Some days feel like a clean page.
Researchers Studied Diet Searches, Gym Visits and 43,012 Goal-Setters. After a New Year, a New Week or a Birthday, People Started Things.
Researchers found that people start things right after a new week, a new year, or a birthday. Those days can be a good time to start a story, too.
Ever notice how **January first** feels different from **December thirtieth?** Same calendar, same you. But it feels like **a clean page.**
In 2014, **Hengchen Dai, Katherine Milkman, and Jason Riis** wrote in **Management Science** that people are more likely to take on their goals **right after a landmark in time:** a new week, a new month, a new year, or a birthday. They called it **the fresh start effect.**
It was not a study about stories or families. But it hints that **the day you pick may matter,** and that **a birthday or a new week is a good day to make one call.**
1. What the researchers looked at
The paper reports **three studies,** all built from records that already existed. Nobody was asked to do anything new.
One followed **Google searches for the word "diet"** in the United States, across **3,104 days.** One followed visits to a university gym by **11,912 undergraduates** from September 2010 to December 2011. One followed goals that **43,012 people** committed to on the goal-setting website **stickK,** over **866 days** starting in October 2010.
Searches, gym visits, and goal contracts. Counted day by day.
2. What they found
Compared with the baseline, searches for "diet" rose **14.4% at the start of a new week** and **82.1% at the start of a new year.** Commitments on stickK rose **62.9% at the start of a week** and **145.3% at the start of a year.** Gym visits also rose after birthdays.
Searches for **"news," "weather," "laundry," and "gardening"** did not show the same pattern, so it was not just busier days online. The authors suggest that landmarks **start a new chapter in our minds,** push **past slips** into the old one, and invite **a big-picture view** of our lives.
A new week, a new year, a birthday: people reached for something better.
3. What it can and cannot tell us
The goals were about **dieting, exercise, and personal goals,** not **storytelling.** The studies found **patterns in records,** and they cannot prove that a birthday makes anyone **record a story.**
What it gently suggests is that **a date that feels new can help us begin.** So pick one you already have: **your next birthday, the first of the month, a Monday.** Use it for one thing: **a call, and one story, told out loud and kept.**
You do not need a big plan. You need a day that feels new.
The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational BehaviorDai, Milkman, and Riis, Management Science, 2014 (the title of the paper)
What you get with LifeScribe
- A 2014 paper by Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, and Jason Riis reports three studies of what people do after temporal landmarks.
- Searches for "diet" rose 14.4% at the start of a new week and 82.1% at the start of a new year, compared with the baseline.
- Goal commitments on stickK (43,012 people) rose 62.9% at the start of a week and 145.3% at the start of a year.
- The studies looked at diet, exercise, and personal goals, not stories or families.
- They found patterns in records, not proof that a landmark causes a change.
- Built on documented research: Management Science, 2014, DOI 10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901.
Start free, with nothing to lose
Just a phone call, free. Ari listens with real interest and keeps your stories in your own voice for the people you love.
A fresh start is only a date away, and so is the next one. Pick it, and make the call. It is just a phone call.
Start your story on a day that feels new.
Ari calls, asks about the moments that shaped you, and keeps your stories in your own voice for the people you love.
Questions grandparents ask us
What did the study find?
Across three studies, searches for "diet," gym visits, and goal commitments all rose right after temporal landmarks such as a new week, month, or year, or a birthday.
Who ran it?
Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, and Jason Riis, published in Management Science in 2014.
How many people were involved?
The gym study followed 11,912 undergraduates, and the stickK study followed 43,012 people. The Google search study counted searches across 3,104 days.
Did it study families or life stories?
No. It looked at diet searches, gym visits, and goal contracts. This page makes no claim that it applies to family stories.
Why does it matter for a life story?
It suggests that a date that feels new can help people begin. A birthday or the first of the month is a simple day to start one story, out loud, and keep it.
https://getlifescribeapp.com/blog/the-day-that-felt-like-a-fresh-start