September Isn’t Magic.
But it’s a hell of a Useful Edge.
Katy Milkman’s research on the Fresh Start Effect is right: temporal landmarks help us turn the page. Mondays, month-ends, birthdays, fiscal year starts—each creates psychological distance from the “old you” and a cleaner slate for new behaviour.
But here’s the nuance: September is powerful only if it’s salient to your world.
If your life runs on a school-year rhythm (parents, educators, many North American businesses), September > January for execution.
If your world runs on an Oct-1 fiscal year, or your cultural new year lands elsewhere, that is your best reset.
The calendar doesn’t change you; cadence does.
How I use this with teams (steal it): “Fall Sprint 100.”
A 100-day push from early September to year-end.
Reset
1. Name the sprint. Publicly. (“Fall Sprint 100” beats “Q4.”)
2. Kill or park two initiatives that won’t move the needle.
Refocus
3. Pick three non-negotiable outcomes for Dec 31.
4. Instrument one simple scoreboard (leading × lagging). Visible to everyone.
Recommit
1. Lock a weekly WIP (same day/time), plus a 30-min monthly “Decide & De-clutter.”
2.Pre-schedule reviews, pre-commit owners, pre-mortem the risks.
3. Reduce friction: zero-base calendars, batch shallow work, protect two deep-work blocks/week.
4. Not on a September rhythm? Great. Anchor the exact same play to your landmark (Oct-1, Rosh Hashanah, February semester start in the Southern Hemisphere) and run it.
My view: for most leaders I work with in Canada, September beats January.
Less noise, more structure, and a clean runway to results.
Let’s get at this!!
