Want to Shake Up Your Life? Create an 'Artificial Beginning'

I opened my email on Jan. 1 to see a message from my dentist wishing me a happy new year. It got me thinking — the new year is a wonderful reminder to schedule your tooth-cleaning appointment and that you have yet another chance to do things differently. There are few moments in life that genuinely feel like you’re at the starting line of a new chapter. With every passing year, it becomes more and more rare to encounter moments that force you to feel like a novice. For me, there are only three moments that have had this effect: The first day of first grade, the day we moved to the United States, and the day I became a parent. At one point in life, I was a student for the first time, I moved to a new country for the first time, and I had a baby for the first time. All three were a shock to the system. But here’s the thing: You don’t need to move countries or have a child in order to feel totally incompetent. There are many ways to create an artificial beginning that creates a “before” a

I opened my email on Jan. 1 to see a message from my dentist wishing me a happy new year. It got me thinking — the new year is a wonderful reminder to schedule your tooth-cleaning appointment and that you have yet another chance to do things differently. There are few moments in life that genuinely feel like you’re at the starting line of a new chapter. With every passing year, it becomes more and more rare to encounter moments that force you to feel like a novice. For me, there are only three moments that have had this effect: The first day of first grade, the day we moved to the United State