September: Stop Starting Over

September always feels like the time when everything starts again.

The kids are back in school. Schedules become schedules again. For some businesses, it’s the beginning of a new fiscal year. I remember in the military, this was also around the time when everyone suddenly became VERY interested in making sure the money left in the budget got used.

September just feels like: Okay. We’re back. Let’s go.

Maybe it’s also because September is Virgo season.

Now, I am not an astrologer. But I somehow have a LOT of Virgos in my life, and the stereotypical Virgo qualities—organization, consistency, timeliness, attention to detail, and a rather strong appreciation for the “correct” way to do things—are well represented.

And those people have been very good for me.

They have pushed me to become more consistent, organized, timely, and focused because, quite frankly, I had to learn how to keep up with them. I have been very fortunate that they gave me opportunities to develop those skills—and somehow maintained enough patience with me while I did it.

So maybe September is a good time to borrow a little Virgo energy.

Not to start something new.

To look at what is already there.

September Is Not January

For me, September is when things finally calm down enough that I can look at all those projects I put on the back burner for “when I have time.”

You know those.

The lists.

The half-finished plans.

The thing you were absolutely going to implement.

The system you created and then stopped using.

The project that was actually a really good idea before six other things became more urgent.

September is when I start going through all of it.

And there are really only a few choices:

Do it. Adjust it. Keep it for later. Or get rid of it.

That's different from setting new goals.

There is a time for dreaming and brainstorming and deciding where you want to go next. But before adding another goal, another strategy, another course, another system, another business idea, another planner, or another productivity hack, there is value in stopping and asking:

What do I already have?

And maybe more importantly:

Is it working?

You Might Not Need a New Goal

This is especially important for business owners, entrepreneurs, high-energy people, and people whose brains really enjoy novelty.

New is stimulating.

New ideas are exciting.

Planning the new thing can give us energy before we have accomplished a single thing.

Maintaining something?

Reviewing spreadsheets?

Updating an old process?

Returning to a project after the exciting beginning has worn off?

Not quite the same dopamine hit.

And that creates a problem.

Sometimes we interpret “this isn't stimulating anymore” as “this isn't working anymore.”

Those are not the same thing.

A goal can still be good after it becomes boring.

A business strategy can still be working after you stop feeling excited about it.

A system can be useful even after it stops feeling new.

And sometimes the thing we are tempted to abandon doesn't need to be replaced.

It needs attention.

Before You Add Something, Audit What You Have

September is a great time to look at your current workload and ask whether it still fits the goals you set for yourself.

Look at the goals themselves, too.

Do they still apply?

Have you made progress that you haven't actually stopped to acknowledge?

Does the goal need to change because you have learned something since you created it?

Is there something you keep carrying forward because it once mattered, even though it doesn't anymore?

What have you been saying you'll get to “when you have time”?

And, perhaps most importantly:

What is already working that you need to keep doing?

We don't always do this.

Summer can become a mad dash to squeeze in as much leisure as possible while simultaneously keeping up with work, kids, travel, camps, family, and everything else.

Then school starts.

We get everybody situated.

And then we go right back to the grind.

But what if you're slightly off course?

Are you going to keep going until January because that's when we're culturally supposed to evaluate our lives?

Are you going to wait until you're miserable enough to need the emotional high of reinventing everything?

Because that's another pattern I see.

We keep going.

And going.

And going.

Eventually, the mundane starts to feel like drudgery. We lose interest. We lose some of the original inspiration. We start feeling like we aren't accomplishing enough.

Then January arrives, and suddenly we're ready to fix everything with BRAND NEW GOALS!

New year!

New plan!

New system!

New me!

Meanwhile, we may be abandoning perfectly good goals, systems, projects, and ideas that didn't fail.

They just needed attention.

Progress Is Motivating Too

One of the problems with constantly looking toward the next thing is that we rarely stop long enough to see what we have actually accomplished.

And that's a shame, because progress itself can be motivating.

Look at the foundation you've already built.

Look at what you know now that you didn't know in January.

Look at the systems that are working better.

Look at the things that became easier.

Look at the project that is 60% finished instead of focusing exclusively on the 40% that's left.

Look at the goal you changed because you learned enough to realize the original goal wasn't right anymore.

That's progress too.

Evaluating where you actually are gives you information. And that information can give you enough energy and direction to continue through the rest of the year.

You may discover that you don't need to reinvent yourself.

You don't need another new thing.

You need to finish something.

Or adjust something.

Or organize something.

Or finally admit that something no longer belongs on the list and experience the incredible joy of crossing it off forever.

(Which, by the way, is its own delightful little dopamine hit.)

Borrow Some Virgo Energy

So this September, I'm borrowing a lesson from the Virgos in my life.

I'm looking at what is already in front of me.

The plans.

The checklists.

The projects.

The goals.

The systems.

The things I said I wanted.

I'm evaluating what is working, what isn't, what needs attention, and what needs to go.

Because we don't always need another source of inspiration.

Sometimes we need to recognize the value of what we've already created.

Before you start looking for the next exciting thing, take an honest look at what you have right now.

Keep what works. Adjust what doesn't. Finish what matters. Let go of what no longer fits.

Then keep going.

January can wait.