On starting the year in Spring
Setting Goals in Spring instead of January
Happy Wednesday dear ones! In this week’s letter, you’ll learn about…
✍️Setting Goals in Spring instead of January
🖋️ Spring Season Journaling Prompts for Well-being
🧭 My WeatherVane: Weekly mumbles & (personal) updates
📖 On starting the year in Spring
After three years of having my life on hold, while getting back to health - which still is very much the major thing in my life - I’m slowly feeling this inner flame wanting to live a more purposeful life. How do I do that? Well, that’s something not only that I need to find out but actually start working with planning and taking action.
As I previously wrote, Winter is a time for recovery and regeneration. Just think back:
How often have you set intentions, goals, and New Year’s resolutions during New Year/early January to feel like a failure near the end of January?
As someone born and raised in the Southern Hemisphere, doing so according to the Gregorian calendar wasn’t such a big deal. Why? Well, because New Year happened during early Summer. The days are warm and long, and there is plenty of sunlight. Setting + maintaining goals/intentions/New Year’s Resolution feels kind of good down Under.
Well, this is not the case for the Northern Hemisphere where we find ourselves in the darkest half of the year, just around 10 days into Winter. The energy is low due to dark, shorter days and the sun has fled also to the south as well.
Like everything in nature, our energy has gone to the underground. This is a passive energy where we rest, regenerate, and journey inward. Comparing this to the day & night cycle, we find ourselves in the depths of the night. And what do we ‘do’ during the night? Most of us sleep during this time.
If you’re not a night owl, can you imagine waking up at 1 am, having slept for 1 or 2 hours, to go and think about your goals and then go do them just right and then? And that, every single night?
Well, no thanks!
And this is exactly what we expect from ourselves when we set goals and take action to achieve them during Winter/January.
Spring as the Sunrise
Like the day & night cycle, Spring arrives as the sunrise to a new day. That’s why this season together with Aries Season is often seen as the start of a new year (a new day). It’s also the actual Astrological New Year.
We arise from winter/night and are - hopefully - reborn, filled with new energy and filled with (new) ideas. Early Spring, around March, is a great time to use this energy and set our intentions and goals.
As the season progresses, we gain more and more momentum to move from planning to implementing ⇒ taking action.
How to successfully set intentions and goals during Spring
Around early March start journaling and brainstorming on your dreams and things you’d like to accomplish. Do this daily for a week or so, or until you get clarity on what you would like to achieve.
I like to work seasonally ⇒ I don’t set yearly goals or long-term goals. As a Gemini and Breast Cancer Survivor setting long-term goals does not sit well with me. Also, working seasonally keeps me present instead of living in the future.
Living in the present instead of the future creates a sense of gratefulness instead of scarcity. Wanting something that’s (still) far away keeps me (from my mental perspective) away from the here and now creating a sense of lack and scarcity.
As I continue living life, thinking and longing for the far away future, the future also keeps moving away from me, keeping me in a sense of dissatisfaction and a never-ending loop. It’s chasing for the future, just like a dog chases its own tail.
Once, you’ve clarity, you can start setting goals.
Ready to set goals? Check last week’s journaling prompts.
Try to keep it to a maximum of three goals per season.
Once you have clear goals, you can set up an action step and/or task list for each goal.
You can create projects from your goals if you have (a) large goal(s).
You need to create time to work on your goals and know when your deadlines are. That’s why you’ll need a planner or calendar where you can look at your tasks daily. Otherwise, you will 100% forget about your goals, projects, and tasks.
To achieve your goals, you need to take action. Try not to postpone them, and actually do them.
Springtime is the time when we plan, create new habits, and learn the skills we need in order to prepare ourselves to achieve our goals. Good planning is like a good navigation system. Once you start taking action, we know exactly what to do and where to go.
Also, slowly but surely we start taking action towards our goals. Once you have set up a good planning system - where it’s clear what you’ll do and when you will do it - with enough time to work on your goals, you can finally start working on them.
Tip 1: Start with small goals
Small goals are easy to achieve and will create a sense of confidence for you to move on to bigger goals.
Tip 2: Celebrate each time you achieve a goal
This will help you acknowledge your wins, and thus your sense of worth.
Plus, it keeps you motivated to continue to take action.
Tip 3: keep a journal
Keep a journal where you write all your steps, progress and lessons.
🖋️ Spring Season Journaling Prompts
What healthy habits do you need to implement to achieve your goals?
Do you have time for your healthy habits?
What do you need at this moment and how can you set time for self-care?
I’ve found that healthy habits, together with time to learn new skills, and self-care are such big support systems not only for myself but also for achieving my goals.
Do you have your goals and healthy habits ready?