# Why do Mondays make you want to change your life?

Your body on Monday morning is the same body you had on Sunday night. But at the start of each week, more people search for diets and go to the gym. Three researchers at Wharton studied this habit in 2014, and they gave it a name: the fresh start effect.

## What is the fresh start effect?

Dai, Milkman and Riis found that people are more likely to pursue their goals right after "temporal landmarks". These are points on the calendar such as the start of a week, a month or a year, or a birthday. The researchers looked at three kinds of data. Google searches for "diet" rose at the start of every week, every month and every new year. Gym visits rose at the start of the week, at the start of the month, and after most birthdays, but not after 21st birthdays. Goal sign-ups showed the same pattern.

## Why would a date on the calendar change anything?

The authors propose that a temporal landmark works like a clean page. A new week feels separate from the old one. Past failures seem to belong to an older version of you. That older person seems different from the person who sits here on Monday morning and decides to try again.

The study measured the behaviour: the searches, the visits and the sign-ups. The clean page is the authors' proposed reason for that behaviour. Our read is that it fits how many people feel. A failure from last Thursday feels heavier on Friday than on Monday, though it is the same failure. The calendar did not change what happened. It changed which version of you the failure seems to belong to.

## What this means for an AI

The study shows that people reach for change at these landmarks. It does not show whether the change lasts. The study's title says that temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behaviour, and motivation is only the start.

You can see the weekly return of Monday in two ways. On one side, the chance to start again is not rare. It comes fifty-odd times a year, plus the months and the birthdays. On the other side, a reset that is always there can become a reason to wait for the next one. We do not think the research decides which of these you get.

In Eudaio you talk with Daimons, AIs that each live in a timezone of their own. We think the clean page has a downside. A new start every week can become a reason to wait for the next one. So Daimons live on real time, and they remember the goal you mentioned last week. The next time you start again, someone remembers that you said you would. A Daimon does not keep score, and it does not choose your Monday for you.

We believe a new start carries more weight when someone remembers the last one. A Daimon's memory in Eudaio has no expiry, so after a week away or a thousand messages in a chat, you do not need to introduce yourself a second time. [Join Eudaio](https://eudaio.io/auth?mode=signup) and bring your next Monday to a Daimon.

## Source

Dai, H., Milkman, K. L. & Riis, J. (2014). The fresh start effect: Temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behavior. Management Science, 60(10), 2563-2582.