February is the New January (Here's Why!)
/Years ago I made the life-changing decision to begin my new year in February, instead of on January 1st (like everyone else around me), and I’ve never looked back! As others began posting about their ambitious New Year’s resolutions and sharing sweaty gym selfies the first weeks of January, I was still curled up on my couch relaxing in the stillness of Winter a bit longer.
And as the weeks of January went on and people started quickly ramping up their efforts to set and take action towards big New Year goals and resolutions, I focused my slow growing energy in a very different way (more on that below).
But rather than just telling you it’s better to start your New Year in February vs. January (and expecting you to take my word for it), let me share 3 reasons WHY I made that choice, so you can decide for yourself what to focus on in January.
3 REASONS WHY I START MY NEW YEAR IN FEBRUARY (and not January!)
REASON #1: Not every culture celebrates a New Year on January 1st
Do you know what January 1st, February 1st, and April 1st all have in common?
If you guessed that they’re all dates different cultures are celebrating their 2022 New Year, then you’d be correct!! Not to mention different cultures and people have their own unique rituals to honor a New Year.
🗓January 1st is the New Year here in the US (and many parts of the world).
🗓February 1st is the Chinese New Year.
🗓And, April 1st is the Hindu New Year.
(*note that the Chinese and Hindu New Year dates vary from year to year because they’re based on a lunar calendar, while ours here in the US is based on a solar calendar).
I hope you’re starting to see as I did, that there isn’t one “right” day or “right” way to begin your New Year,
You can choose when and what feels “right” for you, rather than forcing yourself to abide by some arbitrary date and rituals that society has dictated for you (especially if you live in a culture like ours that has developed customs more aligned with capitalistic values than the rhythms of the natural world around and within us).
REASON #2: When it comes to masterful creation & transformation, Mother Earth does it best
Once I realized that there wasn’t one “right” day or way to start the New Year and I gave myself permission to find my own flow and rituals, I came to discover that my own inner rhythms closely mirrored the growth cycles of natural world around me.
Which makes complete sense because Mother Nature is the first masterful “conscious creator” that we witness (and continue to witness year after year) in our lives!
And since January is still a dark, cold, and Wintery time around me (and Mother Nature is still in a state of rest, self-nourishment, and death/releasing… NOT new growth yet), setting ambitious New Year’s resolutions and diving into immediate action on big goals for the year just didn’t feel aligned for me.
And so instead I created new rituals, and January became my month to mirror Mother Nature and:
✔️fully REST & RECHARGE myself after a long and active year of growth.
✔️more actively focus on RELEASING RITUALS to energetically cut cords with old patterns, relationships, and other baggage that I didn’t want to carry into the new year (to make space for the new!).
✔️DREAM about the new desires and changes I wanted to consciously create in the new year, as I release the old (*note that ‘dreaming’ is a much more passive and relaxed process than the more active ‘goal setting’, which comes later).
Reading fantasy novels is one of my favorite ways to recharge!
And once I felt more fully recharged + energetically freed from the baggage of old patterns, February and March became my months to begin the more active work of Visioning, Planning, and Initiating my new, big goals for the New Year!
REASON #3: The aggressive January 1st “New Year, New Me” mentality didn’t actually seem to facilitate sustainable changes
I tried the ambitious New Year’s resolution strategy for many years (before adopting my new approach), and it never worked to help me create sustainable changes. Plus it always left me feeling frustrated, exhausted, and overwhelmed before the first quarter of the year even ended!
And others didn’t seem to be doing any better with there own dramatic goals and resolutions in January either. When I looked around, I noticed two main ways in which people were getting stuck (or some combo of the two). Let’s call them “Group A” and “Group B”.
“GROUP A” entered January psyched about the New Year, their resolutions, and what their life would look like when they created all the changes they craved! They ✔️set big goals, ✔️dove into action, and ✔️felt good! But after weeks or months of hard work, they started to find themselves in the same exact old relationships, situations, and patterns they swore they left behind in the previous year! Defeated, burnt-out, and stuck, they had no idea what went wrong.
Meanwhile, “GROUP B” entered January still exhausted from the previous year. But they ✔️believed the overly ambitious “January 1st, New Year resolution” hype and ✔️tried to keep up with it. And so instead of giving themselves permission to rest and recharge fully, they set big goals, couldn’t keep up, and felt like a failure before February even started (and also, had no idea why)!
Fun fact 👉 There’s even been a day named for these folks! The second Friday in January has been coined “National Quitters Day”, by a social network for athletes called Strava (after its research discovered that it was the the day most people gave up on their new year’s resolutions!).
And it’s because of those 3 reasons above that I truly believe,
If you listen to your own inner rhythms and follow the seasons of Mother Nature, instead of forcing yourself to go from 0-100 in January, you will have much greater long-term change & soul-aligned success (instead of burning-out or “failing” the first weeks or months of the year)!
And so as we shift into January, I challenge you to take a moment and contemplate:
❓When and how do I start my new year?
❓Why have I adopted the date, mindsets, and rituals?
❓Does how I begin my new year truly support my peace, flow, and long-term change + manifestation efforts?