September is the new January. (Don’t believe me? This phenomenon has been noticed by the Wall Street Journal, Inc. and Fast Company.)
It makes sense. The end of the summer and the start of a new school
year -- even if you haven’t been in school for years -- feels like a
fresh start. And it feels like a special kind of fresh start -- time to
get serious, buckle down, get back to work (whatever “work” means to
us). So that makes September a great time to make some resolutions.
What I love about September
resolutions is they can set the foundation for January, which for many
people offers another fresh start and a chance at setting goals for the
year. Take a few minutes this week to think about what you want out of
2018. What can you do now to accelerate those goals so you hit the ground running on January 1? Here are five ideas for resolutions that are perfectly suited to a fall start.
Learn a new skill. If you are
looking to restart your career after a break, make a career change or
get promoted, adding to your skills is a proven strategy. The good news
is there are more resources than ever for people who want to learn
something new without engaging in a formal (read: expensive and
time-consuming) educational program. If you want to learn or expand your
technical skills there are plenty of great coding schools and
bootcamps. Some are even free
or offer some inexpensive options. Online schools have plenty of
courses that aren’t technical, too -- including business courses,
writing workshops, marketing bootcamps, and language courses. No matter
what you want to learn, there’s an online course for you.
Expand your network. It doesn’t
matter what your next big goal is -- it will be more attainable if you
expand your network. Looking to change careers? Meet people in that
career. Hoping for a promotion? Connect with the people at your company
that have influence to find out what is most important to your company
right now. Want to raise more money for your school or other volunteer
organization? Find connections to people who make charitable
contributions or who can connect you with foundations. Set specific
goals for yourself in terms of the people you want to connect with and
figure out the “how.” Your tactics could include attending events,
asking people you know to make introductions, and engaging people
through social media.
Set better boundaries. If the
summer allowed you to maintain a better balance between home and work
because of slower schedules, see if you can keep it up by setting
boundaries around your work time. We all know that a lot of the “face
time” that happens at many companies is the result of poor time
management habits and office politics. Work with your team to find a way
to keep those reasonable work hours going long after the last early
evening BBQ. On the other hand, if having kids at home pulled you in the
opposite direction -- being more available to your family with less
time to focus on your work -- see if the back to school season can allow
you to reset everyone’s expectations so you can accelerate your career
growth without sacrificing quality family time.
Get organized. In many ways
September is a much better time to start an organizational project than
January. If you have kids going back to school there’s a natural reason
to get everyone started off with new notebooks and planners. The change
of season is a built-in opportunity to clean out the closets. If you are
overwhelmed by the distractions of your devices, consider putting pen
to paper with a bullet journal.
If weeknight dinners are a source of stress, start planning out meals
or consider trying a meal kit service. Changes you make now will help
you get through the busy holiday season, too.
Start (or change) your exercise routine. Getting
up and running (pun intended) with a new exercise routine can be easier
now than it will be in January. In most of the US the weather is still
nice enough for some outdoor activities and the gyms aren’t as crowded.
If you already have a routine in place the fall can be a great time to
mix things up. You may need to find new alternatives for early morning
or evenings that now have less light. Or it could just be a good time to
add in workouts that you don’t naturally gravitate toward like strength
training or flexibility. Need a super easy way to get started? Try the 7-Minute Workout.
Use the fall to play around with different workouts at different times
so that by January 1 you will won’t be one of the “resolutionaries” but
will instead be one of the regulars.
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