You need a “new you” to create a new year. Otherwise, you continue being the person who created the last year, and you won’t be able to tell the difference from one year to the next. However, some claim you shouldn’t focus on being new or different; instead, you need to focus on being more authentic.
Actually, being a “new you” equates to being more authentic. You can’t become more authentic unless you change.
The new you does not make you less authentic; each new and improved version of yourself makes you more authentic.
The reason is simple… If you aren’t authentic now, something about how you show up in the world must change.
Strip Away What Is Not You
To be authentic or more authentic, you have to strip away all the layers that are not the “real you.” You do that by making conscious choices about who you want or need to be.
For example, if you want this coming year to be joyous, you must decide to be a joyous person. You were joyous as a child, but something happened that made you feel and create less joy in your life. Maybe your father or mother would ask you, “Why are you so happy?” That made you feel as if it was wrong to express joy.
Now, it’s time to be a new you…a more joyous you. That change takes you a step toward being authentically yourself again. It still requires that you change.
You may want the new year to feel more financially abundant. As a child, you had a lemonade stand and would earn 10 cents for each cup you sold. You felt happy and prosperous as a young entrepreneur. But when you reached adolescence, you heard your minister preach about money being evil. Since then, you have felt uncomfortable having or earning money.
To create a financially abundant year, choose to be someone with a different belief about money. The new you is the old you with the lemonade stand who loved the jingle of coins being dropped into the cup with each sale. When you can tap into being who you were—your authentic self—you create more abundance. To do that, you must change your beliefs and how you deal with money.
The Layers of the Onion
Each of us has been programmed by our life experiences and people of influence. Each time you changed to ensure you were loved, accepted, and approved of, you added a layer of who you were not over who you are. Little by little, you stopped being authentic unless it felt safe.
Now, you have to peel back the layers, like peeling an onion skin. Each time you choose to be a new version of yourself, you peel off a layer and get closer to being your authentic self.
Your Unlimited Potential
You showed up in this lifetime with unlimited potential. Anything about yourself that stops you from achieving that potential is not your authentic self.
So, if you are afraid of heights, your belief that heights are dangerous holds you back. Maybe your mother told you not to climb trees to avoid falling, or she had a fear of heights and instilled it in you.
To reach your potential—and alter the results you achieve this year, you have to create a new you—someone who has no fear of heights or someone bold enough to experience heights despite fear. Then, you can go on a hot air balloon ride with your lover or look at the view atop the Empire State Building with your best friend—experiences you would miss otherwise. To have a year in which you experience such “lofty” things, you must be a new you…a you that is closer to your authentic self.
Maybe you decided to become a writer in middle school, but a classmate made fun of your poem, or a teacher graded your short story poorly. You decided being a writer would subject you to criticism, and gave up on that dream.
Yet, you still love writing and are actually quite good at it. Maybe that’s your gift or purpose—to write. You can’t fulfill your potential or purpose as long as you hold onto the old beliefs about being a writer.
But suppose you decide that this year you will begin blogging and start on a book project. In that case, you tap into your authentic self and allow yourself to move toward fulfilling your potential. The new you is a writer, and being a writer opens up a myriad of possibilities in the new year.
Yet, to be a writer, you have to change your beliefs, find ways to feel inspired, create new habits, and be courageous about sharing your work. That’s the new you—even though those characteristics are based on who you used to be.
Be Your New Authentic Self
Desiring to be more authentic means you don’t believe you are or were authentic. To be more authentic, you have to change—you have to drop the way you have been.
The new you is authentic. It’s also a way of being you were not expressing previously.
Create a new you so you have a new year. Decide who you want to be—how you want to express yourself in a more authentic way. Then, your new year will demonstrate your authentic self.
Will you be a new you in the new year? Tell me in a comment below. And please share this post with someone who might benefit from reading it.
