Should you wait until New Years to change your old habits and old ways – or get a jumpstart on your self-improvement early? Here’s the best mindset for entering the new year.
New Years is the most popular time of the year to think about self-improvement. It’s a powerful symbol for new beginnings, but it can also come with its traps and pitfalls.
People get enthusiastic and energetic about all the changes they are going to make entering the new year, but not many people follow through on them.
We enter the new year saying to ourselves, “I’m going to start going to the gym every morning, going to bed early, and quit drinking! This year is MY YEAR.”
Every year seems to begin as “My Year” and then ends with “I’m so happy this year is over!” If that’s a reccuring pattern in your life, then it may be time to change your approach to self-improvement and self-growth.
People often set goals just so they can announce their big “New Years Resolutions” during holiday dinners – but once the calendars change, they quickly forget or give up on their ambitions.
For many, the best part about setting goals is being able to tell people about them.
Talking about your goals can even lead to a “false sense of achievement,” because we get an easy “high” from sharing our goals and boasting to people all the awesome things we’re going to do in the future.
Talk is cheap!
We get rewarded for announcing our goals, not following through on them. By the second week in January, we are already back to our old habits and old patterns.
Don’t worry if this sounds like you – we’ve all been there.
Self-improvement is a never-ending process. In theory, there is no difference between making a change TODAY vs. making a change on January 1st.
If you don’t have that mindset, you’ll always find yourself getting caught in the whirlwind of New Years hype.
Make New Years a Time for Reflection
Instead of setting a specific goal for the New Year, let’s make it a time for reflection.
Let’s use this season to step back and reflect on the past year – and see how we can use that as education, motivation, and inspiration for the upcoming one.
Here’s a question to get you started…
If you had to frame your 2023 in the most positive way possible, how would you describe it?
For many, 2023 has been a big year for personal growth.
A lot of people have learned that they are more flexible and resilient than they thought they were, especially as our world feels like it’s becoming more chaotic and turbulent.
- What’s a small victory you had this year?
- What did you learn about yourself this year?
- What’s one small change you can make next year?
Download my New Years Worksheet and answer important questions to better prepare your mind for the new year.
The past can always be used as motivation for the future. Hopefully you take something positive away from this year, no matter what it is you had to go through.
It’s also important to remember not to complain too much about how “bad” this year was. That’s another common trap that people seem to fall into during this season.
People will post “F___ 2023!” all over their social media, as if it’s that specific year’s fault for all their current problems in life.
Try to focus on the good news as much as possible. There’s no victory to be had by over-emphasizing the negative in everything.
Taking the positive from your past is an essential component to self-growth – and it applies to every day, every month, and every year, including this one.
If you can adopt that mindset, every year can technically be a “good year.”
The Symbolism of New Years
It’s healthy to embrace symbols, especially when creating new beginnings in life.
Embrace new days. Embrace new weeks. Embrace new months. Embrace new seasons. Embrace new years. Life gives us plenty of opportunities for “fresh starts.”
That’s likely why I enjoy Mondays too (but I’m weird).
There’s no doubt that there’s an energy around New Years when it comes to self-improvement. But as with all energy, it’s important we learn how to channel it in a healthy way.
If you want to make a real habit change for New Years, go for it! But it would be even better if you started that change today instead.
You could even treat the last couple weeks of the year as a “trial run” for your New Years habit, just to get the momentum going.
Maybe by the time you reach the new year, you’ll already have the habit installed and can move onto the next one. Self-improvement is steady and gradual change.
Use the energy of New Years to give yourself an extra boost, but don’t mistaken it for a quick fix. Self-improvement can only happen one day at a time. It’s about taking the smallest steps forward each and every day.
Ultimately, people change when they want to change.
Whenever you’re ready is when you’re ready.
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