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Exploring the idea of “new year, new me,” and ways to healthily add color to everyday without completely changing who you are.
“New year, new me.”
We hear this phrase repeated at the beginning of every year. Whether it’s in anticipation towards the end of December or sometime at the start of January, it never fails to make an appearance.
Everyone associates this mantra with something different. For some, it represents the idea of being able to remake themselves. For others, it adds an unwelcome pressure to force themselves to change yearly.
Motivation at the start of a new year can be a good thing, but it doesn’t have to come along with pressure and dread. Of course, anyone can make any change they want at any time – it’s just a matter of starting somewhere.
Enacting the idea of “new year, new me” can be fun and stress free. Ablaze wants to explore the different ways you can healthily add color to your day-to-day life without completely changing who you are.
Starting with Small Routine Changes
Say, in the new year, you want to start going to the gym more. To incorporate this into your life in an achievable and non-overwhelming way, all you need to do is pick a set number of days every week and have that action as a staple of your routine.
Adding color to this could be anything from picking a new exercise class to attend weekly, to making new playlists for each workout.
For any music lover, curating new playlists and listening to music based on mood or themes can be fun. Especially if someone is going from only listening to their favorite songs while driving or working to listening to music more frequently can help add rhythm to their day as well as diversify their music taste.
Exploring the Community Around You
Now, if you’ve lived in the same place your whole life, this could be a little more daunting. But, that’s the fun of it.
Looking at local coffee shops, cafes, stores and especially neighboring city events a little farther out of the way is a great way to widen your horizon of things to do.
Of course, if you’re in a new city or town, this would be a lot easier. If you are living in a new area, consider making lists of places to visit.
Now, these lists are special. They are direct and purposeful.
For example, when coming back into Knoxville for the new school year, I created a list of all of the coffee shops, bookstores and that were intriguing.
This extensive list gave places to go and things to do for whenever there was a free afternoon to explore a new part of the city. This method creates fun solo or social activities to find favorite restaurants, coffee shops and more.
Finding Your Sense of Style
This doesn’t have to mean buying a completely new wardrobe, but maybe just checking out local thrift stores, learning how you like the accessories and even looking at your friends’ senses of style and seeing what you like.
Explore New Hobbies
The beauty of hobbies is that you don’t have to monetize them and you don’t have to become an expert – you can simply enjoy them as you wish. Developing new hobbies throughout the course of the year is a great way to find new interests, as well as new ways to destress or fill your free time.
With all of these suggestions, there are plenty of ways you can embrace a new year, but stay the same you. While everyone is different, many of these ideas could be helpful if you want to spark a change in your life
A UTK Junior majoring in marketing, Lauren Peterson, discusses the “new year, new me” phrase.
“It makes me feel motivated and inspired. I try to embrace who I am by expressing myself through my clothing, music tastes and social media,” Peterson said.
Whether it’s through personal style, music or exploring your area – the new year doesn’t necessarily have to bring a new you.
Stay the same person, but embrace your interests.
Think of it as “new year, same me.”
