New Year… New You?

Happy New Year! 2024 is here. How are you doing? How did the holidays treat you? Are you excited for the new year and all that it brings? Have you been hitting your goals?

Honestly, the holidays feel hectic to me because there’s so much expectation and hype. This feels especially true with the new year. At the end of the year, I always see people posting on social media how they’re ready for the year to end and the new year to start. Somehow, changing the year equates to changing their life… as though they’ll become a new person? It never really made sense to me. December 31 doesn’t feel that different from January 1, nor July 12 or December 17, for that matter. A day is a day. Thinking that a new day, week, month, or year will change you just isn’t true.  

What is true, though, is setting an intention and taking action on those intentions leads to becoming a new you. Setting an intention means thinking out and committing to who you want to become. 

I have a practice called the Word of the Year. If you’re not familiar with it, you choose a word that shows your intention for the entire year. This year, my word is discipline. In 2023, I realized I’d spent a lot of time learning things but not enough time mastering that knowledge. A lack of discipline was at the core of it. So, as I’m building my business and skills in 2024, I decided that I wanted to master or at least become competent in the things I want to be known for.  

So, when I structured my goals for 2024, I was very specific about what I wanted to implement. Some examples include recording YouTube content per month, hosting live events (virtual or in person) each month, and meditating an average of one time per day. There are more goals than that, but you get the idea.  

As I started settling on these goals, there were some tough decisions to make. One discipline I’ll be focusing on is my online presence. It’s time for me to focus on building my mailing list, which requires me to send out weekly emails to that list. Knowing how much time that would take, I’m reducing my frequency of Forum articles to once a month. It wasn’t an easy decision because I really enjoy writing for you all. However, I wanted to make sure that when I contribute, I’m able to give my best effort. You guys deserve at least that much from me. If you want to stay in touch more frequently, please sign up for my weekly newsletter here: https://bit.ly/kkcnewsletter. My hope is that as I create these disciplines, I’ll have more interesting stories to share with you. So, will you join me on this journey? 

Ok, now I’m curious about you and your 2024. What are your goals? Do you have a word of the year? If you don’t, what do you think it would be? How would that change how you approach the year? What is something you’ll try that you previously wouldn’t have considered in order to achieve your goals? 

Looking at past years, when I focused on my word of the year, I found myself trying new things and was able to “think outside of the box.” It changed how I thought about things, as well as how I approached different situations. When I compare who I am now with who I was 5 years ago, it’s hard to believe how much I have changed. Actually, even when I look at this time last year, I’m not the same person. 

Hm. I guess with the new year, you can become a new person. 

Coach Kev helps people find calm, clarity, and confidence in their life while building discipline. Contact him at kevinkoocoaching@gmail.com, or follow on IG and YouTube @kevinkoocoaching