Transitions into new seasons
AKA: ode to the new year/new month
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Kind of like a birthday – you are the same age, you feel no different, but there’s something significant about this moment in time. You commemorate the passing of time in some special way – you buy yourself a treat, you go out to dinner, you are maybe sent birthday cards or gifts, friends, and family send you texts or messages on Facebook. This is your private, and maybe somewhat public, transition into a new season of life.
Whether it’s a new season of life, stepping into an actual new calendar, season or new year, you experience a similar transition. This time, your secretly celebrating with the whole world – everyone has these dates on their calendars.
You may feel excited to step into a new season – an opportunity for a fresh start (even though nothing really has changed).
You may also feel dread and disbelief – how can we possibly be in 2025 already?! Where has the time gone?! We are here too soon!
Either way, new seasons are a good opportunity to reset, check in with yourself, and look expectantly ahead.
Planning
There are so many things to do as the seasons change or new year arrives. There’s no way to do it all and have everything ready by January 1 or the first day of Spring, but it may be helpful to shift your focus on a few things to commemorate the new season and celebrate its arrival (in a way). I find this time is a helpful calendar marker for specific tasks.
bangs for the new year 💁♀️
Personal
Vacation days/time off – I always lean back on what my coach Rosie told me – if we don’t plan time off, our bodies will force us to take it because we get sick or worn down. It’s much nicer to have time off when we are feeling well than sick in bed with no energy to enjoy life.
So, how do I do this? I spent several days with my husband reviewing our calendars and finances and asking ourselves these questions:
When do we want to take off?
Where do we want to go/what do we want to do?
How many days off can we afford to take?
When do I typically need a break from work?
What times do we want to visit family or friends in different states, and how many days off do we need to travel and feel our best?
If you need some more guidance with this one, check out my free “Take Time Off” Reference, kimbest.com/resources.
Other Personal - there are so many other things we can think of doing at a transition!
Schedule vaccines and doctors appointments
Plan time/date/frequency of seeing friends and family
Create goals or write out your aspirations - what are some things you hope to do in this new season?
Specific cleaning tasks
Work
Music therapist tasks - these may apply to musicians or professionals in other fields, and they may help you think of other things you feel you need to do when a new month, season, or year arrives.
Update schedule/calendar/etc
Change Guitar strings
Clean/repair instruments
Input any CMTEs you completed for the previous year (there’s a guide at kimbest.com/resources)
For the business owner - There are many crucial items to complete during transitions. For me, it’s always around the new year. It takes me a while to fulfill them all, but these are the things I focus on.
Raise your rate - has it been a while? Maybe raise your rate by $10-$20. If it’s only been a year, maybe raise your rate by $3-$5
Renew your agreement or contract with all of your clients/contracts
Send out an email/update to all of your clients and contracts
Start new spreadsheets - start tracking all new things (I’ve made them for you! kimbest.com/shop/p/spreadsheets-for-taxes)
Update old spreadsheets - catch up on expenses, mileage tracking
Plan/Pay for renewals: liability insurance, CBMT dues
Fun
Create a list of fun things you’d like to do in the upcoming month, season, or year. Have you ever wanted to start a garden? Write it down. Have you wanted to get back to skating like you did as a kid? Add it to the list! Do you have a goal to read a certain number of books this year? Put that on the list!
Vision Board Practice
This is my favorite thing to do, specifically at the start of the new year, but you can do it at any time. Create a Vision Board! If you don’t know what that is, do a quick Google or Pinterest search, and you’ll get to see what I’m talking about, It’s essentially a collage that you create out of words and images from magazines, but you can get as creative as you want by adding color with paint or markers, ribbon or string, stickers and photos, etc. The possibilities are endless!
I like to set myself up with kind of like a sacred process as I create these - I want them to be created from the heart, really true to myself in this given time of life. I do the following in a ritual-type way by meditating, thinking about, and even writing out these things.
rid the last year
meditate to find new word/feeling for the new year
connect with self and trust
only use pieces that feel right
Order: after I’ve spent some time connecting with myself and the hopes and feelings I want for the new year, I set myself up in the following way:
gather magazines and supplies to use
pick backing paper - size to fit in a picture frame
to be over the top when it comes to aesthetics: plan to go with a color theme - soft, cool, warm, muted, bright and colorful, etc
If you’d like some more tips, tricks, and guidance, check out this old blog post of mine! kimbest.com/blog/visionboard
Extra
It’s a fun practice to record or gather something small throughout the year. This may be done once a week, once a month, or daily.
Some ideas -
Highlights from each day/week
Slip of paper with something you’re grateful for
A picture or 2 second video clip each day/week
Recording your nail polish colors on a small bookmark-sized paper
Collect something small like a shiny rock or pretty fallen leaf from all of your walks
There are many exciting things to come in the new year! New products, new podcast episodes, some events and opportunities to connect. Stay tuned and join the email list to get reminders and updates of the new things to come.
Sending you my love in the cold, snow-covered, wild time of life we live in,
