Stop setting your business goals in January

The 8-hour, 5-day workweek is a trap. Why treating September as my actual new year changed everything.

Last week was the Autumn Equinox, when the light and dark parts of the day are even.. And just like that, our feeds are full of candles, witches, and pumpkin spice, even if the weather you are experiencing is still hot. It is my favorite season of the year for a handful of reasons. One of the biggest is that it’s the anniversary of when I really started to understand cycles.

Everything, everywhere, has cycles. From grade school, we’re comfortable with seasonal cycles, and in most corporate environments we are then trained to obsess over quarterly cycles. But bodies with a uterus aren’t built to have the same flat output 9 to 5, 52 weeks a year. Yet, we have been taught to push our bodies into a rigid corporate template that wasn’t built for us to begin with. Cycles, cycles everywhere, but we have been conditioned to honor the wrong ones.

“Cycles, cycles everywhere, but we have been conditioned to honor the wrong ones.”

But this is the anniversary of me learning so many more details about astrology cycles and my personal cycle. Learning astrology is like learning astrophysics and Polish at the same time. It all sounds sort of familiar but what is anyone actually saying?

In an effort not to lose you, I won’t go into the astrological specifics here. But there is a time to rest, and a time to build, a time to promote, and a time to create. And honoring my cycles has created the space and permission I needed to do business my way.

Why doesn’t the 9-to-5 calendar work for women with chronic conditions?

As a body with a uterus, I am not designed to continually function on an eight-hour, five day a week schedule. Then throw in medical conditions, motherhood, and more. All that puts most of us in a shame cycle of “why don’t I already have that 1,000-page book written, or 12 hours of a digital course recorded yet?” And that helps no one.

Why treat fall as your business new year?

I use this season as my new year. It follows my personal astrology chart but fall for me also feels like a crisp new start to everything: weather, school schedules, and more. Also, approaching September/October as a new year sets you up for the Gregorian Calendar New Year as well, and the 1^st Quarter. And in the United States, in traditional corporate environments, November and December can be hard to get things done with work.

How I plan my business year around my cycles

Step 1: Start with rest, not a plan

I actually begin this cycle by giving myself permission to rest. To not have to create anything new or sell anything. I am going on a long girl’s weekend, and celebrating with family at the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after that. It’s my most favorite way to soak up the joy of life.

Step 2: Review what felt sticky

After that I review how I feel. In my day-to-day schedule, with how work has been going. What feels sticky? What did I think would be popular that wasn’t? I lead a team of 3, so then I review what challenges they have identified this year. What are the typical challenges we have always dealt with, and what is new? 

Step 3: Let the hard parts go

After writing this all down, I go for a walk. Fresh air and movement are the number one way to let some of these difficult things go. I simply talk to the wind. Tell it what’s hard and imagine all the hard parts floating away with the wind. You can do this any way that feels aligned for you. Write what you want to let go of on paper and responsibly burn it. Scream it into the forest, or your pillow in the closet.

Step 4: Ask the magic wand question

Then I come back, maybe a few days later, and write down how I would love to see all this go. I write down if I had a magic wand how I would solve these issues. And then sit with it. I remind my brain that it doesn’t have to make sense. This exercise is just the start.

Step 5: Find the gap, then plan

I ask myself where I want to see the business in six months. And again, if I had a magic wand, and all that was here tomorrow, could my team and I handle that? That question right there shows me the gap between now and what I am envisioning in six months.

“If I had a magic wand, and all that was here tomorrow, could my team and I handle that?”

Once I have that answer though, to “if I had a magic wand, and all that was here tomorrow, could my team and I  handle that?” That is the best. That is where I know what we need to do. What I need to build, or support more. Or a new process or service. And then LATER you make a plan to do those things.

What if you keep avoiding the work?

I give myself all the space I need to do this exercise. If it feels overwhelming at the moment I go and take another walk and come back later. I take days and weeks to think on some of the answers. And when I notice I am avoiding it, I bring myself back to it with my favorite comfy beverage and candle.  I make a point to go back to it, and sit with why I have been avoiding it, and ask myself why.

You notice I am asking myself a lot of things. I think we don’t talk to ourselves enough. And yes, sometimes, especially on the hard ones, I ask them out loud.

I can take three or four weeks to go through this process, about then I feel ready to create again. Ready to move out of rest and into inspiration. The parts I like about my business.

How do you stop feeling behind?

That shame spiral is sneaky. Our brain lies to us about how fast we can actually pull something off, and capitalism has ingrained in us that we should always be producing, and if we aren’t we are failing. But you aren’t failing, lazy, or disorganized really. We are simply trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. 

Remind your brain you are not behind. Do it often. Embrace that it will happen at the right moment for you. Allow the cycle to move you, give yourself permission to slow your pace, and do one thing the system tells you not to do, rest.