“New year, new me” sounds refreshing as you turn the page into a blank slate – nothing in your way, but improvement! “Drink more water this year, walk 10000 steps each day, sleep for at least eight hours a day…” all sounds possible, until it isn’t. 

Today, many step into the new year with an extra layer of ambition that drives them to make far-fetched “New Years’ Resolutions”. Many even prolong their Decembers as they look out into the horizon of the new year – a symbol of a new beginning. However, prolonging the present is only prolonging the future. 

The shock of reality often crushes ambitious souls in January as they feel continuous waves of  discouragement and dissatisfaction. When the goal of walking 10000 steps a day fails because you were too busy one day, your internal confidence takes a dramatic halt followed by declining levels of discontentment. Overflowing ambition into the new year often leaves one with overwhelming disappointment. 

Setting a “New Years’ Resolution” suggests the view of a new year as a new beginning. While a new year is comparable to a student’s first day of school, the first day of a new year is simply just that – a first. It does not indicate any obligation to set immediate goals that have implications of drastic change. 

If you are discontent with something in your life right now, why wait for the new year to change it? Why is the time the reassurance of your personal happiness? Be proactive; make the changes that you want to see made. Instead of viewing life as a symbol of new beginnings, create your own beginnings wherever and whenever.