The concept of a new year giving rise to a new version of your has always fascinated me. On the one hand, you’re a person; a compilation of emotions, thoughts, opinions, experiences, strengths, weaknesses, hopes and dreams. So, in reality, we shouldn’t leave our growth to the new year—it should be an ongoing process, something that we’ve embarked on. But it’s also understandable—we have people making New Years’ resolutions. And the New Year seems like a perfect time to start afresh. New day. New month. New year. Dickson (2023) discusses the history of New Years’ resolutions and their importance and it got me thinking—we all like the opportunity for a fresh start and the New Year is the perfect chance to do this. Normally, I’m one for being consistent and trying to implement good habits from the get-go but here are a few reasons I will indulge in the idea of New Year, New me.
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1. Last year was a rollercoaster.
Both in my personal life and in the world around. I had my public examinations, I changed universities, I cut ties with former friends, I cut my hair, I lost weight then gained it. And with the range of socio-political issues that continue to plague us to date, it was a lot for me to take in and try to navigate. So, this new year was a fresh start for me on many different levels and I needed it to reset and try again. It was a reminder that though the past year was a challenge, there’s always a chance for a new beginning. And what better chance than a new year?
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2. The New Year feels so perfect.
Think about it. The first day of a new month in a new calendar year seems like a perfect time to start afresh. I also think it provides a sense of unity. We all are lucky enough to have started the new year together and we all have a chance to better ourselves. And it can be a collective project for us all. Parker (2014) reinforces the notion that that we are more likely to embark a task when it is collective.
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3. Everyone deserves a fresh start and in the collective experience of the new year, we can do just that.
Life is tough for many different reasons. In a digital age, we face the constant pressures to be perfect from social media, from our families, from our work. The New Year allows us to give ourselves a breather and try to go easier on ourselves. We are only human and the best we can do for ourselves simply to try. Everything else will work itself out—I promise!
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4. When you start to reap the rewards of your new year, you feel good.
Life is almost warped in a way. It is simultaneously long and short. Too short to spend not being happy, too long for you not to make the most of every minute and treasure the most important moments.
I hope you’ve all had the most beautiful start to 2024. In honesty, January was quite slow for me and I did slip into old habits again (oops..) but I am enjoying the trajectory that I’m moving at for February and look forward to the near and far future. If the start to your 2024 has been all that you’ve wanted, congratulations—I’m proud of you! And if it hasn’t, remember you have the rest of today, the rest of this week, the rest of this month, the rest of this year. You can do something about it. Make it count.
References:
Dickson, J. (2023). Where did the new year’s resolution come from? Well, we’ve been making them for 4,000 years. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/where-did-the-new-years-resolution-come-from-well-weve-been-making-them-for-4-000-years-196661.
Parker, C.B. and University, S. (2014). Research shows that working together boosts motivation. [online] phys.org. Available at: https://phys.org/news/2014-09-boosts.html# [Accessed 6 Feb. 2024].
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