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Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome

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to the New Corner Office, the podcast

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where we share strategies for thriving in

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the new world of work, where location

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and hours are more flexible than

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in the past. Today's tip

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is to make the most of fresh starts,

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those auspicious times when we feel

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ready to pursue our goals. Researchers

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Hang Chin Day, Katie Miltman, and

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Jason Reese have studied what they term

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the fresh start effect, the

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tendency to take on aspirational

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behaviors immediately after New Year's

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Day, your birthday, the first

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day of school, and other fresh

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starts. They called days

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like these temporal landmarks because

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they mark a new season in our lives, beginning

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with a fresh start. I bet

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this sounds familiar, right. We've probably

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all taken on a new Year's resolution, under

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set quarterly goals, or decided to

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build a new habit after a milestone birthday.

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Plenty of us will probably admit to having

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committed to stop procrastinating at

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the beginning of every semester in school.

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Maybe it didn't happen, but something

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about that fresh start made us

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feel like it could. According

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to the researchers, there are a couple of reasons

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we pursue new goals after these temporal

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landmarks. First, a fresh

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start marks the beginning of what they refer to as

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a new mental accounting period.

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You can write off your past failings as

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belonging to your former self. No

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worries that your past self gorged

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on an entire Pepperoni pizza last

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night. Your future self eats

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five servings of vegetables every day.

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Second, fresh starts take us out of the

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every day and prompt big picture

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reflection about our lives. This

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reflection, interred leads us to consider

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what we want for our lives and to

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take on goals to make those hopes reality.

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So how can we best use this fresh start

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effect? Well, For starters,

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realize that you don't have to wait

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for New Year's Day to take on a new goal.

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Fresh starts are all around

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us. You can harness the momentum

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of a new season, a new

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month, or even a new

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week. Seasons in our own

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lives can mark fresh starts too. Birth

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Days, anniversaries of

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anything, really, the first day in

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a new home or on a new job. Even

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mundane changes can mark a fresh start.

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The researchers suggest that a new hair cut

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or coming back from vacation could constitute

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a fresh start. For example, the

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day you get a new hairstyle is a

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great time to commit to reaching out to

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new people. Your good looks

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will give you confidence. So

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if there's a goal you want to pursue or

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habit you want to develop, try

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to find or create

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a fresh start. What's behind

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you is behind you. A

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clean slate is always

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an option. Your new life

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is what you make it, and you can

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make it great. In the meantime,

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this is Laura, Thanks for listening,

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and here's the succeeding in the New Corner

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Office. The

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