Affirmations
Self-Help Thursday • New Year’s Octave
New Year’s Resolutions Are Affirmed and Begun in Earnest
About Affirmations
On Affirmations, the octave of New Year’s Day, we give ourselves the gift of a fresh start. It’s a day for second chances, a reset for those overly ambitious resolutions that may have already faltered. Think of today as your personal New New Year’s Day, a chance to reaffirm the importance of your goals and recommit to making them happen. For those resolutions that are already on track, it’s a moment to celebrate progress and double down on your efforts. The day’s main activity is writing down your resolutions—revising, rephrasing, or recommitting to them—and reflecting on how to turn your aspirations into actionable steps. Embrace the day’s self-help ethos with clarity and purpose.
Ways to observe
(A) Low effort
Write down a single goal you want to focus on for the month. Keep it simple and achievable. Just one thing you know you can tackle.
(B) Recommended
Create a personal affirmation journal where you rewrite your resolutions alongside positive statements about why you’ll achieve them. Decorate it with photos or quotes that inspire you.
(C) High effort
Host a Resolution Reboot Party with friends or family. Everyone brings their resolutions, revisits them, and brainstorms strategies to help one another succeed. Include vision boards and motivational speeches for an extra boost.
Inspiration
You may be feeling a little déjà vu. Resolutions? Again? Haven’t we already done this—twice? But check your ticket: this train makes several stops in Redemptionville, population you (and, fine, us). Today marks the Octave of New Year’s Day, which we set aside for reflection. And if, upon reflection, you realize your grand designs for total self-improvement have begun to wobble, consider yourself inducted into the club of Every Person Who Ever Made Plans. The difficulty with reading self-help books (at least for some of us) is that they appear to be written by people we wouldn’t necessarily trust to house-sit, let alone guide our spiritual transformation. The author has usually conquered one very specific problem, then decided to monetize the experience. Fair enough. But the truth is, the quality of advice doesn’t depend on whether the giver is a guru or renaissance polymath. The standard is whether the advice is actually good. So dust off your resolutions, your Big Plans, and whatever cryptic notes you left for yourself on Crossroads Day. Then, as a gift to your future self, find one or two voices with real expertise in the spots where you wobble. You don’t need a life coach; you need smart guides to help you overcome a few well-articulated obstacles.
Adornments
Watch
Wadjda (2012)
In a conservative suburb of Riyadh, a spirited girl longs for a bicycle, a symbol of freedom and self-direction that girls aren’t supposed to ride. Resourceful and quietly rebellious, she finds unexpected ways to earn the money and defy expectations.
Groundhog Day (1993)
A smug Pittsburgh weatherman finds himself cursed to relive the same dreary day in Punxsutawney over and over again, until he finally learns how to live it well. What begins as a surreal comedy of repetition deepens into a surprisingly philosophical journey of self-betterment.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
A mismatched family of underachievers crams into a yellow VW bus for a cross-country trip to a children’s beauty pageant. Along the way, each of them—depressed, bankrupt, estranged, or overlooked—gets an improbable shot at connection and personal repair.
Read
Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
Drawing on years of research into vulnerability, shame, and courage, Brown challenges the idea that strength means self-protection. Instead, she argues that showing up fully (despite risk or imperfection) is the only path to meaningful connection and creativity.
Grit by Angela Duckworth
A psychologist and former teacher, Duckworth explores why success so often comes down not to talent, luck, or intelligence, but to passion sustained over time.