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Ask the Right Questions
A Most Meaningful Year
First, declare September 1 the Start of a “New Year”
“What do you need to do by the end of the year to make this year meaningful?” is the wrong question. I’d rephrase it: “Is there anything about this year that lacks meaning?” The answer, for me, is “no.” But if you ask me, “What do you need to do by the end of the year in order to achieve the goals you set out to accomplish before 2023?” then the answer might be, “A long list of things.”
So, I recently declared September 1 to be the start of a new year. Technically, every day — every hour or minute or second of every day — is just that: an ending and a beginning. Dates are arbitrary, but all writers know the value of a deadline. The problem is, many of us are good at meeting external deadlines but fall flat on our faces when we try to set our own.
I suppose I’m working on my honorary membership in the Tribe — if I convert to Judaism, the new year, Rosh Hashanah, would officially start on September 25, at sunset.
That said, I’ve been celebrating “new years” roughly quarterly for a while now. That works better than waiting 12 months to check in on the progress I’m making towards my goals:
- January 1 — traditional New Year’s Day throughout most of the world
