Nothing Special Happens

Enough of the self-deceit!

What changes lives are not new years. What changes lives are new habits.

— Abiola Okun

You have been waiting for the year to end so you can change, start that task or that venture on the 1st day of the year, haven't you? I thought we had moved past this and learned that nothing special happens on the 1st of January. It is literally just a number of just another day in your life.

The habits you had the previous day are the same ones you will wake up with on the 1st of January. The mental attitude you had on the 31st of December 2024 is the same one you will wake up with the following morning. The same sun that arose in the sky on the 27th of December is the same one you'll see on the 1st of January. The dates and months are merely trackers to keep records. They have no special effects. The name of the months, the years, the centuries; they are nothing but man-made.

Ethiopia is 7 years behind the rest of the world, according to the calendar they use. There are several calendars according to several different beliefs, and all it takes is for one world power somewhere to conquer the rest of the world and force us to use a different type of calendar than the Gregorian calendar that became generally acceptable in 1582.

So you see? Nothing special happens! Stop waiting for the new year for your life to change! Your life changes the moment you take a stand to change it. It could be by 3:00 PM on a random 9th day of a random September month. It could be in the middle of dinner on a weird 19th day of a random April month.

I honestly believed that by now, there would be a consensus and all would agree that New Year Resolutions don't work. Sadly, there are people I know who are waiting for the new year to change habits that are not helpful to their lives and they know should have been changed a long time ago.

Some people are waiting for the new year to start the business because they believe they have wasted the year and can't do anything tangible again for the rest of it.

That is horse-shit! You could take a stand today, resolve in your heart to get into action. That's the moment your life changes! Not some "New Year’s Resolution" tradition that everyone does but the minute they fall off, they wait for the next new year to try and fix things. And you're looking for the meaning of delusion. That is it, in literal terms.

Delusion is waiting out the year so you can make a new resolution in a new year.

There are steps you need to take but you believe the best thing to do is continue to live your old life and wait till the new year to wash yourself of that old life and begin the new one. You're not even serious.

---

Nothing special happens! There's no fresh wind that comes and takes all your learned habits, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors away on the morning of the first day of January! Stop wasting precious time waiting for your life to change! You can change it now! Take a stand and resolve to do that thing you need to do to hit that goal, take action on what you need to take action on, regardless of what date it is.

It doesn't have to be a New Year’s resolution for a resolution to work! New Year Resolutions don't work! What works is a strong resolve. Simple and short. Resolve to change your life, resolve to quit that habit, and resolve to work at the goals you have set. Don't wait out precious hours, days, weeks, or months in hopes of a fresh new year! The day you take a stand is the day your life changes. That's a new year for you!

If you want to tell me how unserious you are, just come and tell me that the year has ended and nothing can be achieved this year again, so you are gearing up to make new year resolutions ahead of next year.

Don’t get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with making goals for a new year. Even I do them. I don’t start a new day, week, month, or year without making goals. But if you waste days waiting for a new year to change what you can change now, to do what you can start doing now, then the new year will be no better than this year.

What changes lives are not new years. What changes lives are new habits, new resolves, new feelings, new actions, new attitudes, new businesses, new relationships, new skills, etc. You don't have to wait for a new year to experience all the listed news.

---

In case you still don't get it, you can become someone new, achieve something new, and take different actions even with the short days remaining in this year.

Stop waiting. Nothing special happens on the 1st of January. Your life changes the moment you decide to change.

To your growth,

Your Coach,

Abiola Okunsanya,

Handzinspired. ✨