Happy New Year! I’ve decided to start this year in April, instead of January. Why? Well, it took me a while to get ready for the New Year and I wanted to start the year off right!

One of the books I read in 2018 was When by Daniel Pink. Pink suggests that choosing “when” to start something can be almost as important as choosing “what” to do. If you start something at the right time, you are more likely to follow through with it. For example, it often seems easier to start something on a Monday than in the middle of the week.

I knew that I wasn’t going to have a specific New Year’s resolution for 2019, but I wanted to have a New Year’s Focus. I want to focus on fighting Resistance this year. When I say “Resistance”, I’m talking about the force described by Steven Pressfield in his books The War of Art, Turning Pro, Do the Work, Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t, and The Artist’s Journey. Resistance is that thing that prevents you from writing that play or following that diet or learning a new skill. It’s the thing that causes you to procrastinate or self-sabotage or self-destruct. It’s the TV show you decide to watch instead of working on that project that you really want to finish.

I wanted to write this post in January. But Resistance got the better of me. I wanted to write it in February and Resistance got me again. I thought about writing it in March, but Resistance whispered “You want to write about your New Year’s focus 3 months late?”

Last week, I got an email from Mike Vardy, who suggested that we can decide to “start” the year whenever we want. I mean, let’s face it, most of us feel that September is the beginning of the year because of school starting then. So, why not April as the beginning of the year?

For me, it makes sense. April 1 is April Fools Day. And Fools, Clowns, and Silent Comedians are part of my DNA. It occurred to me that I recently watched Stan & Ollie and The Great Buster. I’ve been rewatching Buster Keaton films.

And I started a habit that will help me fight Resistance! I’m ready to start the year that I wanted to start in January.

So, Happy New Year! In April.

© 2019 Peter Gruner