New Year, SAME You…But with a Renewed Sense of Worthiness

’Tis the season for “self-improvement” goals — attempts to change into more acceptable, lovable, successful versions of ourselves. But here’s the thing: you are already worthy of acceptance, love, and all of your successes.

This year, I challenge you to make a resolution to better appreciate the exceptional person you already are.

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

What’s wrong with the usual New Year’s resolutions?

We tend to use a deficit mindset when we set our goals for self-improvement.

I need to lose weight (because my body isn’t good enough).

I want to stick to a budget (because I’m terrible with money).

I’m going to get my home organized (because I’m always such a mess!).

Even if your resolution is phrased in a positive way (reading more books, spending more time with family, etc.), we often arrive at these goals by focusing on what we feel we lack. This is not to say that these are unreasonable goals. It’s a great idea to budget and to get organized (though, perhaps I’ll save diet culture and why you shouldn’t try to lose weight for another article). But here’s the biggest problem with setting goals from a deficit…