The business case for starting with a strong finish.

Studies show that a temporal landmark, like the beginning of a year, can have a strong motivational effect on people’s intentions to pursue their goals. Psychologists call this "the fresh start effect."

But here’s the tricky part.

The reason a fresh start is so motivating is it allows you to disassociate from your past actions and your past imperfect self. Blowing past the year you’ve just lived and what it has to teach you, may lead to another disappointing cycle of wash, rinse, and repeat.

A powerful antidote to a weak start is a strong finish. And a great tool for that is a Personal Year-end Review.

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Links to people and resources referenced in this episode:

Tiago Forte at Blog - Forte Labs and author of Building a Second Brain

Annie Murphy Paul, The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain.

Shane Parrish, Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results.