New Year, Better You
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I’m always excited about a brand new year! It doesn’t matter to me what happened last year; when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, I always feel as though my life has been reset.
It doesn’t matter if I’m awake or asleep at midnight, although I personally love to be awake and experience the excitement of that moment.
The things that didn’t pan out in the previous year? Those were simply lessons I needed to learn.
This year, setting New Year’s Resolutions is not the cool thing to do. I can’t keep track of how many times I’ve seen the phrase “New Year, Same Me" on social media. I think it’s okay to move beyond resolutions because so many of those fail within the first month anyway.
This blog is all about recognizing your authenticity or your authentic path. But, I’d like to give you some actual steps forward to do that and some of this advice reminds me of resolutions, but I’d rather you think of it as a new way of thinking.
You already know
First of all, there’s already an idea in your head of what you’re supposed to be doing. Up until now, you’ve been too scared to act on it. But that little idea is in your head for a reason. Your authentic self already knows what you were put here to accomplish and the exciting glimpses you get are to encourage you to get moving.
If you’re anything like me, you know what lights you up. You can see yourself doing it. But then, it’s too scary and you shut it all down. How would you even get from here to there anyway?
According to my You are a Badass planner, Your job isn’t to know the how, it’s to know the what and to be open to discovering, and receiving the how.
But honestly, where would you even start? Have you ever noticed that the information you’re seeking comes to you right when you need it?
My planner again: We pretend our excuses are very serious and real when they’re usually rather cute and ridiculous.
For instance, if your excuse is money, could you possibly work a part-time job while you follow your dream? Or maybe you stay in your current job, but instead of spending three hours scrolling social media each night, you devote that time to whatever will push you closer to your goal.
Also, there’s this: Tame, vague goals are the best way to live a tame, vague life. If you want to knock it out of the park, you need to know exactly what you’re shooting for.
Think about what you truly love - is it drawing? Painting? Creating jewelry? Making food from scratch? Writing? That’s most likely connected to, if not the whole sombrero, of what you’re supposed to be doing.
My planner has an idea about how this should feel, too. This is the feeling you’re going for when you make a huge leap in your life: equal parts excitement and terror.
It’s okay to be scared. I’ve been/am/will probably still be scared all the time when I think about the steps I need to complete to accomplish all I want to. It’s okay. I’m getting used to being scared and even wondering if goals that aren’t scary are worth it at all.
The one thing I have been able to move beyond is the idea that other people will laugh at me. There will always be Negative Nellys in your life. Take a good look at them. My guess is that they’re in a nice, safe job and life that will never be described as anything close to equal parts excitement and terror. The only thing that keeps them busy is talking about other people. Let. Them. Talk. You’ve got better things to do than worry about them.
But this…
That brings me to the scariness of the future. If you can’t push yourself to live out your authentic dream because you should, think about how it would feel if you continue putting it off and waiting for the time to be right, and then looking around and realizing your friends are already living their authentic lives.
Someone around you is already doing it, so why shouldn’t you?
My planner also says: Faith smothers your fear of the unknown. I know this to be a fact. When I quit teaching, my first fear was that we wouldn’t have enough money to live on. Instead of looking at all we had, I kept thinking about all we didn’t.
But both Sarah Ban Breathnock of Simple Abundance and Jen Sincero of all the You Are a Badass books agree that you already have all that you need. And they’re right. Put your faith in God, Spirit, the Divine Being, whatever you believe in, and you’ll see that as long as you continue being grateful for everything you have, you’ll never go without.
With all that encouragement, what is still keeping you from following your craziest, happiest, most outrageous dreams? No more excuses. This is finally our year!