Janus

Exactly two hundred and one weeks ago, I started a weekly email called the Sunday Starter. The first post was called How to Start When Starting is Hard. I find myself thinking about it in this first post of 2025, three and a half years later, because I am thinking about creating an audio version of these posts. I have been thinking about it for a while, but like any new thing that we want to start, it feels daunting. How do I know this is the right move? How can I be sure that it will be worth the effort?

The image of the Roman god Janus I think is very fitting when it comes to setting goals. When Julius Caesar restructured the calendar, he named January after Janus, the Roman god with two heads. The name comes from Latin, meaning "arched passage, doorway" and the two heads symbolize standing on the threshold of a new beginning, with one head looking back and one looking forward. When we choose our resolutions or goals, whether it is choosing them on January 1st or any other time of the year, Janus gives us a really great place to start.

I am not saying this is a god to worship, but rather a symbolic image. Known as "the god of beginnings", Janus reminds us that in any new beginning we should be looking forward and backwards if we want to find our footing. We are all good at looking forward and imagining a new future - it's factoring in the past we need to work on.

In that first post 201 weeks ago, I pointed out the value and importance of being able to fully envision the future you want:

“Is there something you have been hoping to do? Think for a minute about what the day will look like when it's done. Think about how you will feel when you get there. Think about what you will do to celebrate. When you know exactly what you want - new job, promotion, a number on a scale or some other specific achievement - fully envisioning it can be enough to motivate you. There is a reason why vision boards are successful and it's not because you are somehow willing your future into existence (at least I don't believe that to be true). They work because of the motivation that comes when you have a clear understanding of where you want to go and reminders of why you want to go there.”

Once we know the direction we are looking, we then need to look back to be able to shape our path forward. This is the hard part. I can envision myself creating a Sunday Starter podcast all I want, but If I don't factor in my past up until this point, then I'll end up setting unrealistic expectations for myself. If I don't factor in where I am on my journey, then I'll set the bar too high for my first week and quit before I've ever really gotten started.

When I look back, for example, I can see that I have a 200-week track record of consistently posting on Sunday mornings, which tells me that I have what it takes to stick with something week after week. When I look at where I am equipment-wise, however, I may have a good microphone but I know absolutely nothing about what it takes logistically to create and post a podcast. This tells me that having a goal of posting this as a full podcast "episode" on January 5th is completely unrealistic, especially considering my prior commitments. I may need to purchase some new equipment, do some research on programs to use, and then create a schedule for recording. This is when the "daunting" of it all can discourage us, but if we have a clear picture of what that future looks like, then we can use our reality to shape our path to it. I may not be able to start posting episodes next week, but I can start working towards it.

New Years’ resolutions succeed when we look forward to the future we want, while factoring in the past that brought us to where we are today.

When we look back, it helps us understand where we are and what we need to move forward. So what doorway are you standing in this morning? When you look forward, what do you see? Think about it. Build out that image fully. Think about why it's important to you and why it will be worth the effort. Once you have that in your mind, turn around. Now what do you see? Does your past point out some potential trouble areas? Are there people or things in your life that will make achieving this future more difficult? Call those out in your mind and factor them in when you start to take that first step forward. Goal setting is holding past, present, and future together: this is what I did yesterday, this is what I want for tomorrow, so this is what I'll do today. You don't need the whole plan to move toward the future you want, you just need to start taking steps.