New Year, New Me is all we hear around this time of the year. But how new? Are you "used car new" or "brand new car new"?
Did that just confuse you or even offend you? Well, buckle up because this one is going to be difficult.
New Used Car
A new used car means that the product is old but has a new owner. How do you translate that into growth language? Your mentality is still the same, but you have a different mentor. This mentor can be absolutely crazy or an amazing influencer. But again, you’ve decided to follow someone else, so the chances for growth are 50/50.
Brand New Car A brand new car means the product is brand new, the owner is brand new, and the owner is the only owner. Let’s translate this again. Now, speaking literally, you can’t get a brand new brain, but you can get a brand new outlook and mentality on life. Truly being "brand new" and the only owner means you're the only one who has influence over yourself. You can choose to pursue your dreams, take chances on you, and take a shot at being the greatest your generation will ever see, or you can simply complain about everything in your life and miss out on all the opportunities to see the greatest version of yourself. It's that simple.
Let’s Jump to Something Different (My Journey)
Last year marked my tenth year in the U.S., all solo. I celebrated myself by taking a multi-country, international SOLO trip. Are you wondering why I wrote “solo” in caps lock? It’s mainly because I was in this ten-year struggle all on my own, so I deserved to celebrate myself all SOLO.
Weirdly enough, in 2023, around the same time as my trip in 2024, I was about to embark on my first solo international trip. I’m going to be very honest with you: I was scared. It’s natural to be scared of the unknown. It’s human nature. But what separates us from being scared to being brave is taking action. Even though I was scared, I still took a chance and went on my trip.
It was the best trip of my life. That’s all I have to say.
That’s when I realized: I like spending time with me, and I believe in my abilities to navigate the unknown by myself. That’s it. That’s all you need to gain a boost for your life. When you hear these words echo in your brain, you feel like you can do anything. And surprisingly, a year later, I booked my multi-continent, multi-country trip without any help or planning—all because I knew I would figure it out.
So, What’s the Deal with the New Year? (every year)
So the new year just started, and you’re feeling very pumped and hopeful about it? Why? Why now? Why didn’t you feel this way last year or maybe even three weeks ago? What is so different about a calendar date that makes you want to go all in or become the greatest? What if you could set your own calendar dates? For example, tomorrow is the first of the month again. How would you do things differently this time?
Hate to break it to you, but all these calendar days are the exact same. Somehow your brain has been trained to think that if it’s the beginning of something, you will be better and more consistent. You won’t be consistent at anything until you are actually consistent at it. You won’t see results until you are consistent in your actions. You don’t need to be perfect at something to start it; you just need to start it and learn from it. This is the Agile way of working (you’re welcome).
Agility is an absolute must to survive in today’s world. Keep your consistent behavior, check-in consistently, re-strategize consistently, and you will see results consistently. Did you notice how I repeatedly used the word "consistently" in the last sentence? It’s because I’m trying to emphasize the power of consistency.
Consistency has worked wonders for some people that others can’t even imagine. Ask all the people who have “made it.” I bet they didn’t produce one thing and get famous. It’s different if you only landed on their famous “product,” but I bet they did something consistently to get to where they are in life today.
Solution-Focused Thinking: A Game-Changer
I’m a firm believer in the fact that you see the outside world as a perception of your inside world. AKA, whatever you feed your brain is how your brain will project everything.
I used to fret over every tiny little problem in the past. Everything was the end of the world and a source of stress. Emotions, emotions, emotions. Then I went through an internal training. A training of controlling your emotions and not associating them with everything. A lot of things are not tied together in life, but our brain tends to tie them together because it’s in our brain’s innate nature to look for patterns. So maybe your favorite mug breaking is not associated with you falling down the stairs. Stop the overthinking now.
Now, when I’m faced with a problem, I assess the urgency of it and collect all the facts. Now, all my attention is focused on how I can fix this problem. Because the problem that was going to happen, happened. I can’t do anything about it, but what I can do is respond promptly and smartly. Always have a solution-focused mentality.
Starting My Digital Marketing Startup
Recently, I started a digital marketing startup in my city. I didn’t know everything about this field, and I did not go to school for this. But that’s okay because school doesn’t teach us practical knowledge, and I’m passionate about this field. I think I can learn and grow on the fly. I will research consistently, collect feedback from people consistently, not take things personally, and continue to grow this brand. This field gives me a chance to grow creatively and explore the side of my brain that could use some nurturing.
All because I believe in myself and think I can offer something valuable to my community. If you’re curious about what I just started, please check out www.plantitdigital.com.
This Year, Let’s Do Things Differently (more on consistency)
This year, I want you to do things differently than you have ever done. This year, I don’t want you to create multiple goals. I want you to create maybe ten goals (a mix of small and big goals). But I want you to be very consistent with those goals. I want you to do a monthly check-in on those goals. Yes, monthly and not quarterly. We are going to try a different approach this year. Have a retrospective moment every month about your goals and see how you can approach things differently. What worked well and what didn’t? Remember, you only get to be in your 20s once. I’m convinced that this has to be the most crucial and influential decade of our lives.
Decisions and Actions
Decisions and actions you take today will reap fruits for ages. The mentality you build today will benefit—or not benefit—you for ages. The biggest favor you can do to yourself is to be open about everything. Be open to knowledge. Be open to learning. Be open to growing. Be open to change. Be open to the unknown. You never know what’s good for you, and if you never try, you will never grow. And the last thing I want you to ever have is regrets. Regrets when you’re 70 that you should’ve done all the crazy things and taken all the chances on yourself.
You could’ve built that 70-million-dollar business if only you were consistent. You could’ve gotten that dream girl/boy if only you were consistent with your communication. You could’ve gotten that dream car if only you remembered it every time you felt lazy about waking up.
Let’s all come together, promise ourselves that we are going to build this year like our FYP on TikTok—brick by brick—because TikTok may soon be banned. We are only going to consume things that will bring us closer to our future vision.
Good luck, can't wait to see you become your best self 💜
Until next time, Peace.