What is it about New Year’s that inspires so many people to create resolutions for their future? In a recent interview1, Greg McKeown discusses how New Year’s is a classic example of a “temporal landmark.” It’s a moment in time that provides an opportunity to distinguish between the past and the future, between the old and the new. Moments like this provide a “fresh start effect” (think the “new year, new you” slogan that is so popular in January) and inspire many people to consider the changes they want to make moving forward.

New Year’s is a major temporal landmark for many people, but other days can also provide the same opportunity to clearly distinguish the past from the future. Your birthday or anniversary can serve as a kind of landmark. The start of each month, quarter, or season could too. The same goes for holidays, special events, or dates that are significant to you. In the interview, McKeown advises looking for ways to add more temporal landmarks to your calendar. The more of them you have throughout the year, the more opportunities you have to reevaluate where you’re at and take advantage of their fresh start effect.

Now, the habits you try to build at these junctures may not always last. But even if you give up after a week, you’ll still experience a week more of the benefits of the habit you tried to establish than if you had done nothing at all. You’ll also have a week more practice under your belt for the next time you try to make the change. And if a temporal landmark is never too far away, you may be inspired to try again sooner rather than later.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for some significant day to make changes in life. Today is as good as any to get started. However, although you don’t have to wait for the next important day on the calendar to make a change, these landmarks are still valuable to identify. Every time you pass them, they can prompt you to reflect on the season of life you just passed through. And they can provide you, if you want, the chance to make a fresh start as you move into the future.

  1. https://tim.blog/2025/01/09/personal-reboot-greg-mckeown/, starting at 24:54. ↩︎