When that clock counts down, I’ll probably say “Happy New Year” to whomever I’m in a room with. Maybe we’ll share a few drinks and laughs. When I get home, I’ll switch out my toothbrush for a new one. That’s about the extent of my New Year’s plans.
No resolutions. I don’t believe in picking one day to decide “Sometime this year I’ll be better.”
That’s not to say I discourage anyone who does, but one thing I’ve learned in my time on this earth is that you can better yourself anytime. Any month, any day, any hour. I’ve been sitting before a recently finished draft and thought “That was epic. I’m going to improve in X way” and I’ve been at the bottom of a trailer loading packages on a random overnight shift and thought “You know what? I’m going to start doing Y because it’ll make me a better person.”
Maybe you could say my New Year’s resolution is to never stop learning, but that’s not accurate. That’s not something I’m going to resolve to do, it’s just something that happens as part of everyday life.
Recently I came up with a new motto. It’s actually the title of my next-next book. (Not my next book, which isn’t quite a book, but the one after that.) You’ll hear more about it later, but for now:
“Build yourself better.”
It’s a simple little saying that I wrote into a poem, and since then I’ve been trying to incorporate it into my everyday life. Wishing at the right time or making plans for a future date won’t make you a better person or improve your life. Taking it into your own hands, finding your problems and working them out, that might.
No promises. But you won’t know until you try it, right?
Happy new year!
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