I could never sleep the night before the first day of school. Every year, I was too excited by the prospect of a fresh start-the chance to crack open my notebooks full of blank pages, debut a brand-new and painstakingly chosen outfit, and be a better, smarter, more popular version of the person I was last year. Obviously, I was a total nerd, so that last one never really panned out, but even now as an adult, the start of September still gives me those first-day-of-school feels. I'm not a student, a mom, or a teacher, but I still view the beginning of each school year as a special time to set new goals.
I'm not alone in feeling more motivated around milestones that represent new beginnings. It's a widespread phenomenon called the "fresh start effect." You might recognize it as "New Year, New You" energy, spring cleaning, or my personal fave, back-to-school vibes. These types of temporal landmarks (i.e., fleeting, but nonetheless important, moments in time) are "psychological fresh starts where nothing has changed except the calendar," says Katy Milkman, a professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the author of How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. "There is no logical reason why your behavior should change, and yet we're so influenced by these cycles." If you've ever made a New Year's resolution or aimed to accomplish an aspiration by your next trip around the sun, you've used this concept to amp up your excitement when, on any other day, you'd have zero extra oomph.
Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Women's Health US.
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Women's Health US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Ready. Set. Grow.- Two-time olympian Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has mastered the art of the game face
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the sunscreen guide...that will change your life
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Knee pain is on the rise among men and women— and with it, a messy, imperfectly regulated world of quick-fix injections marketed to offer relief. Ahead, what works (and doesn't!) to soothe joints.
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