Put Some Stories on the Calendar and Make Year-End Goals with A Touch of Mystery & More Entertainment Group
There are four months left in the year. What are you still waiting to do?
I realized something the other day:
We still have FOUR MONTHS left in 2026. Four months!
September through December is not the tiny leftover scrap of the year we sometimes treat it like. It’s a whole season of life.
And it got me thinking about the way we approach January.
Every New Year, we make lists. We set goals. We decide this will be the year we travel more, see our friends, try new things, take the class, go to the show, learn something, finally visit that place we’ve been talking about forever.
And then life starts life-ing.
Schedules fill up. Work gets busy. There’s laundry. There are emails. Someone needs something. The car makes a noise. Suddenly it’s September and you’re wondering how on earth we got here.
So instead of waiting for another January, I have a different question:
What did you want to do this year that you still have time to actually DO?
September Gets a Fresh Start, Too
There’s actually research behind why starting again in September can feel so appealing.
Researchers have identified something called the Fresh Start Effect. Certain points in time, like a new year, a birthday, the beginning of a month or even a Monday, can create psychological landmarks that help us separate the person we’ve been from what we want to do next.
In other words, January 1st does not own the franchise on starting over.
September 1st works just fine.
But I’ve been thinking about this beyond the usual goals.
Yes, maybe you want to exercise more, organize your house, finish a project or finally tackle the closet that currently requires protective gear to enter.
Those things matter.
But maybe the rest of the year shouldn’t only be about what you can accomplish.
Maybe it should also be about what you can experience.
What Have You Been Saving for “Someday”?
- Take the trip.
- See the show.
- Try the restaurant.
- Call the friend you keep saying you need to call.
- Take the class.
- Go dancing.
- Learn to paint.
- Drive somewhere you’ve never been.
- Wear the ridiculous outfit.
- Buy the ticket.
- Plan the weekend.
Do something completely outside your normal routine just because it sounds FUN.
When we’re kids, experiences seem to happen constantly. Everything is new.
As adults, we can become extremely efficient at repeating the same week.
Work. Errands. Responsibilities. Netflix. Sleep. Repeat.
There’s nothing wrong with routine. Routine keeps life functioning.
But every once in a while, life needs a plot twist.
And yes, considering where you’re reading this, perhaps even a murder. (A fictional one, please. Let’s be VERY clear.) 😂
Put Something on the Calendar That Becomes a Story
That’s one of the things I love about what A Touch of Mystery & More creates.
It isn’t simply a show you sit and watch.
You become part of something.
You meet characters. You look for clues. You question suspects. You laugh. You speculate wildly about innocent people. You become temporarily convinced that you would have made an EXCELLENT detective.
And afterward?
You have a story.
That’s what experiences give us.
Stories.
The dinner where everyone laughed until they cried.
The weekend trip where everything went wrong and somehow became more fun because of it.
The concert you almost didn’t attend.
The friend you finally went to see.
The completely ridiculous thing you tried for the first time.
Or, perhaps, that time you got aboard a cruise ship and spent seven days trying to solve a 1940s big-band murder mystery.
Just throwing that one out there. 😉
Four Months Is Plenty of Time
You do not need to completely reinvent yourself before December 31st.
I’m certainly not planning to.
I’m a big believer in what I call messy consistency: keep moving, adjust when life inevitably interferes, and don’t confuse one imperfect day with failure.
But I also don’t want to blink and discover that another four months disappeared while I was busy waiting for the “right time” to do something.
So here’s my challenge for both of us:
Before you fill the rest of your 2026 calendar entirely with obligations, put a few stories on it.
Something you’ve been meaning to do.
Something you’ve never done.
Something that makes you a little nervous.
Something that makes you laugh just thinking about it.
Something Future You will remember.
We don’t need 122 perfectly optimized days.
I’d rather have 122 days with a few really good stories in them.
So tell us… what are you putting on the calendar?
