Breaking Down the ‘New Year, New Me’ Hype

Opinion pieces are the view of the author and in no way reflect the view of the Liverpool Guild Student Media or Liverpool Guild of Students.

Just a quick scroll on Instagram and your feed is guaranteed to be inundated with the likes of influencers and friends harping on about their new year goals. ‘New year, new me’ and all that jazz.

I’ve never been a big fan of the concept that a new year has to be accompanied with a complete personal overhaul.

What’s My Beef?

Whilst I can acknowledge the attraction to the attitude of ‘new year, new me’, it just isn’t for me (pardon the pun). I’m all for a new years resolution here and there. To get organised, read more, walk more – you know, the usual. I appreciate that a new year symbolises a fresh start for many.

However, I believe the ‘new year, new me’ concept causes people to pick apart their faults (or what they believe to be faults and flaws). It can leave people to completely ignore their achievements in the year just gone, all the amazing things they have done. However big or small, they deserve more recognition than the ‘new year, new me’ attitude affords to them.

It is to an extent self deprecating. You don’t need a complete change to have a better year nor should you fall into the trap of ‘new year, new me’ if you, like I, find it slightly damaging. I find the concept completely contradicts self love, a practice which has been massively promoted and encouraged in the past few years and rightly so. Self love isn’t about expecting yourself to undergo a huge change just because we’ve hit the 1st of January, again.

Rather practicing self love requires you to thank yourself for getting through the year. It’s important to appreciate all that you have done rather than forgetting that by starting a blank canvas in 2021. Expecting a new you is putting too much pressure on yourself. Personally I believe it is quite frankly unnecessary and often unachievable.

Instead…

I think we can all agree after the year we endured, there’s even more need to be grateful to your 2020 self for everything you put up with and overcame. Don’t be so harsh on yourself, you’ve done and are still doing amazing!

So, don’t simply disregard your 2020 self. Take what you did in 2020; the progress you made; the person you became and simply expand on that. Keep going, keep showing up and keep being you.

A Final Comment

‘New year, same brilliant me progressing and achieving‘.

That, to me, seems a positive and healthy motto that some may prefer to bring into each year. Self love at it’s finest, exactly what we love to see!

Rant over.

Feature Image Credit: Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash