New Choice: a refreshing take on the New Year hubbub
Grab a Snack & Sit With Me
Let’s take a minute, you and me. Sure, the title here is a little cynical. You aren’t wrong if you picked that up. But my intention is not to boohoo New Years hope and enthusiasm, but rather to remove any superficiality from it.
While the world is buzzing on about fresh starts and shiny goals, I wonder what would happen if we looked at the new year a little differently? How about we lighten the load on those gorgeous shoulders of yours and swap the pressure for something a bit more… digestible.
Forget the “New Year, New You” pep talks. You don’t need a total reboot. (you’re already spectacular.) But what if this year wasn’t about tearing down and rebuilding your life? What if it was just about making one new choice—just one—that makes things a little brighter, a little easier, or just a little more fun?
Let’s Go!
New Year, Who Cares? Let’s Talk About Choices Instead
So, it’s January. Again. The calendar flipped, the gunpowder stained clouds have settled, and everyone’s chit-chatting about how this is the year they’ll finally become the yoga-doing, green-juice-drinking, millionaire-genius they’ve always meant to be. While it works for some, and is certainly well intended, it’s also a lot of pressure.
Here’s the thing: You’re not a phone app needing an update. You’re an interesting, complicated, brilliant person with layers and history and, let’s be honest, a few urgent texts you keep forgetting to send. You don’t need to be new. But maybe—just maybe—you’d like to try something new. Maybe it’s all about that one small new choice.
Skip the Life Overhaul, Opt for a Pivot
Instead of rewriting your entire life script, what if you just changed one thing? Not the big, flashy, Instagrammable thing, but something subtle. A tweak, a tilt, a little shimmy in a new direction. Maybe it’s how you think about that thing that’s been driving you bananas—the business venture, the relationship, or the way your right airpod keeps vanishing (even when you’re sure it’s in it’s case.)
Instead of diving into full-scale reinvention mode, you’re just giving yourself permission to try on a new thought. Like swapping out a pair of shoes: “Hmm, this feels lighter. I like this.”
What to Do When Inspiration’s on Vacation
But what if the thought of making a choice feels like staring at a blank wall? What if inspiration has gone on an extended coffee break and left no forwarding address? Here’s the truth: inspiration doesn’t always come knocking first. Waiting for it to arrive is like expecting a plant to water itself.
When inspiration’s playing hard to get, do this: make a new choice—any choice, no matter how small. Organize the junk drawer you’ve been ignoring since 2022. Dance in your kitchen to a song you ecstatically love. Text a mentor you haven’t talked with in a while. The beauty of action, no matter how tiny or random, is that it shakes things loose. It doesn’t have to be deep or transformative; it just has to put into motion.
That first little choice—a decision to move, to experiment, to tinker—creates a ripple.
Action wakes up Energy. Energy wakes up Inspiration.
Suddenly, the blank wall looks more like a canvas. What started as a small shift might just crack open a door you didn’t realize was closed.
By framing lack of inspiration as a call to choose action, you’re no longer waiting for the muse to arrive. You’re gently nudging yourself forward, one step at a time, until inspiration catches up to itself.
Shift the Way You Think About Stuck Stuff
Now let’s talk about that one thing that feels stuck. You know the one. Instead of trying to bulldoze your way through it, (or continuing to avoid it) what if you just chose a different lens?
For example:
“Why does this always happen to me?” becomes, “What’s the universe trying to tell me?”
“I’ll never figure this out,” turns into, “What’s one step I can take toward figuring it out?”
That’s it. No forced epiphanies or mandatory journaling marathons. Just a simple shift in how you approach the thing that’s bugging you. Sometimes, unsticking from that which you feel stuck to, is that simple.
You’re Already Awesome. Just Keep Going.
This isn’t about fixing or perfecting or throwing out the perfectly good you that already exists. It’s about playing with new choices—light ones, silly ones, ones that make you smile or roll your eyes but still feel different.
So here’s to you, as is. Not a software update, but a beautifully lively work-in-progress. You don’t need a whole new you, just a little nudge—a new choice, a fresh thought, or a random action that wakes up some energy and gets you moving in a way that feels right.
Welcome to your same-self, and the continuation of your awesomeness. 2025 AD is already already looking good on you.
