And here is why…
Think about it.
New You?
What does that really mean? Taken at its most literal, it could mean that your old self should be cast aside for a new and better “you”. That your previous “you” is not worth keeping and only a “new you” is worth presenting to the world.
Which is a HUGE mistake.
What makes you better is not throwing away your years of experiences — the good, the bad, and the oh-so-ugly. It is precisely those experiences that make you better!
They have refined you.
Just as a sculpture needs to be carved out of an imperfect block of marble so do you need to be carved out of an imperfect shell of humanity.
New Year?
I may be one of the few that has never been one for New Year resolutions — and here is why.
You should not wait to start something new. There have been countless articles written as to why New Years Resolutions Fail and I believe that is because when you pick an arbitrary date to start something…you never really wanted that thing in the first place.
New Years resolutions are an excuse to not begin today.
If you TRULY want to start something new START NOW!
Stop reading this article and act!! (you won’t hurt my feelings)
Not Built in a Day
Rome was not built in a day…
Do you know when that quote originated? Almost 1,000 years ago.
Yup!
The earliest known version of this expression is found in the collection of medieval French poems Li Proverbe au Vilain, which was published around 1190:
Rome ne fu[t] pas faite toute en un jour
(via phrases.org.uk)
For almost 1,000 years people have known that it takes a long time to build something beautiful. They didn’t wait until the New Year to start building Rome.
You can’t tell me that on January 1st you are going to start the “New You”…and why?
Because that is impossible.
YOU CANNOT AVOID YOUR PAST.
Your old self is part of who you are. It is that original marble block that only a select few saw the beauty within…heck…for many of you, only YOU SAW WHAT WAS POSSIBLE.
That’s ok. That is normal.
Because year after year, you have survived and refined yourself. That block of humanity took hammer blow after hammer blow — and only now is the world ready to see what was inside all along.
You Are Ready
There is no “New Year New You”…because today, right now, you are here and ready. Do not wait for tomorrow or some arbitrary date to act. If you do, you will always be waiting for that “perfect time to start”.
Start now. Fail. Start again and fail again. Learn from that.
Hammer blow after hammer blow…those failures will fall away to reveal a more refined you.
You got this…
Don’t wait for “New Year New You”…because it’s bullshit.
