Late starts still count. Learn how to begin again without burning yourself out, let go of all-or-nothing timelines, and give yourself permission to restart as many times as you need.
This week on Cadre, we're talking about giving yourself permission to start over. Late starts still count. Starting again after a rough week counts. One missed start does not erase your capacity to begin again. Starting over is not a sign of failure. It is a signs of courage.
Late starts still count. Hi, my name is Rachel Havocost, and this week on Cadre, we're talking about giving yourself permission to start over. I used to think that if I didn't start something at the right time, it didn't really count. I think this is especially relevant as we end the first month of the year, and oftentimes people have resolutions or goals that maybe we don't get started on, and we start to feel shame or disappointment for not getting started. But the truth is, if you don't start in January, if you don't start on Monday, it does not matter.
You can always start again. Because here's the thing. Late starts still count. Starting again in March counts. Starting again after a rough week counts. Starting again after you quit, paused, avoided it, or fell off completely still counts. Because restarting isn't proof that you failed. It's proof that you're still trying. For a long time, I thought that beginning again meant I had to come back with more discipline, more pressure, more intensity, and like, I had to punish myself into consistency.
But that's usually how burnout happens. So now when I begin again, which I have done tons and tons of times, I try to do it differently. I ask myself, what would it look like to restart in a way that doesn't cost me my nervous system? So that might mean starting smaller than I want to, starting slower than I planned, or starting imperfectly instead of waiting for motivation to magically appear. I'm also trying to release the idea that January sets the tone for like everything else, because one month does not decide how the rest of your year goes.
One missed start does not erase your capacity to begin again. Life in general is not like a single launch. It's a series of returns, and it's a series of making mistakes, getting back up, and trying again. You're allowed to start over as many times as you need to, not because you're behind or because you fail, but because you're human and life is about trying. I fully believe that it is incredibly courageous to start over and that the bravest thing you can do is start again. Start. Starting over is not a sign of failure.
It is a sign of courage.
