In Defense of Starting the New Year With a “Meh” Attitude

Start your year with a bang! Ten habits to get your year off to a great start. Five ways to rock your new year. Your feed is probably flooded with headlines like these; all things ending the last year and starting the new one strong.

But I have no desire to do that. The holiday season was exhausting. I’m in the middle of a massive research project in my lab and going into the slow season of my business. I have no desire or energy to end my year strong or start the following year with a bang. I want to crawl under my covers and sleep.

Why do we let an arbitrary date on the calendar dictate so much?

Sure, it can be helpful to put big changes on the schedule, and many people find it helpful to designate a date to start a new habit. It is absolutely fine to celebrate the last year’s accomplishments! And in business, January 1 might mark the start of a new fiscal year.

But really, other than the calendar or meaning assigned by us, what is the difference between December 31 and January 1? Both are likely to be chilly and short on daylight. Both are likely to see you at the same weight and general appearance. Your name probably hasn’t changed. You probably live at the same address unless you really screwed up during your New Year’s celebration. And you almost certainly didn’t become rich and famous.

So, what distinguishes one from the other unless we assign that significance?

I’m not starting my new year off doing anything but trying to get some rest. I’m still exhausted from the last one. I don’t have any big resolutions. I want to be a little better in the next year than I was the year before. A little bit healthier. A little bit happier.

A few more sales through my business. A bit more progress in my research. A little more patient with my kids. A tad more accepting of myself. The first of the year is just another day, and I treat it as such. I’m sick of the expectation that I’ll be a new me because I’m pulling out a new calendar. If I’ve not miraculously become someone different in the preceding decades, I’m definitely not starting now. 

I’m starting my year off with a shrug, a “meh,” and realizing that I don’t care about the cultural expectation of grandiose changes coming with a new calendar year.

More power to you if you do. That’s great. For you. I’ll be over here in my millennial leggings and a hoodie, just trying to keep my stuff together for another day, week, month, or year.