New Year New *Constantly Striving for the Best Version of* Me
January, 2025
Happy New Year! Now that 2025 is upon us, I’m sure that you’ve been seeing and/or hearing the “New year, new me!” catch-phrase quite a bit. But what if celebrating the new year and looking ahead to how we want to carry ourselves through this next 12 months doesn’t have to involve a brand-new “you”—but a “you” that is simply working on bettering yourself? A “you” that carries forth the experiences and knowledge you’ve gained in the past, to use in developing a greater self-awareness? A “you” that is more aligned with the values you hold dear? And a “you” with a further understanding of your goals and how to pursue them?
In the past, I would hear “New year, new me!” and think about how I could make a complete transformation of myself in the upcoming year. I would then think about all of the pressure that this goal would entail—a complete transformation? That’s a whole lot of change! And a transformation….to what exactly? A whole different person?
I quickly realized a few things about this phrase.
First, it is okay to work towards bettering yourself— 1000%. We should always be striving to become better versions of ourselves. More authentic, honest, strong, kind, compassionate, wise, and so much more. It might even be okay for you to want to change your daily routines, how you present yourself to the world in terms of things like…smiling more! Wearing fun clothes to gain a confidence boost each day! Giving more compliments! But wanting to change who you are at your core? Wanting to make yourself smaller? Wanting to become someone that you aren’t? These are a different story. You are YOU and you are ENOUGH. You do not have to change your whole being, who you are, or what you look like. You can work on bettering yourself—on becoming the best, most authentic version of you. But to completely try to alter who you are is not only just unnecessary; it will likely do more harm than good.
Second, even if you think of becoming the best version of yourself as the “new you” that you’d like this year, slow down for a moment! That is a lot of pressure to put on anyone for a mere 365 days. Yes, 365 days is a lot of days. In the grand scheme of life, though, you can EVOLVE to be your best self over the course of many years. You don’t have to try to flip a switch and immediately get there. If you’d like to grow as a person, set small and realistic goals! For instance, would you like to spend less time focusing on changing your body? Start to invest yourself in other activities that take focus away from what you look like. Sign up for an art class! Take up a new instrument! Read a new book! (Speaking from experience, these things are very helpful!) You don’t have to cut yourself off from thinking about how you’d like your body to change 100%—growth is gradual and is best done while being PATIENT with yourself and giving yourself GRACE. Take baby steps and set small and attainable goals. You don’t have to do everything all at once.
In my own eating disorder recovery, a lot of this was applicable. There were times when I wanted to change entirely who I was. What I didn’t realize was that I was still ME underneath the eating disorder—it was not me at my core that needed changing. What I needed to do instead was shed the layers of “me” that were actually not the real me, but instead were the eating disorder, and values that didn’t align with who I truly was. Then, I needed to work on growing back and LIVING by the values that did align with the real me—and WERE the real me. This was not an overnight process. It took years. But it was worth it.
This is not to say that the “me” I am today is the one I want to be forever. I want to be who I am at my CORE forever, yet I want to keep learning and growing. I want to constantly strive for the best version of me and enjoy becoming her each and every day—and this is my hope for you, too.