This month is the start of the new school year for a lot of families, and even though I truly don't understand how summer is already winding down, this time of year has always felt like a fresh start to me.

People are coming back from vacation, routines are starting again, and calendars are getting a little more normal. Also, you're into the woo woo, which I always am a little bit, August is brings bold, warm, magnetic energy, which is what I'm focusing on this month.

I've also heard a lot of, "I'll get to that when the kids go back to school." "We'll figure it out when everyone is back from vacation. “I'll get serious about it after summer.”

I've said it too. And now...here we are.

I've always thought of this time of year as a Second New Year. Not because I think we need another January where we set 14 goals and decide we're suddenly going to become people who wake up at 5 a.m.

I just think it's a really good time to check in.

We're far enough into the year that we actually know some things now. We know what's working and what isn't. We know what we've been avoiding and some of the things that felt really important in January might not feel that important anymore.

So instead of trying to squeeze every goal I set in January into the rest of the year, I'm asking myself:

Knowing what I know now, what actually deserves my time and energy for the rest of 2026?

Here's what I'm doing this month, and I'd invite you to do it with me:

Go find the goals you set in January. Yes, actually find them!

Look at the business goals, revenue goals, team goals, personal goals, all of it. What happened? What didn't? What are you still excited about?

And then ask the harder question: What doesn't matter anymore?

I think sometimes we keep chasing a goal because January-us decided it was important. But a lot can happen in eight months. Your business changes, your team changes., your life changes, and you change.

You don't get extra credit for accomplishing a goal you don't even want anymore.

I'm notoriously bad at this one because I'm usually thinking about what's next before I've even finished what's happening now.

So I'm making myself stop and celebrate a couple of things.

Professionally, I'm really proud of success of the The Bench, a business my co-founder, Courtney Marchment, and I launched this year. The Bench is a high-touch, concierge-style coaching platform that thoughtfully matches organizations and leaders with exceptional executive coaches. We created it around a mission we deeply believe in: making leadership development more personal, intentional, and human while creating meaningful value for both the organizations we serve and the coaches supporting them. Watching that vision come to life, and seeing the impact it's already having, has been incredibly rewarding!

Personally, one of my goals at the beginning of this year was completely different. My husband and I were celebrating our 12th anniversary, and I decided we needed a big adventure to mark it. That eventually became an 18-mile hike along the Tahoe Rim Trail.

It was hard. We had to adjust our plans along the way. Yes, there was definitely a point when I wondered why I'd come up with this idea in the first place. But when I look back on it now, what I'm celebrating isn't really the 18 miles. It's that I set a goal around something I value: adventure, time together, and continuing to build a life that feels fun and full.

And I think that's worth remembering when we talk about goals. Not everything we're working toward needs to make us more productive, grow our revenue, or look impressive on paper.

The Bench and an 18-mile hike couldn't be more different, but both represent things I wanted to make space for this year. One is about the kind of business I want to build and the other is about the kind of life I want to live.

So before you decide what needs to happen next, ask yourself: What have I already done this year that reflects what matters to me?

This is where I'm changing my thinking a little.

I don't think you need another giant list of goals for the rest of the year. What if you picked one thing and gave yourself the next 60 to 90 days to really go after it?

Go after the client you've been nervous to approach. Change the offer you already know isn't working. Give your team more responsibility instead of automatically taking everything back. Or fully step into the leadership role you've been tiptoeing around.

And your bold experiment doesn't have to mean doing more. It could be protecting your time, creating some actual white space in your calendar, or figuring out what happens when you stop being available to everyone all the time.

The point is to choose something that makes you a little nervous and a lot excited, and then actually give it a chance.

Once you've picked it, look at your calendar. Where is it going to happen? What needs to come off your plate? What support do you need to make it possible?

Because saying something is a priority and actually treating it like one are two very different things.

The question is: What would be genuinely exciting to test between now and the end of the year?

It turns out my Second New Year theory isn't entirely made up.

Researchers call this the Fresh Start Effect. Research published in Management Science found that certain landmarks in time, including the beginning of a new week, month, year, or semester, birthdays, and holidays, can increase our motivation to pursue goals. These moments create psychological distance from what came before and encourage us to step back from the day-to-day and look at the bigger picture.

That might explain why back-to-school season has always felt so energizing to me. It creates a natural line between summer and what's next, even if January 1 is still months away.

But here's the part I find much more interesting: a fresh start gives us energy, but energy alone doesn't create change.

Stanford recently shared some practical ways to use the Fresh Start Effect professionally. Rather than trying to change everything, they recommend choosing one focus area, treating it as a 60- or 90-day experiment, and creating structure and accountability around it.

I love that idea because it takes some of the pressure off. You don't need to completely reinvent your business, your team, or yourself by December 31. You can choose one thing that matters, try something different, pay attention to what happens, and adjust.

That's strategy too. We're not starting over. We're using what we've learned to decide what deserves our energy next.

01. Leverage the “Fresh Start Effect” to Grow Your Career in 2026 by Stanford University

02. The Psychology of Fresh Starts by Kevin Novak

03. Temporal Landmarks and Behavioral Modification: Leveraging the "Fresh Start Effect" for Organizational Change by the Global Council for Behavioral Science

This month's Nat Chat is really the companion conversation to this note.

I talk about a question that comes up constantly in my work with business owners and leaders:

Is the business you're building actually creating the life you want?

I share five questions from my Business Design Audit that can help you step back from whatever problem feels urgent today and look at what you're actually trying to build.

Because you can have a great strategy, but if it's taking you somewhere you don't actually want to go, it's probably not the right strategy.

→ Watch: The Business You're Building Is Shaping the Life You're Living

📺 I'm watching Ted Lasso, which might be my favorite leadership show that isn't actually a leadership show. Ted gets plenty wrong, which is probably why I like it. He leads through relationships, trust, vulnerability, humor, mistakes, and genuinely believing in people.

Apparently even when I'm trying to relax, I'm still analyzing leadership…I can’t help it, I love my job!

You don't need January 1 to decide you want something to change. Also, you don't need to throw out everything you've been doing and start over.

Maybe your Second New Year is simply a chance to ask yourself: Knowing what I know now, what do I want to do with the rest of this year?

Celebrate something you're proud of. Let go of something that doesn't matter anymore. Then pick one thing that feels worth your time, energy, and attention.

We've still got plenty of year left.

Let's do something good with it!

See you next month,

Natalie

If you're navigating growth, leading through change, or trying to determine your next strategic move, I'd love to help.

A Business Breakthrough Session is a complimentary strategy conversation where we'll step back from the day-to-day, identify what's creating friction, and uncover practical next steps for moving forward.

If you're leading a larger team or organization and looking for leadership development or executive coaching support at scale, I'm also the Co-Founder of The Bench, a collective of experienced coaches dedicated to helping organizations strengthen leadership, develop teams, and build healthy, high-performing cultures. 

Every 3 to 4 weeks, I share the conversations, questions, and lessons I'm exploring with the leaders and business owners I coach. My hope is that each note gives you a new perspective, a question worth reflecting on, or one idea you can put into practice as you build your business, strengthen your leadership, and create a life you genuinely love.

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