The beginning of the end

Your December called. It wants its joy back.

Happy December 1, my busy, buzzing stARTists! 

I almost missed it! The FIRST DAY of the LAST MONTH of the year has so many entries on my calendar that A BIG TRUTH almost slipped by me.

So I bumped something off my to-do list in order to get this out to you TODAY, by hook or by crook. Because this is important.

You see, December 1 is a big deal, because the first part of a last thing has special powers – remember the first day of your senior year of high school? Or the first mile of your last marathon? Ugh, I can’t think of a good example; cut me some slack, I’m on a tight deadline! The thing is, the first day gives us starting mojo, and the ending gives us tick-tock deadline pressure of a looming ending. It’s the perfect motivation cocktail.

The problem is, in our western culture, December has been given over to holiday traditions that make huge demands on our time and emotions, so we don’t give the month the starting power it deserves.

Honestly, December 1 is often a day I forget I’m a stARTist. (I know, horrifying!)

I throw in the towel on stARTistic projects and shift my attention to holiday joy and giving. Alas, this shift is not so joyful. Like all of us, I get tangled in a hairball of commitments, and what used to feel like generosity starts to feel like obligation. I love the family time and parties of the holidays, but by the time I get to January, I’m exhausted and I’ve forgotten what makes me tick.

I want to change this habit. I want to make December a startistic playground that prepares me for the biggest starting playground of the year: JANUARY!

Today, I had kind of an epiphany, and I think I know how to do it: I’ll consciously make December IDEA WRAPPING MONTH.

You see, starting is a four-step process: 1. imagine 2. decide 3. think 4. act. December may NOT a great time to add more action to the calendar, but it’s the perfect month to imagine the possibilities of new starts, it’s a good month to start thinking about what those ideas need, and how to fit them in to our days. And December is THE MONTH to decide which ideas to start – so we’re like 4-year-olds on Christmas morning ready to unwrap our ideas and take action when the clock strikes 2024.

December is busy, but we’ll have time — waiting in line at TJ Maxx, or waiting for the Ford F-150 to work its way into the parking spot we wanted — to reflect, dream, and…

• celebrate the things we started in 2023

• imagine starting something new

• think about what our ideas require

• decide to act on an idea before

• pause/end something, even before it’s finished

Try this with me and let’s see what changes. I’m betting we won’t be able to keep from talking about what we want to start after the holidays are over. I’m betting our excitement will be so contagious that friends and family will start remembering their creative longings. And best of all, I’m betting we’ll arrive at New Years Day with sizzling ideas instead of warmed over diet resolutions.

Want to learn more about how to start MORE, BETTER and MORE JOYFULLY? I packaged a research-backed pep talk for you in Start More Than You Can Finish.

It’s the perfect gift to tell someone you believe in them and their ideas. And it’s way we can all build our own cheering sections by surrounding ourselves with other stARTists.

The E-book version of Start More Than You Can Finish is on sale for $1.99 on Kindle, so you can start chewing on the stARTistic mindset for less than the cost of a pack of gum.