You Don’t Need a New You: Setting Intentions for the New Year as a Creative
The Pressure of “New Year, New You”
Can I make a confession? When I was working as an actor, I loved the idea of “new year, new you.” I loved setting a whole host of new year’s resolutions, from going on more auditions to losing weight to going to more dance classes. I loved the idea that there was one day where I could completely overhaul the life that I never felt content with.
But as I got older, and went to therapy, and found a career that better suited me, I realized more and more that I didn’t need a new me. I grew to love my body and found joy and fulfillment in my life, and the idea of a complete overhaul no longer appealed to me. As I began my career as a therapist and started working with other creatives, I realized that there’s often an element of shame that comes with the desire to reinvent. That when you want to completely change your life, it often stems from a sense of not being enough that lives deep inside of many of us.
So how can we make changes for the new year that don’t stem from shame, but rather our values? How can we move toward a more fulfilling, joy-filled life without criticizing or judging ourselves as we are in this moment? This blog explores how to set intentions for the new year that stem from self-love rather than self-loathing and that can stimulate lasting change instead of flaming out after a month.
Why “New Year, New You” Can Feel Especially Heavy for Creatives
The pressure to reinvent yourself in the new year can feel heavy for everyone, but I think it is especially fraught for creatives. For most creatives, their art form is intimately tied to their identity, so when they fall short of whatever ideal productivity level they have set for themselves, it can negatively impact their self-worth.
There is also this constant push in the industry to monetize your work and maximize your output, and the new year can bring new pressure to optimize your productivity and become the “perfect” artist. This pressure can lead to over-work, stress, and burnout, and can separate you from the joy you once found in your work.
Resolutions vs. Intentions: What’s the Difference?
New year’s resolutions are often rigid, binary, and outcome-focused. You set a goal, and you either meet it or you don’t, you succeed or you fail. Research shows that about 80% of people abandon their resolutions within a month. We’re sold a narrative that this is due to laziness or lack of will power, but it’s not. Rigid goals like this are proven to be unsustainable, because they’re rooted in all-or-nothing thinking and don’t allow for any imperfection.
Intentions, on the other hand, are more flexible and values-based. They focus more on how you want to show up in your life and move through the world. There’s no success or failure in intentions, because you can renew your commitment to your intentions every day throughout the year. Intentions tend to be more sustainable, especially for creatives, because they move away from strict perfectionism and allow us to show up as the imperfect, well-intentioned people we are.
You Are Not a Project to Be Fixed
Growth doesn’t require self-rejection, criticism, or shame. You are not wrong for living life the way you’ve been living it, and you don’t need to become a different person to be worthy of love or success. You are worthy exactly as you are, no matter how unhappy or content you are with your current life, and you don’t need to be fixed or optimized or perfected to make meaningful change. You have the power to set values-based intentions and move toward the life you want to live.
What Setting Intentions Can Look Like for Creatives
The idea of setting intentions can feel foreign if all you’ve ever done is set rigid goals. Intentions focus more on how you want to move through the world and how you want to relate to yourself, your loved ones, and your creative work. If you’re not sure where to start, here are a few ideas of intentions you can set:
Approaching your creative work with more flexibility and compassion
Focusing more on process and skill building than on output
Leading with curiosity and compassion in your personal and professional relationships
Being open to new ideas and experiences
Reconnecting with the joy of creating and dedicating time to create for pleasure
Engaging in more play and fun
Spending more time cultivating hobbies
It can help to spend some time exploring your values and what intentions help you move toward them in a meaningful way.
Letting Go of Optimization and Productivity Culture
The mentality of “hustle culture” and constantly optimizing ourselves and our work to be as productive as possible has a tendency to lead creatives straight into burnout. There is a mentality that the more you do – the more skills you learn, the more auditions you go on, the more art you produce – the more you’re growing as a person. However, personal growth comes more from values alignment than concrete achievements. Allowing yourself to set meaningful intentions can help you move toward your values and build a fulfilling life and a sustainable career.
How Therapy Can Support Intention-Setting for Creatives
If you find yourself struggling to set intentions, feeling burned out, or feeling like you need a little extra support, therapy can help. Working with a therapist who understands what it’s like to be a creative can help you clarify what you truly want, build coping skills for the things you’re struggling with, and move toward the life you want to live. Therapy can help you:
Explore your values and set values-based intentions and goals
Develop positive coping strategies for anxiety, depression, imposter syndrome, and burnout
Delve into the roots of the issues you’re facing and help you heal the younger parts of yourself that are struggling
Set meaningful intentions that help you move through the world in a way that feels fulfilling for you
If this resonates with you, I welcome you to schedule a free 30-minute consultation today to explore what it might be like for us to work together.
You Are Allowed to Begin the Year as You Are
I know I’ve been saying this throughout, but it bears repeating: you do not need to overhaul your life or become a different person to be worthy of care, compassion, and success. You are allowed to enter the new year with strong intentions, a sense of what you want, and a host of imperfections that come with being human. You are worthy exactly as you are, and if there’s one thing you carry into the new year, I hope that’s it.
Resources
Berkout, Olga V. Working With Values: An Overview of Approaches and Considerations in Implementation. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8854463/
Brené Brown. Dare to Lead List of Values. Retrieved from https://brenebrown.com/resources/dare-to-lead-list-of-values/
Insight Therapy NYC. Imposter Syndrome in NYC Creatives: How Therapy Builds Confidence. Retrieved from https://insighttherapynyc.com/therapy-insights-nyc/imposter-syndrome-therapy-creatives-nyc
PositivePsychology. What is Self-Worth & How Do We Build It? Retrieved from https://positivepsychology.com/self-worth/
Psychology Today. Resolutions or Intentions: Which Lead to Genuine Change? Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/spiritual-intelligence/202501/resolutions-or-intentions-which-leads-to-genuine-change
Psychology Today. Why New Year’s Resolutions Set You Up to Fail. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/202412/why-new-years-resolutions-set-you-up-to-fail
Verywell Mind.What Is Shame? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-shame-5115076
