It’s the beginning of September, and for many people, this is a time of resetting and starting afresh. School starts, the Jewish New Year brings apples and honey and promises of a sweet year to come, and the crisp September mornings bring a freshness to our step that may have been melted out of us by the summer heat.
September is a great time to take a step back, reevaluate, and reset. But for those of us no longer working on a school-year-based calendar, the external factors to a September reset can feel a bit absent. So, today on the blog, I’d like to offer some freelancer-life thoughts on how to refresh and reset.
Take a breath: Refresh.
Before we can reset and refresh, we need to take a minute to assess where we’re at. As much-beloved internet yoga teacher Adriene tells us, everything starts with the breath. Our breath keeps us moving forward, and it can help keep us clear the fog and chaos from our minds. Adriene suggests treating every breath like a fresh start: What happened before is done, and what we have right now is this breath in the present moment.
So my first thought on refreshing and resetting is simply to pause, to take a breath, and to centre yourself in the present moment instead of the past or the future. Forget where you were yesterday or where you want to be tomorrow: Where are you at right now?
Maybe some yoga would help, or maybe that’s not your jam, but the first step to resetting and moving forward in a healthy way is to acknowledge and make peace with where you’re at in the present moment.
Make a plan: Reevaluate.
Now that you’ve evaluated where you’re at, be that physically, emotionally, financially, grammatically, or otherwise, you can look forward and consider where you want to be next.
Maybe you want to get back on track with something. I had a busy summer and didn’t get to blog as much as I wanted to, so this blog post—and this moment of pause and reflection—is how I’m making my plan and getting back on track. For you, this might be getting back into a better work or gym or cooking routine instead.
Maybe you want to change things up entirely. This can be hard to do without the school-year calendar to prompt a change, so taking some time to sit and reflect can be necessary before jumping into something big and new and life-changing. If you need to change something in your life, be it professionally or personally, maybe this September reset is the perfect time for you to figure out how to make that happen.
Make a change: Reset.
It’s not a reset if you don’t follow through and change things up. What are you going to do differently, as a result of your reflecting and planning? Are you going to work out more by sticking to a schedule? Are you going to start contacting employers and sending them your resume? Are you going to hire an editor to make your dream of being published a reality?
For those of you starting a new school year, start strong and keep it up. For those of you celebrating Rosh HaShanah, may you have a happy and sweet new year. For everyone else, take a breath to refresh, make a plan to reevaluate, and make a change to reset.