Year of the Snake: Shed the Old, Make Room for the New

Happy Lunar New Year! This year is the year of the wood snake. The snake represents renewal, longevity, and health. The shedding of the skin is a sign of rebirth and rejuvenation. I found this to be really interesting to reflect on, rebirth and rejuvenation. 

In personal development, I’ve heard people talk about their old self dying as part of the improvement process. It always sounded quite dramatic, and I didn’t really understand it. However, it made much more sense when I started thinking about it from the lens of rebirth. You see, when you start working on yourself, small parts of you begin to change. You can’t change if everything stays the same, right? So, if little parts of you are changing, it’s like the snake rubbing up against a rock or branch and little flecks come off. As you keep doing the work, more and more of that skin comes off until it is completely removed. What are you left with? A lot of dead skin. Your old self has died, and you now have a new self. 

So, coming into 2025, maybe you have some skin peeling, waiting to be fully removed. This is a great year to shed more and more things that no longer serve you. The thing to reflect on would be, what’s the equivalent of rubbing up against rocks and branches?

Maybe you want to lose weight this year. You may want to connect with a gym friend (someone who goes to the gym regularly, aka weirdos) and see if they would be an accountability partner. It won’t be fun or comfortable when they follow up with you, but that might be the way to get you to work out. 

Maybe you want to meditate more and find more calm in your life. Reach out to friends who meditate regularly, get advice from them, then follow up with them based on your results after trying out their advice. Or even better, meditate with them. 

Maybe you’ve felt stuck in life and haven’t figured out what to do. You’ve been looking for free resources… but maybe it’s time to invest a little money to deepen the experience. That could be getting help from a professional, buying an online course, or even getting a book to read.

I’m fairly conflict-avoidant as a person. Maybe it’s because I’m a nice guy, or because of my Asian upbringing, but I used to run away from conflict like it was the plague. It wasn’t until I got into personal development that I realized conflict was needed for me to push through to a new level. Instead of waiting for something terrible to happen and forcing me to change, I look for where the problem might be and find the least conflicting way to address it before it becomes an issue. The above examples? Those were ways I found rocks and branches to shed my old skin.

So, what about you? What skin needs to be shed? Let me know! 

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