Disillusioning the top 5 New Year’s Myths for a better January

Once the clock turns from 11:59 pm to 0:00 am on January 1st, the world seems to believe everything has changed.

We are better people, making better decisions and living in a better environment.

Despite being proven wrong about this myth every single year, people somehow still tend to buy into it.

This post is about all the pressures of the new year, realising they are all just myths after all.

What you can find in this post about self-growth:

1. New Year’s Eve must be celebrated

From a young age, New Year’s Eve is big. It’s full of company, food, and fireworks. It is one of THE events of the year. As teenagers, there are big parties, even more fireworks, and the rising social pressure of doing something “cool” to fit in.

And then, someday, for me it was at the start of my twenties, you start to question all this pressure, the expectation of this particular night having to be grand, cool and colourful.

Because in the end, New Year’s Eve is just another year, and the 1st of January is just another day.

All the other parties and events throughout the year can be just as amazing as the one on New Year’s Eve. Possibly even more amazing, because the pressure of it having to be amazing is missing.

I have celebrated New Year’s Eve in many different ways.

I have spent it with my family, at a friend’s party, just chilling with my best friend, visiting friends, and having great food. My best friend has slept into the New Year multiple times, and she’s still here and thriving.

What I want to say with this is: There is really no “right” way to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

You can do whatever you feel most comfortable with, and this one evening a year will definitely not determine the worth or quality of your life and connections.

2. Having to have “a plan” for the next year

I am a big fan of reflection, vision boarding, and daydreaming. Having said that, I don’t do any of these to have a specific, laid-out plan for the next year.

They are to remind me of what I want to focus on going forward, what experiences I would love to have, and things I would love to do in the future.

There are no dates attached to any of these (except maybe for a special holiday).

And most importantly, all of these things make me feel good and excited about the year to come, not full of pressure and anxiety about all the things I “have to” and “should” do or accomplish within the next 12 months.

Planning, of course, isn’t always a bad thing but especially around New Year’s people tend to want to know what exactly it is that you are going to be doing or achieving.

And there is really no sense in buying into that kind of pressure because life is changing so fast that most plans for the year ahead don’t work out how you imagined them to, anyway.

3. It’s either your year or it’s not

“This is going to be my year.” I have said this sentence more than once, and then life doesn’t turn out to be smooth and perfect in the first couple of weeks of January, and that thought is gone again.

The concept of a whole year (365 days, meaning 525.600 minutes) going your way and always being great, never being challenged or in a bad mood, is an illusion and completely unattainable.

You will have highs and you will have lows and you will have many, many days lying somewhere in between. The real art of living lies in finding the good in those mediocre days and being grateful for all the great things that are being given to you.

However, there is never going to be a “perfect” year that was “yours”.

I have found that thinking like that tends to keep you focused on the negative, because when you need everything to go well (it is your year after all!), you notice the not-so-perfect things a lot more and feel deeper disappointment when experiencing them.

Rather than focusing on a whole year going your way, maybe focus on appreciating the little good things every day brings.

This helps you move through challenges more gently, when they come up (and they will) and not letting them ruin the next 10 or 11 months completely because “your year” now has got be the next one, as this one is wasted.

4. New Year, New Me

There is a myth about some kind of magic around the New Year. People tend to think everything is changing for the better in the turn of that one second that tells us it is January 1st.

Most of us know rationally that this is obviously not true.

However, a lot of people still think they can change all that they are in the turn of a second with the whole “New Year, New Me” trend that has been going on.

But honestly, changing anything about yourself or your life is hard work, and the first day of a new year might give you the motivation to start, but not necessarily the discipline to follow through.

This means that buying into the whole “New Year, New Me” posts and trends can turn out to make you feel even worse about yourself, because you simply didn’t manage to change all of yourself in the turn of a second (which is impossible anyway!).

It is better to get clear on what you truly want to change and do it one challenge at a time. Even though New Year’s Resolutions hold their troubles, too.

5. New Year’s resolutions

As I have pointed out above, changing one thing at a time about yourself and your life is definitely a healthier approach than wanting to change all at once, but it’s still hard work, and the New Year might not be the best time to change, after all.

The sketchy feeling I get when thinking or talking about New Year’s Resolutions is always why people think that changing on that one day is easier than changing at any other day of the year.

There is no rational reason to wait until the New Year to start working out, eating healthier, quitting social media, studying more, being more social, prioritising health and friendships, etc.

All of these things are just as difficult on January 1st as they are on June 5th or September 18th.

It is an illusion that sticking to new habits and routines works better at the beginning of January. That myth is fuelled by society, advertisemens and deals (f.e, at the gym).

It is also the myth that motivation to start is what will keep you going.

It is not.

Discipline and habit are what keep you going. And neither of these two is more likely to come by on the 1st of January than any other day of the year.

So, please don’t wait until New Year’s Day to change your life for the better.

Because the New Year is so close now, it kind of does make sense to start then.

But if you want your New Year’s Resolutions to last and see true change in your life, there are some tips you might want to consider.

For this, check out my Post on 5 simple tips to make your New Year’s Resolutions last and other posts and information on habit building.

You can obviously use these tips and resources any other time you want to start or change your life as well.

This post has been all about disillusioning the Top 5 New Year’s Myths for a better January.

I hope this has been helpful and please remember: You deserve all the good things this world has to offer!

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