The clock has hit midnight and the ball has dropped in New York. Fireworks are going off in the sky, people are hugging their loved ones as they think about all the things that they’re going to change about themselves this year. It may be a new year, but no, it’s not a new you. This ideology that the start of a new year means that a person should completely reinvent themselves is inaccurate. The significance of a new year can easily be equated to that of a new day when the clock strikes midnight and the calendar flips to a new date.
While setting New Year’s goals is beneficial in motivating yourself to make positive changes, expecting to be a completely new person is unrealistic.
Stop trying to reinvent yourself. Instead, improve, evolve, and become a better version of yourself day by day. Having high expectations is not a problem; in fact, that’s the best thing you can do for yourself. However, these expectations must be something you can consistently work toward day-by-day for all 365 days. Setting goals that you can accomplish by making small everyday changes will ultimately lead to you achieving your goals, and you’ll end the year ready to push yourself even harder.
We often hear the story of how gyms are packed to the brim on Jan. 1, but by the end of the month, they’re relatively empty. This is because people expect themselves to go from not working out once to being in the gym every day for hours, and when they don’t see results, they give up, and it becomes next year’s goal. Sure, this might not be everyone, but for most, it either leads to quitting or fosters insecurity and comparison with those around you.
No, it’s not “new year, new me” but it’s also not “new year, same me because I was never the problem.” Instead, it’s “new year, improved me.” You should reflect and build on your learnings from the previous year, and you should use your experiences to think about what you can do better to create the life that you want to live. Changing who you are completely isn’t the goal–it’s about improving your current self.
Maybe in a few years, you’ll be a new you, after consistently making small changes every year to grow and change based on your experiences and exposure to new things from the past year. People believe that self-improvement is an overnight journey that they should be on because they see people around them deciding to do it. But the only reason you should decide to set a goal for the new year or decide to be a better version of yourself is for you. Setting goals for yourself to get better grades or start a new hobby just because your friends and family are doing it is ineffective. Your goals need to be personal so that you can actually achieve them. The new year doesn’t mean you have to completely reinvent yourself because everyone around you is talking about how the new version of themselves will magically appear when they wake up the next day.
You have to be the one to decide that you want this year to be better than the last, and that should motivate you to be a better version of yourself, instead of trying to keep up with the people around you.
When the ball drops, stop competing with the people around you and focus on improving yourself. When the clock hits midnight, be a better version of yourself instead of attempting to reinvent your old self. Keep making improvements every day, every month, and every year until you become a new you. The clock hits midnight every single day, so instead of choosing to wait until Jan. 1st to become someone new, choose to be better every single day.
