The Promise of a Slow, New Everything
- Author
- Elize ·
- Date
- 9 January 2023
And just like that, January has entered the chat. Some of us have scribbled down a few resolutions somewhere. Others made a quick, less official, mental note. And then you have a hand full of people who immediately jumped to action and managed to stay consistent with their New Year’s resolutions. Whoever you are among these people, we are here to tell you why it doesn’t matter whether you keep or don’t keep your own promises this year.
Every year, lots of people enjoy the feeling of a clean slate. The clock hits midnight and suddenly a new year has begun. We celebrate, we sing, we cry, we dance and then slowly but steadily we begin tackling our first month out of twelve. And, eventually, there are a lot of us who make yearly promises to ourselves. New Year’s resolutions.
However, it does not matter whether you keep these promises as soon as you´ve started them. You know why?It is one simple little line, really. Are you ready? Here it goes;
You can always begin again.
There was once a girl, who was dissatisfied with her life. She confided in me and told me about her situation. A couple months later I noticed (online) she had pulled a complete 360 change. Her clothing style had changed, but that was only the surface of it. She had begun to surround herself with different people, adapted a whole new mindset, was learning more about what she wanted and on top of that she appeared to be glowing with confidence now. Because she began to invest. Invest in herself. She did not wait for a new start, for the clock to show the midnight hour. For the 1st of January.
Now, I am not telling you it is time to start learning more about side hustles or to purchase a whole new wardrobe. But if there are aspects to your life you do not like anymore, you can always change them. You always have the power to change everything and anything about yourself. Ask yourself: what feels authentic to you? Then start acting on it.We do not need January to tell us that we can be a new person. And, most importantly, we cannot expect one month to change us completely. We do not change overnight. We can make the decision to reinvent ourselves, but this is a process, not a light switch. Maybe the number of the year we live in has changed within a few seconds, but we unfortunately cannot. Changing ourselves, bettering ourselves, takes time, patience and determination. As much as we would enjoy the quick fix (“how to lose weight in a second!”), changing and transforming is done continuously and consistently.
Here is our last simple truth, or a mindset if you will, that will enable you to really unlock yourself this year. You do not have to change 100% at once. Each day, you can attempt to be more yourself or “better” yourself for 1%. After a month, you will already have evolved a solid 30%. Radical change is divided in little steps. Habits are being created by setting up smaller systems. Truly changing yourself is not giving yourself the promise of a new year, but rather the promise of giving yourself a slow, new everything.