Fresh Start Effect
The cognitive phenomenon where people are more likely to take action towards a goal after temporal landmarks that represent new beginnings, such as a new home, new workplace, or even walking through a doorway.
Origin
Identified by behavioral economists Hengchen Dai, Katherine Milkman, and Jason Riis in their 2014 paper "The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior," published in Management Science. Analyzing Google search data, gym visits, and goal commitments, they found that people are 33% more likely to exercise at the start of a week and 47% more likely at the start of a new semester. The researchers proposed that temporal landmarks (new weeks, months, years, birthdays, holidays) demarcate time periods, relegating past imperfections to a previous self and inducing a big-picture view that motivates aspirational behavior.