My Meadow Report

the juice is in the journey

  • Home
  • About
    • About Renée
    • What is My Meadow Report
  • New Here?
  • Offerings
    • Practical Astrology:
  • Work With Me
  • Collections
  • Connect
You are here: Home / Navigating Change / 3 Steps to Beginning a Change

3 Steps to Beginning a Change

September 19, 2020 | Renée Fishman

While it’s true that things are changing all the time, intentional change is a process.

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year offers a roadmap for creating intentional and sustainable change.

Language: What does Rosh Hashana mean?

First, a bit of language.

The literal translation of Rosh Hashana is “head of the year.”

Rosh = head and Shana = year.

The word Rosh in the context of a month or a week also means the beginning. The beginning of the month, which coincides with the new moon, is rosh chodesh. Sunday, the beginning of the week, is yom rishon. Rishon means “first.” It’s root is rosh.

As I explained previously, the word shana also is the root of the word that means “to change.”

Using that definition, Rosh Hashana means “the beginning of change.” Looking at the holiday from that perspective, I got curious:

What does the “beginning of change” mean? What elements or steps can we extract to give us a roadmap for how to create sustainable change?

3 Steps to Beginning a Change

I often talk about the ABC’s of change: Awareness Before Change.

Rosh Hashana introduces two other elements that also fit the ABCs of change.

Here are 3 aspects to the beginning of change:

Awaken

Before we can be aware we need to be awake. Most of us are sleepwalking through life, wrapped up in the fog of busyness, meeting expectations, and getting things done. We go through our days on autopilot, relying on our habits without considering whether they are serving us.

We are generally not aware because we are not awake.

On Rosh Hashana the sound of the shofar startles us out of our sleepy trance. The Shofar is an alarm, a wakeup call that cuts through the noise and creates a silence in which we can hear the still, small voice of our inner wisdom.

The wail of the shofar is like a cry from within our souls, asking us to stop and notice. The shofar always signals something that is about to come. It is our clarion call to awareness.

Awareness

We can’t change something that is not in our awareness. This is why it’s more difficult to break a habit than to create one: habits are in our subconscious.

Whether you want to change a habit or effect change in a society, you must first bring awareness to the behavior or issue that requires change.

On Rosh Hashana, we pause to review our lives as we prepare to stand before God in judgment and account for how we have lived. As we prepare our case for trial, we have the opportunity to revisit our values, reset our direction, and recommit to living our truth.

Advocate

Before we can implement change, we need to advocate for that change. On Rosh Hashana we are called to court before God, asked to make the case for why we should live. We must be willing to advocate for ourselves, to take a stand for our lives.

Rosh Hashana rests on a premise that we are all capable of change, if we desire to change. No matter what we have done in the past, we can reset the course and start fresh. We get the opportunity to wipe the slate clean. But we must advocate for ourselves to get that opportunity.

This is a day when we are called to claim our worthiness to receive God’s Grace. We are called to be an activist for our own awakening.

Another Perspective on The Head of Change

Another idea is a play on words. Rosh Hashana literally means “head of change.”

This speaks to where change often originates: in the mind: thoughts, ideas, imagination.

We think about where we want to go and what we need to do. We get an idea. We cultivate a vision.

As we’ll discuss in part 2, however, the head isn’t what creates or sustains change. It’s just where we start.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: Navigating Change Tagged With: awakening, awareness, behavior change, change, habit change, Jewish holidays, mindfulness, personal development, productivity, Rosh Hashana, spirituality, vision

Love it? Hate it? What do you think? Don't hold back...Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

The journey is better with friends!

Join a growing tribe of wisdom seekers who are committed to a life of meaning and purpose, and embrace a new paradigm of productivity.

I take your privacy and my integrity seriously. I won't spam you or sell your info. You can unsubscribe at any time.

WHAT’S EVERYONE READING?

  • The Missing Piece to Rumi’s Quote About Finding the Barriers You’ve Built Against Love
    The Missing Piece to Rumi’s Quote About Finding the Barriers You’ve Built Against Love
  • Reflections On Turning 44: Transforming Double Death Into Blessing
    Reflections On Turning 44: Transforming Double Death Into Blessing
  • 3 Ways to Work With the Energy of Mercury Square Neptune
    3 Ways to Work With the Energy of Mercury Square Neptune
  • Sun Square Saturn: Your Hero’s Journey
    Sun Square Saturn: Your Hero’s Journey
  • 7 Tips to Improve Your Time on CrossFit’s DT Workout
    7 Tips to Improve Your Time on CrossFit’s DT Workout
  • Life is Not Happening TO You; It’s Happening Through You
    Life is Not Happening TO You; It’s Happening Through You
  • 5 Essential Elements for a Tight Five Comedy Set
    5 Essential Elements for a Tight Five Comedy Set
  • Venus Conjunct Chiron Teaches How to Heal Your Deepest Wounds
    Venus Conjunct Chiron Teaches How to Heal Your Deepest Wounds
  • 5 Lessons on Healing from the Jupiter/Chiron Conjunction
    5 Lessons on Healing from the Jupiter/Chiron Conjunction
  • 5 Tips for Alchemizing the Challenge of Mars/Saturn Opposition
    5 Tips for Alchemizing the Challenge of Mars/Saturn Opposition

RECENT POSTS

  • The Wisdom in Distraction: Why You Should Follow Your Curiosity
  • How the Background Soundtrack Influences You
  • Meditation Is Not What You Think It Is
  • Jupiter Square the Lunar Nodes: Escape the Binary Keeping You Stuck
  • The Upside of Disruption
  • What’s the Pace You Can Sustain?
  • Time is Not Money: How to Value Time for What It Really Is
  • Innovation Requires More Than a New Idea
  • How to Break Your Phone Addiction Without Deleting All the Apps
  • Full Moon in Scorpio: Disrupt Yourself

Archives

Categories

Explore

action ADHD astrology beliefs business change coaching communication creativity emotions energy fear fitness freedom goals habits healing holidays learning lessons life meaning mindfulness mindset nature personal development personal growth planning practice presence process productivity purpose rest rituals seasons self-awareness strategies success time time management trust vision writing yoga

Disclosure

Some of the links in some posts are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.

Connect with Me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • Threads
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

Get the Insider Scoop!

Not everything is on the blog. Sign up to receive ideas and strategies that I reserve only for insiders.

Thanks for subscribing!

Copyright © 2025 Renee Fishman · BG Mobile First · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in

%d