believes that part of the goal making process should be to focus more on creating good habits.
Dr. Leaf is a clinical neuroscientist, mental health expert, best selling author and host of an award-winning podcast (The Dr. Leaf Show). She is also a trailblazer in conducting pioneering research in neuroplasticity, which focuses on retraining the brain through the formation and strengthening of neural pathways through repeated activation.
Dr. Leaf is widely known for her 21-Day Brain Detox program known as “The Neurocycle”. The program is a science-based course that is designed to help people rewire their brain and change toxic behavior. Dr. Leaf also recommends doing three of the 21-Day Brain Detox programs because although it takes 21 days to form a new neural network, research shows that it takes at least 63 days to stabilize the neural network, thus forming a new habit. Retraining your brain is not an easy process, which is why people sometimes experience relapses when they are trying to accomplish their goals. However, it is important to remember to give yourself some grace as you work towards creating more emotional resilience. And also remember that, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”...William Edward Hickson.
RESOURCES:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4839284
https://www.statista.com/chart/29019/most-common-new-years-resolutions-us
https://drleaf.com/about-dr-leaf
