Your Best Self - Every Year!

"New Year, new me.”

“This year is going to be my best year.”

I’ve noticed these statements getting made fun of all over social media and at first I agreed but upon further thought I realized…aren’t these things we actually should be saying every year?

After all, life is about growth and change and progress…evolving as a person. What I know for sure about life is that we never “arrive” and just when we think we’ve found ourselves and hit our sweet spot everything can change…in an instant. I’ve also learned that this change, while it can be excruciatingly painful, is designed to grow us and bring us to “the next level.”

We’re not supposed to get comfortable and complacent. Growth does not occur in the comfort zone…we all know that!

As I set my own goals for the coming year (notice I did not refer to them as “New Year’s Resolutions”) and consider this the year that I will be “my best self”, I know that I should be saying this every year. While each year aiming to achieve your best self may not be pretty and it may be painful, it can still be bringing you to a higher level of self. Last year was the most painful and ugly year of my life but the growth I experienced and how I changed as a person was like no other time in my life.

In order to progress and experience growth doesn’t mean we need to set unrealistic and unattainable goals that are only going to set us up for failure. Sometimes the best goal we can set for ourselves is being committed to growth, doing things we’re afraid to do, experiencing things outside our comfort zones. We often set the bar so high for ourselves that we quickly get discouraged and accept defeat. But change doesn’t come in the big, giant steps. It comes in the small, daily changes.

This year I’m choosing to do many things in my life differently…not big things, just small things that I know I can manage. Mostly the things that go on inside my head. I’ve set some goals – they’re realistic and they energize me. My goals feel manageable and attainable. I didn’t set the bar too high, I set it just right. A year from now, I want to be able to say, again…”I grew this year. I grew a lot. I stepped out of my comfort zone again and again. I didn’t let fear stop me from being better today than yesterday.

This year was my best year yet and next year is going to be the year that I am my best self.” I want to be able to say this to myself every year.

Are you going to choose to be your best self THIS year and every year?