As we return to school, we welcome ourselves not only back to campus but also to a whole new year. And with a new year comes the many promises and wishes we tell ourselves we will complete before this new year ends.  

The phrase, “New Year, New Me,” has been around for a long time. It’s a catchphrase that many know and is probably something you planned for yourself. But if I’m being honest, I don’t like this phrase.  

See, the idea of thinking that we can wake up on January 1st as brand-new people just doesn’t sit right with me. I mean, think about it for a second: how many of us have actually felt like we were starting fresh?  

If you’re anything like me, you probably did not wake up in the new year with a brand-new personality or new ability to control old habits that you want to quit.  

The truth is, you’re still you. The same old you. And that is not a bad thing.  

Here’s the thing: growth doesn’t mean fully erasing who you were last year. We don’t get the luxury of having a “factory reset” button every January. Instead, growth is personal and true to who you are as a person.  

Every new year is where you learn new things about yourself. It’s when some parts of you change, when some stay the same and when some get discovered as you grow.  

The past year, no matter how messy or challenging it was for you, gave you something valuable.  

Experiences. Lessons. Stories. 

These aspects of our past don’t get to just disappear when the calendar changes but stay a part of you as you age and learn more about yourself and who you are as a person. 

But for some reason, the “New Year, New Me” phrase makes it sound like we were supposed to leave all of that in the past like the person we were last year wasn’t good enough.  

This is where I think this phrase gets it wrong.  

Sure, we can aim to be better. We can set goals and make improvements, like drinking more water, procrastinating less, or stuff like that. But none of that means we are becoming new people. It just means that we are learning and growing into better versions of ourselves.  

So, I don’t think that we should treat January as a brand-new start. It just isn’t realistic; change doesn’t happen like that. Growth is a gradual process.

True growth is about stumbling and falling down from time to time, figuring out these things along the way and giving yourself credit for even the smallest steps forward. 

This is why I think the “New Year, New Me” phrase misses the point. This phrase focuses so much on being “new” that it forgets to celebrate everything we’ve accomplished already and who we already have become.  

Who says that the person you were in 2024 isn’t worthy of going into 2025? Sure, you might have things you want to work on, but don’t we all? That doesn’t mean you need to completely reinvent yourself.  

So, this year, I’m saying that I am not striving for a “New Year, New Me.” I’m not ditching the person I was in 2023 or 2024 like they aren’t worthy of being in the new year.  

Instead, I am carrying that version of me into 2025. I am taking everything I have learned, everything I have survived and everything I have accomplished, no matter how big or small the accomplishment was.  

Because, really, who needs a “new me” when we are all already growing into something wonderful.