Log #10

Better Than Before / Gretchen Rubin

     In better than before, there is a strategy called “Clean Slate”, and here’s the explanation of it from the book: At certain times we experience a “clean slate”, in which circumstances change in a way that makes a fresh start possible. The slate may be wiped clean by a change in personal relationships (marriage, a new baby, a breakup.. etc) or a change in surroundings (a new apartment, a new city… etc).  Although sometimes a major change leads to a clean slate, even a minor change can be sufficient---a change as seemingly insignificant as taking a different route to work or watching TV in a different room. Then, if we heighten the sense of the newness (a clean slate) in our daily life, we can grab more chances to launch a new habit with less effort.

    I have thought about this strategy for many weeks. I tried to be careful whether there’s any little clean slates, the freshness from any little change in my life, that can give me some special energies to start something new. However, I couldn’t find any that are apparent to me. Therefore, I asked myself: Why it seems so hard for me to find any clean slates in my daily life? Does that mean it's hard for me to get some change? Or, does that mean I cannot gain any special energies to launch a new habit with less effort?

    I didn’t find the answer until the New Year’s Eve.

    On the day before the beginning of 2017, I asked myself: What should I do to greet the upcoming new year? And then I thought: “Well, just as usual, keep doing the things that I should do…” Then, the Strategy of Clean Slate flashed through my mind. At the next moment, I finally realized why it's so hard for me to practice this strategy. Looking back, I found that I am the type of person who won’t feel that excited and hopeful on New Year’s day. First, to me, a “New year’s day” doesn’t definitely mean a true clean slate because if I didn’t finish what I have to do this year, I still need to do it in the next year. In other words, the things that I should get done in this year won’t disappear just because “it’s a new start of another year.” Second, I believe that I won’t become better than before in a new year if I didn’t pay any effort.
    
    By comparison, I would feel more excited and hopeful after I truly accomplish something, and usually, I gain lots of energies from it to get another new start. Besides, the energy that I gain from my real achievement can last longer than the excitement or freshness from a change of relationship, environment or time. It might mean that a pragmatic ‘clean slate’ for me will only be accompanied by my practical actions. Now I know, if I want to be aware of the clean slate that I can take advantage of in my life, I should be aware of the time when I achieve something, as compared to the external changes. Then, instead of spending too much time on just enjoying the happiness of my achievement, I should use that special energy to start something new as soon as possible.

    At last, I ask myself: What if I want to feel more excited and hopeful in a New Year’s Day? The answer is simple— Now, plan things to achieve in 2017, and finish them all before the end of the year. Then, I can meet a better me and a New Year’s Day with fully happiness and hopefulness.