How to Reset Your Routine for a New Season

How do you reset your routine for a new season without completely overhauling your life? In Episode #1208, learn how to rethink old habits, reset your routine, and make room for what matters most.

[Transcript]

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We live in a college town. Champaign, Illinois – home of the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. The best school in the world.

Every year, as summer draws to a close, the traffic suddenly increases – as if by magic. The students are there. Faculty is there. Staff is there. It’s the start of a new year. And almost without thinking about it, we pick up the routine we left behind.

The same schedules. The same commitments. The same ways of spending our time. We slip back into them because they’re familiar, not necessarily because they still fit.

We say that we’re “getting back to normal.” But maybe there’s a better question to ask:
Is it “normal” that we really want to get back to?

In This Episode, We’ll Explore:

Why familiar routines can lead to default living
How to decide what deserves to come back
How to Take Advantage of a Fresh Start
How one small change can make redesigned routine work better for you

Why familiar routines can lead to default living

What’s the problem with familiar routines? They work!

That’s also what makes them dangerous. Research shows that, when we perform the same behavior in the same way, we develop habits.

That’s helpful when the behavior serves you. But what if it doesn’t?

You keep attending a meeting because you’ve always attended it.
You keep saying “Yes” to an obligation because you said “Yes” years ago.
You automatically check your phone every spare minute because that’s what you do.

Maybe you are following a routine designed for a life you no longer live.

We often mistake familiarity for alignment.

Just because something has been part of your life doesn’t mean it still deserves a place in your life. So before your old schedule comes roaring back, ask: Would I choose this today if it weren’t already part of my routine?

That one question may tell you a lot.

How to decide what deserves to come back

Your routine isn’t just how you spend your time. It’s where your priorities become visible.

You may say your health matters. Your family matters. Growing your business matters. Financial freedom matters. Having time to actually enjoy life matters.
But eventually – to be a BIGG success – those priorities have to show up on your calendar, your financial statements, your Life Map, and other valuable planning tools.

And there’s nothing inherently wrong with returning to your old routine. Some of it may work beautifully. Keep it. The mistake is returning to it without evaluating it first.

Before you slip back into your old routine, take a moment to evaluate it: Does this routine still support the life I’m trying to create?

That evaluation helps you discover (or rediscover) what routines deserve your attention. And it gets to the heart of what we mean at BIGG Success when we talk about creating the life you want.

How to Take Advantage of a Fresh Start

January gets all the attention when it comes to fresh starts. But January doesn’t have a monopoly on them.

Research shows that people are more motivated at certain times, like a birthday, or the first day of the month, or the semester. (Since we started here, we thought we should bring it up again!) The researchers have labeled this phenomenon as “the fresh start effect”.

The transition from summer to fall can give you that same psychological opening. And there’s a bigger lesson here:

Every season deserves its own routine. Businesses don’t operate exactly the same way all year. Schools don’t. Farmers don’t. So why should you?

Maybe this season requires different priorities. Different boundaries. Different habits. Different uses of your energy.

Instead of asking: What do I have to get done this fall?

Ask: Who do I want to become this fall? And what will I do differently to become that that person?

That’s a Life Map question. Because the purpose of your routine isn’t merely to make you more productive. It’s to help you create the life you want.

That’s also why we created our Life Map Course. It helps you connect your personal, professional, and financial goals so the things you do today actually move you toward the future you want.

Otherwise, you can become extremely productive … at creating a life you don’t particularly want.

How one small change can make a redesigned routine work better for you

Once people realize their routine isn’t working, sometimes they often go too far. They throw away the old planner, create a new productivity system, start a new diet, or create a whole new workout regiment. By the end of week one, they’re exhausted.

Try something simpler. Change one thing.

Remove one commitment that no longer belongs. Then use that space for something that supports the person you’re becoming. And make the new routine specific.

Rather than simply saying, “I’ll work on my business more,” get specific. Decide that Tuesday and Thursday from 8:00 to 9:30 will be dedicated to business development. The key is to decide what’s important and then give it a specific time and place in your life.

Then try your redesigned routine for 30 days. See what works. See what doesn’t. Adjust.

Your routine isn’t a contract. It’s a tool. And when the tool no longer does the job, change the tool.

BIGG Assignment

Before your schedule fills back up, give yourself 20 minutes for a Routine Reset.
Take a piece of paper and make three columns:

RESUME | REEVALUATE | REDESIGN

Look at the routine you’re about to return to.

Under Resume, write what still supports your priorities.

Under Reevaluate, list what you’re no longer sure deserves your time.

Under Redesign, identify what needs to change.

But don’t end with the list. Make one decision. Remove, reduce, delegate, move, or replace one thing. Then put one better routine in the space you created.

Try it for 30 days.At the end of those 30 days, ask yourself: Is this helping me create the life I want? If yes, keep going. If not, adjust again. That’s how you stop living by default and start living by design.

BIGG Takeaway

Don’t automatically return to your routine. Return to your priorities.
Life changes. Priorities change. You change.

So when a new season arrives, don’t simply pick up where you left off. Ask whether where you left off is still where you want to go.

Because BIGG success isn’t about filling your days. It’s about making sure your days are creating the life you want. And it leads to BIGG success!

For more practical ideas to help you create that life, join our newsletter. We’d love to have you as part of the BIGG Success community.

Next episode: Being the person everyone counts on feels like a good thing. But what happens when it starts holding you back? That’s next time on BIGG Success

Here’s to your BIGG success!

George “The Professor” & Mary-Lynn

Co-Founders, BIGG Success