Although the summer of 2024 may have officially come to a close, you are likely still enjoying the final days of warm weather. However, the changing seasons along with changes to our daily routines is inevitable.
And just as we speak of seasons in the literal sense, I also firmly believe in seasons in a spiritual sense. That is, the concept of seasons does not only apply to the weather patterns, or to the cycles of life. They also apply to our own mindsets, our energies, and our modes of self-actualization.
When we speak of “seasons” in a self-development context we usually speak of them metaphorically. However, just as the natural environment pendulates with the movement of the earth, I also believe that our minds and bodies ebb and flow in a similar fashion.
As the days get shorter and darker, as both the leaves and temperature fall, our daily routines and interactions with the world change.
Some of us begin to feel the anxiety of the impending days of extended darkness. Some of us appreciate the beauty of the fall colors. But what is apparent to everyone is that an hora of change permeates the air.
We may not be able to put our finger on it, but it is clear that energies are shifting.
Summertime represents a high-energy state of the world. The sun literally brings life and vitality to everything. Signs of life are apparent in every direction we look. Birds, bees, and people are everywhere. The trees are green. Flowers in full bloom.
The summertime is a highly stimulating period of the year. It is spent enjoying life, traveling, mingling, and maintaining a higher level of activity in general. It marks a period of peak interaction with the outside world during which we enjoy ourselves and the fruits of our labor.
However, these interactions with the world and with others also represent a period of feedback in which we receive a litany of inputs that re-shape us in one way or another.
Every trip that you’ve embarked on, every festival you’ve attended, every friend that you connected with, every adventure that you’ve undertaken, and every social interaction that you’ve navigated has all left an impression on your subconscious mind.
Over the summer you’ve had experiences that you enjoyed, and you’ve had experiences that you didn’t enjoy. You’ve had interactions that gave you energy, and you’ve had interactions that drained your energy. You likely had revelations that have added yet another layer to your life experience.
Whether you know it or not this new layer of life experience subconsciously alters your perceptions of the world, your perceptions of friendships and social dynamics, and your perceptions of self.
This is neither good nor bad. However following any highly stimulating period in which new information is absorbed by the subconscious mind, marks an opportunity for introspection. It marks an opportunity to mindfully process these new experiences, and re-shape our lives accordingly.
This is what I believe Fall is all about. It is the season to lock in and refocus your life on being in better alignment with your relationships, your health, your wealth, your peace, your happiness.
It is a period in which you can reflect on the ups and downs that you’ve experienced over the course of the summer to identify aspects of your life that both are, and are not, serving you well.
Once you’ve gained clarity on this, you can begin to take the step of letting go of the elements of your life that do not serve you well so that during the winter you can focus your energy on furthering the things that do serve you well.
This is akin to a tree dropping its leaves to allow it’s roots to conserve energy through the winter.
This is an important, and often overlooked transitionary step that can make the difference between a winter of monotony and despair, and a winter of genuine growth and enlightenment.
In my experience winter is the best time of year for self-development since it is a time of year with less sunlight, less reason to be outside, fewer signs of life, and represents an overall far less stimulating environment.
Winter is a time of fewer distractions thus it is the optimal season for intense focus.
However, you cannot take advantage of this without first understanding where you need to grow, and what you need to do to actualize your growth.
This makes Fall THE most ideal time to fully “lock in.” It is the time to turn inward and focus your energy on getting clear on the path you want to take over the coming year. It is the time to realign your thoughts, your actions, and your interactions with your vision for the next year. It is a time to recalibrate your compass to your north star, so that each step of your journey forward is made with confidence and conviction.
I’ve observed that most people hastily come up with goals or resolutions as the new year approaches. But like anything else in life, particularly for things that require lots of effort and commitment, planning is an important and often overlooked stage of the process.
The majority of people who haphazardly enter into the new year with ambitious goals are overwhelmingly unsuccessful and lose sight of their vision within the first three months. But engaging in a season for mindfulness and stage-setting will position you for doing the prerequisite work that gives you the skills, knowledge, and clarity to self-actualize in a drastic way.
Two key aspects of the planning stage are goal setting and doing the necessary prerequisite work so that you are prepared to move forward efficiently.
So, if you feel like you need to start prioritizing your health and fitness in the new year, then the Fall is the time to “lock in” by reflecting on your recent life experiences that left you having this intuition.
What transpired over the Summer that now has you feeling like health and fitness needs to become a greater priority in your life? Did you feel self-conscious at the pool or beach? Did you feel like you didn’t have enough energy to enjoy yourself the way you wanted? Was your ability to socialize hindered by preventable health problems?
If you feel like you need to do better with personal finances in the upcoming year, then what actions in the past 3-6 months contributed to you feeling this way?
If you feel like you need to re-evaluate your friendships/relationships, then what transpired over the summer that left you thinking you need to rethink things?
These are the types of questions I ask myself during this season of reflection, to get better clarity on my vision for the next year. Then I follow up by coming up with the specific actions that I need to take to best position myself for successfully moving forward with my plans.
I’ve talked in detail about my process for coming up with my vision in my article about anti-visioning, So I won’t go into detail here. However, what I mentioned above is the gist of it.
Nonetheless, leveraging the Fall as a season of reflection and locking in on your vision for the next year will set you up for a winter of taking massive and decisive action as needed.
In past winters, I’ve taken massive actions like spending thousands of dollars on a business coach to help me set up a legitimate sales funnel, making major investment into real estate properties, and hiring an immigration attorney to begin my process of relocating to Portugal.
None of these efforts would have happened to the level of success that they had if I had not spent the Fall thinking back on the prior months, and deeply reflecting on my interactions with the world. It gave the clarity I needed to lock in on my vision and make major moves during the winter.
So now I challenge you to do the same.
Summertime is over.
The season of vibrance and vitality is coming to a close, and your opportunity to lock in has begun.
Get focused, be mindful. Look backwards. Meditate. Tap into your subconscious mind to figure out what you did and didn’t like, what brought you energy and took it away, what went well and what didn’t… and use the insights you gain from this process to prepare yourself for a winter full of growth and transformational change.