Make a “Fresh Start” Work For You

Did you make a New Year’s resolution this year? The majority of the people actually didn’t. Maybe they gave up on doing it because it never seemed to work out. But for the people that did make a resolution, the majority of them have long since given up. They quit and said, “It’s not going to happen this year, I’ll just wait until next year”.

But we have good news! You don’t have to wait until next year! You can have a “fresh start” anytime. We have a saying that hangs outside our office door that says, “This is the beginning of a new day”. A new day is a great time to have a fresh start. However, sometimes the days don’t start so well and it seems like bad things continue to happen. Maybe you go out and your car doesn’t start and other negative things happen. You get to the office and the boss is mad at you. Maybe you feel you aren’t even getting along so well with your co-workers. You start saying to yourself, “Why does this always have to happen to me?” Instead, know that you can still start a fresh day, whatever time it is in that day.

Take a moment to ask yourself, “What can I do for the rest of the day to make it a good day?” Then start doing those positive actions that will raise your spirit and help change the tone of your day.

Just as some negative things can happen in business, they can also happen in personal relationships. When we got married we decided that we were going to have a really good relationship – and it is! Yet, once-in-a-while we have a disagreement, a misunderstanding, a lack of communication, or whatever you want to call it. We found a simple strategy that helped us. We will pass this strategy along to you in case it can also be helpful for you and your relationships. When we are in the ”thick of it” and we can’t envision a resolution, we say to each other, “Let’s start over” – a fresh start. That works well for us. We might not always agree, but we can agree to disagree respectfully. We recognize that having a good relationship is more important than being “right”. Any time that things seem to not be going so well, is an opportunity for a fresh start.

Simon Sinek, who is a thought leader of today, has a great quote that we enjoy. He says, “It doesn’t matter when we start. It doesn’t matter where we start. All that matters is that we start”. That is so true.

Some important things to remember about today’s life lesson are: Don’t take the negativity from the past and beat on yourself. Don’t take it into the future. You can have a fresh start NOW.

Here’s a challenge: We realized we needed fresh starts in some areas (more exercise and more sleep). We will be working on those areas. What about you? Where could you benefit from having a fresh start in your life? Once you have identified the areas you want to change, take action to have fresh starts. We would enjoy hearing how you used fresh starts in your life. Wishing you fresh starts and much success on your life path!

© Lynn Nodland 2017
Doug and Lynn Nodland are residents of Chanhassen and owners of The Balance Center. They can be contacted at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com