New Year, Same Me
I’ve been seeing the phrase “New Year, Same Me” around social media recently, and I decided that I love it. I, like many, have been a victim to the “New Year, New Me” phenomenon, and not only is it unrealistic but it’s also unhealthy. I fully support wanting to implement changes in your life, and if the new year is the most convenient or committed time you have, then definitely go for it! But I don’t think we should feel inclined to change ourselves completely just because we’re starting 2024.
Now, 2023 was A YEAR. This year was full of relationship, financial, career, friendship, mental health, personality, & physical health obstacles, and I’m sure it was for you, too. But over the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying to appreciate how much I’ve grown over this year. For one, I feel like it went SO fast, but also it seemed like it was filled with so many more life-shaping moments than usual. Maybe that was the theme of this year, or maybe that’s just what getting older is going to look like. I can’t really say 2024 won’t have a lot of moments like that, because 2024 is the year I graduate college, move again, start a career (fingers crossed), and hopefully so many other things. Some of the best advice I’ve gotten is to take things day by day (thanks, mom <3), and that’s what I’ve been trying to do over the past month and will continue to do. I’m so guilty of always thinking towards the future, and while I think to an extent that it helpful for myself, I have realized that I can take it too far and fail to appreciate the present moments of joy in my life. While I’m so excited to see what’s in store next year (and terrified), I want to remember that right now, I’m experiencing my last Christmas season in Prague and I want to soak that in as much as possible. This probably sounds a bit redundant to some of my recent posts, but I’m repeating it more for myself than anyone else in hopes that I actually commit to this idea. 2023 taught me a lot, as did the past 2 years, and I know that I missed a lot of moments due to thinking about and stressing towards the future. All I know right now is that I really don’t want to do that in 2024.
A second piece of advice I received this year, which was frankly quite humbling, was ‘it’s not all about you.’ Okay, so, duh, but also it’s hard to realize this sometimes? We all obviously see the world from our perspectives, and when it comes to conflict or someone expressing emotions it can be easy to presume it has something to do with you and you need to get involved. Nobody wants someone to be angry towards them, but on the other hand, it can be a bit self-centered to think that every time a person is angry or frustrated it’s about you. Because it’s not always about you. I had a friend tell me this when I was asking her advice about a guy (of course), and I literally stopped in my tracks when she said this to me. I think it’s important to worry about your friends’ well-being and hope that you aren’t causing any of their distress, but it’s also overwhelming to the other person to have to make someone else feel better. While this is a tricky thing to navigate, I think the main point I’m taking from this advice is to remember that I’m not the center of anyone’s world and everyone has a thousand other things they’re thinking about when they react a certain way. I want to give people more grace as they navigate their personal lives, and I hope that can be reciprocated, too.
Something I do like to do in the new year is pick words I want to center the year around. My words in 2023 were: Appreciate, Bloom, & Intentional. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking of what I want my 2024 words to be: Present, Affirm, Create. Last year I was transitioning into a new university, in a bit of a chaotic place with friendships/relationships, and I knew that I would see a lot of change and development in the year. So, I wanted to be appreciative of what I had and tell those I love that I am grateful for them more, I wanted to see myself bloom and allow myself to explore who I was without worrying about judgement, and I wanted to be very intentional towards what I did. This year, I want to be present in every moment, and honor the feelings I have during those moments. I want to affirm myself and trust that I will be okay, and I want to be more affirming to other people. Lastly, I want to create — I want to paint, and crochet, and draw, and design, and write, and take pictures, and cook. I want to lean into my creative energy, because “creative” is never something I would have been confident enough to describe myself as a few years ago. I used to think you had to be good at what you were creating in order to call yourself a creative, but now I know that I flourish when I allow myself to make things. One of the nice things about writing down these words is that I can see where my priorities have shifted. This year, I want to put more energy into trusting myself and my intuition, and I want to get to know myself better. I know that I will go through a lot this year, and I trust that I can handle whatever it is. As an extra 2024 word, I want to be aware of Sonder, because I know that everyone around me has their own unique life, and we all have different upbringings which make us think and act differently. I want to be more respectful of this, especially in the way that I react to other people. I don’t think being emotional is a bad thing, but I’ll be the first to say that sometimes I’m not being fair to other people in the way I react to them, so I would like to be more considerate of that in 2024.
I like the idea of using words to set up the new year rather than goals, because with 1 word I can set hundreds of little actions into motion over the course of the year. If I remember throughout the year that I want to be more present, then I will have that in the back of my mind at every gathering, trip, date, etc. When I said I wanted to be more appreciative last year, I felt myself pausing in moments and thinking of how grateful I am for my life. I took screenshots of messages that made me happy, and I tried to show value towards my friends. These small words make such a difference for me, so if you’re looking for something less pressurized to implement in the new year, I would recommend this.
Another thing I LOVE to do is create mood boards for the year. I’ve done this since 2021, and it’s something I look forward to at the end of every December. Usually I do it around New Year’s Eve, but this year I’m writing this blog post early so I can be more present (!) with my family in the next few weeks, thus I decided to make my 2024 mood board now. I don’t look at any of the prior ones until I’m done, but it’s genuinely so interesting to see how I’ve changed over the past few years. I can see that in 2021, I was moving abroad for college, so I focused the board on traveling and self-love. In 2022, I went into the new year pretty lost, so my mood board reflects that redirection and cautious optimism. In 2023, I was focused on developing my relationships and shaping a lifestyle that aligned with my values. This year, I am focusing on encouraging myself, slowing down, and creating a beautiful life. I love seeing who I am every year, because while I can see a shift, I also still see 16-year-old me in this year’s mood board. If you want to create a template for how you’re approaching your growth, mood boards are one of my favorite ways. I just copy & paste from Pinterest into a blank document (I actually use a blank PowerPoint, but Canva or other sites work the same!) and once you’re done, you can save the single slide as a pdf and it fits pretty well as a desktop background. Last year I printed out some of the pictures from my mood board so that I could make a version of it on my wall above my desk, and I’ve loved looking at it throughout the year.
Here’s a few snippets of each mood board throughout the years.
There’s no correct way to approach a new year. I’m quite honestly very ready to close the chapter of 2023, but I also want to be aware of the fact that nothing is going to change overnight. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you’re giving yourself grace and you’re kind to yourself. Everyone wants to change something in the new year, and you aren’t in competition with anyone.
Although this is just a small hobby right now & I only get 10-20 readers when I post these, I do want to say I appreciate you if you read my posts. This is kind of just a digital diary for me, and it’s been cathartic to thought-dump on here. I want to create a safe space on the internet that affirms whatever you’re feeling, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to do so. I’m logging off for the rest of the year to spend time with family, so I hope you all have a Happy New Year and I wish everyone the best 2024.
