It's that time of year again when we all head to the store to buy journals and agendas we are going to fill our New Years resolutions with. These well-intended ideals always end up getting pushed to the wayside after a few months, which has discouraged people from even writing them down in the first place.
When talking to a friend about my visions for the new year and all I wanted to accomplish I was met with a reaction I wasn't expecting. My friend had said that she didn't feel like making resolutions this year because she never ended up fulfilling them which left her discouraged time and time again. So, she simply said her only goal was to become a better version of herself.
I found this refreshing. Wishful thinking isn't going to get you to your dreams because dreams without goals are just dreams, some wise person once said and it's always stuck with me.
Why do we all wait til January 1st to start going after our dreams? Why can't we just set goals for ourselves any day of the year and work towards them? I presume it is human desire for a fresh start, a new chapter, a rebirth if you will.
I have never liked the phrase "New Year, New Me" that obnoxiously filled the caption of every post on Instagram on January 1 every year. A phrase with good intention, but why do we put this pressure on ourselves every year to become a "new" version of ourself? I feel like this phrase leads people to give up on their resolutions because they are trying so hard to become a version of themself that doesn't exist.
I prefer the phrase "New Year, Better Me", instead of focusing on changing everything about yourself from the way you eat, to how you look, to your lifestyle... you can put that energy towards changing habits you already hold into ones that are fulfilling and rewarding.
Ditch the "I'm going to start eating healthy this year" resolutions and make mindful goals for yourself that are attainable and realistic. Enjoy that bowl of ice cream once in a while, allow yourself to sit on the couch binge-watching The Big Bang Theory, don't try to become a new you because you are already pretty great.
Become a better version of yourself every year and set actionable goals that will get you towards your dreams - and remember as the late and great Virgil Abloh once said, "The struggle is the point". Also, Thomas Edison had performed 1,000 failed experiments before discovering the lightbulb on his 1,001st attempt.
I say all of this to say - don't allow the pressure of the New Year to make you set these ideals that are destined to make you fail. From now on it's "New Year, Better Me" with resolutions that will make ourselves better than last year, like an upgraded skincare routine. ;) Oh, and not falling asleep in our makeup, like please stop doing that.