Start Something New

I am here to tell you that you can. You most definitely, without a doubt can. Can what? Well, whatever you please, really. Each year, as I prepare to write my first article of the year for YVW, I promise myself I won’t write about resolutions, goal setting, or losing weight. Then, the time comes, and all I can think about is growth, possibilities, living your next and starting something new.

It could be from too much eggnog, but more likely it is because I have lived a life of “nexts.” Trying one thing, and then another, learning about this, trying that, shedding the tears, squealing with laughter, and becoming more me while encouraging you to become more you. Right now, in the middle of dark and cold winter, we can settle in for a long winter nap, waking more rested but essentially the same as we were before our 40 winks, or we can start something new, something refreshingly, restoratively new.

What you start can be both a reward and a challenge, like Liz Enslow’s commitment to read one book every week, which she accomplished in 2024. Melanie Sands-Snyder says this about what she started: “Becoming an author has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life. Writing ‘Becoming Me’ felt like stepping into my own story with a mix of vulnerability, courage, and a deep desire to connect with others. This lit a spark that has created a huge flame.”

Maybe you need to start a new job. Shelley Pierce says: “I landed where I was meant to be. Of course, there’s a learning curve with any new thing or job but it felt so much less, and I just had the freedom to ‘figure it out.’ It was also nice that it was a brand-new position so I could make it my own and run with it.” You might take on a new job, lean in for the promotion, or suggest a new way for an old organization to impact the world by starting something new.

I think that aging is best done with enthusiasm, and that enthusiasm comes from curiosity, engagement, and every once in a while, being scared to death. I did that last year, scared myself to death. I clicked “Consider Me for Stand Up” on a conference registration form, feeling both brave and safe that they’d never pick me. They picked me. I froze in my tracks. Then I asked for help, got a coach, and as my friends and I like to say, “did it scared.” And it was amazing. I felt so good at the end of my set that I did a mic drop.

The result? I decided that I could let go of the nagging voice in the back of my head that kept suggesting I become a full-time comedian. Those people work way too hard, and while the laughs were amazing, what happened because of that event was more fulfilling. You see, a new friend I’d made at that conference, Desiree Miller, who lives in Atlanta, was about to start something new, a travel business, and she hired me to coach at a What’s Next retreat in Portugal. And so I did. All because I tried something new that I really don’t have to try again — stand-up comedy.

So, where do you begin to start something new? You listen to the voice in the back of your head, those whispers that keep you awake. Do you need to pursue that idea? Would it give you satisfaction to at least try whatever it is that dances around in your mind? I want you to know that if it is nagging you, and you feel like you must, you probably should. It might be there because right now someone somewhere is praying for the solution you’ll offer, or the inspiration you’ll provide.

If the voice is dim, but the desire is burning, and you don’t know exactly how to fuel the fire, I often have my coaching clients begin by making a list, as long of a list that they can, of what they do and don’t want. Here’s mine: I Don’t Want to beg for laughs. I don’t want to work at night. I don’t want to offend my family. I don’t want the noise in nightclubs. I Do Want to make others laugh while inspiring them. I do want to help people work as a team. I do want to cheer on others. I do want to coach people forward.

See how this list eliminates comedian, but pushed me back towards what I do, public speaking and team building? My own start something new for 2025 is adding retreats to my services, which can encompass all of those things in a whole new way. As you work on your list, you’ll want to include the work, the dream, the reality and the most authentic feelings that you have.

As the list of I Do Want becomes longer, you can focus in on it. Try a few things and honor ideas by actually giving them a go. The more you do this, the easier it will be to start something new. If you try something and you don’t like it, well, begin again with something else. Just don’t quit. Quitting is the exact opposite of starting, and you are not a quitter. Unless you are, but I just don’t see you quitting. Begin again.

Becky Rosenleaf didn’t quit, even though crawling under a rock might have been easier. Here’s what she says about starting something new: “After a brutal divorce (who are we kidding, all divorce is brutal) and a near fatal car accident, I found myself starting over. Both the hardest and easiest thing about starting over is that you can't actually do that. The hardest thing is that you're picking up pieces of a life you thought you'd have, trying hard to rid yourself of memories you no longer want, and wishing you could genuinely start from scratch. The easiest part is that, instead, you get to pick and choose what serves you now. And you get to do that with all your newfound wisdom, courage, and, if you're lucky, a fierce tribe who loves you unconditionally. I get told often I'm living my best life now. I don't know if that's true. I'm living a different life. Most days, that doesn't suck.”

Because we don’t want life to suck, it’s often wonderful to start/refine a business of your own, like Salicia Borges, who says: “Starting something new in business, seems to have made me fearless in decision making. Once you actually do something you dreamed of accomplishing, you get the courage to listen to your intuition and dream even BIGGER.” All you have to do is decide! I love this.

No matter what you start, I hope it puts some pep in your step, maybe makes you dance a little bit, or a lot, like Akvilina Rieger, who took up dance. She says: “Once you discover dancing, it tends to continuously emerge from the most surprising places. It’s like this forever replenishing fountain of youth. We truly don't give enough importance to dancing. Perhaps, because it seems a bit primal and simple, yet, it is this ‘language of the soul.’ To freely dance, one lets go of any self-image constraints or ‘what would they think’ fears and allows you to be who you are.”

So, I guess, with her passion lighting the way, we are going to dance in 2025!

And maybe, no, not maybe, most definitely we shall Start Something New. I know you can do it! Let’s go!