Last month, I worked with the What Else team on a campaign called "New Year, New You." We created so many assets in a short amount of time and spent so many days consistently focused on finishing it that the phrase "new year, new you" was locked into my brain. I read it on Slack, Asana, and in my email daily. I heard it said on video calls and in team huddles. I searched for it in Figma and read it on file names; the phrase was everywhere.
At first, it was fine. It prompted me to consider what kind of "New Me" will exist in the new year. Who will I be in 2025? (As if you can wake up a new human on January first.) In time, though, I got tired of it rattling around in my brain and developed a bit of an antidote to the phrase, saying back at it: "New Year, Same Me! I am happy with who I am!" It reminded me I don't need to (or want to) be a new person this January or this year. I plan to keep consistently working toward the things that matter to me, and I feel strongly I know what those things are.
I know where this idea comes from (the concept of being someone new); it’s because identity is a good driver of change. Saying, "I am sober," is much more impactful than saying, "I don't drink." The first is a statement about who you are, and the second is about what you do. We are much more motivated to hold ourselves accountable to statements about who we are than to processes or outcomes. James Clear wrote about this idea, and it resonated with me a lot.
Identities that feel like me (or that I strive to be):
an artist (illustrator, designer, muralist, painter)
an adventure athlete (cyclist, runner, mountain biker, bike packer, skier)
a nature/outdoor lover/gardener/birder/native plant enthusiast
a grounded, intentional, patient, creative, and kind human
a small creative business owner
a writer, reader, thinker, guitar player, seamstress
a thoughtful wife/sister/aunt/daughter/neighbor/dog mom
It’s a bit long, but it also feels concise, considering everything I could have listed here. I didn't add "swimmer," "furniture flipper," world traveler," or "animator" to the list because even though those are things I've been (or have been interested in becoming) in the past, I don't feel like they resonate for me right now.
I think "guitar player" feels like a bit of a stretch; I only know a few chords, but the joy I get from strumming them is enough for that one to make the list. I want to play my guitar more in 2025, so it was a worthy addition. After finishing that list, I made a new list of how I'd like to spend my time.
Things I want to do more of in 2025:
Make art consistently and persistently
Explore new mediums and challenge myself to bigger projects
Ride my bike, ski, run, and challenge myself physically
Explore new places and experience the magic of the outdoors
Spend time outside and with people (and dogs), I love
Garden and take care of the many plants I adore; learn about them too
Taking care of myself, my dogs, my relationships, my stuff, the earth as best as I can
Take my time and not rush, think things through, communicate clearly
Be kind, grounded, calm, and intentional in as many ways as I can
Run this small creative business of mine and make an income in a way that feels right for me
Play my guitar, sew, read, write, and learn new things
Spend time with my people, call them (so much better than texting), send birthday cards, make the time and effort to be there for the people I care about
I love this list. Just reading it makes me happy. I’m looking forward to this year!
The last thing I did was make a 2025 Bingo Card, an idea my friend Erica had, and I loved it. It’s more of a bucket list than a single resolution and more goal-focused than habit-focused. I decided to illustrate mine and focus it on some of the things I wrote about above.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year. (Ten days after the first of the year was as long as I could push this post out, so I kept it short). I plan to write more in 2025 and hope to post a newsletter every other Friday. See you in two weeks!
Ariel
Have thoughts? Questions? Ideas? Please leave them in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you. <3