For many of us, a new year means we want to see what we can do to start the New Year right. A New Year, for me, brings fresh ideas, motivation, determination and a fresh start. I feel, as a society, we all strive for change, rather than improvement. Some of you may read this and say, “Change and improvement mean the same thing” – I’m here to tell you, there is a difference. Improving yourself means you want to increase what is good and decrease what is bad. Changing something about yourself is giving a part of your personality or life a complete overhaul.
I find changing things about yourself is quite a big challenge, especially for the New Year. I think there seems to be a kind of pressure for some that they have to change something about themselves just because it’s a new year. It doesn’t have to be that way. This is why I’m all for making improvements rather than changes.
If you’re happy with your life but feel like you need to make a slight adjustment to a certain aspect of your life, then look and see what you can do to improve on it rather than completely change it. For example, if you like cooking but are bored of cooking the same meals, buy a new cookbook and try something new. If you like exercising but are bored of doing the same workouts, then research a new kind of exercise regime or workout style.
Some will want to make a complete change in their life. Some may make changes for health reasons, maybe because they really want to challenge themselves or get out of their comfort zone. This is something I am also all for, especially stepping out of your comfort zone.
What I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to wait until the start of a new year to want to change or improve things in your life. We are a society that decides to make a change, but then says things like “I want to start/do this, but it’s the middle of the month. I’ll start next month”. I’ll admit, I’m one of those people too. I never like to start something new in the middle of the month or week.
If I feel I need to make an improvement, I would rather make that improvement as soon as possible rather than wait until a new year because it feels compulsory to wait until then. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for changing things too, but I just don’t want to be someone who waits until the start of a new year. If you want to make a change or an improvement, do it now rather than wait weeks or months. When setting goals for the new year, it’s important to focus on improvement rather than drastic change.
Some of you may have already made your New Year’s resolutions, if you have, I hope you achieve them and smash your goals!
