Rather than striving to “reinvent” yourself as part of the popular New Year, New You strategy that everyone seems to be pushing, I encourage you to simply accept yourself for who you are. However, before you can do that, you must first gain a deeper awareness of who you are.
As January rolls in, I’m sure your news feeds—whether through magazines, social media, or other outlets—have been inundated with messages about how to reinvent yourself.
My immediate response is: What? What does that even mean?
The idea that I need to reinvent myself implies there’s something inherently wrong with me. Sure, I’m flawed—we all are. But does that mean I’m so flawed that I need to “reinvent” who I am?
I feel compelled to push back on this idea and tell these influencers, “I’ve already been invented once. That’s enough, thank you.” I trust that when my Creator made me, He knew exactly what He was doing. I trust in that.
Yes, I’m flawed because I am human, but divinity lies within me. That gives me hope—hope for a better me, a better tomorrow, and a better world.
There is nothing wrong with having goals, and for those of you that have worked with me in 2024, you know that I created a planner (not yet published) that clearly has you state your vision, identity and goals every single day to remind you to align your values with your behaviours, that is not the message I am trying to convey to you today.
The Gift of Self-Awareness
As humans, we’ve been given the extraordinary gift of self-awareness—the ability to sense when our moral compass is off track. Sometimes, we find ourselves in situations where, if we had paid closer attention to the quiet inner voice guiding us, we might not have strayed so far.
This is the beauty of self-awareness: recognizing when we’ve made a mistake. As Alexander Pope so famously said, “To err is human.”
As a therapist, I often feel like a priest in the confessional, and I imagine priests sometimes feel like therapists. Mistakes are part of being human. But here’s the truth: You become more spiritual—and less burdened by your humanity—when you acknowledge your mistakes, share them openly, and ask for forgiveness.
While it’s not my role to forgive, I do believe that the very act of sharing your faults is transformative. By acknowledging your errors and planting the seed of self-awareness, you are already on the path to forgiveness.
You Are Whole Just As You Are
Let’s finish with this important reminder: You don’t need to reinvent yourself. Please don’t dive into some flashy four-step program in 2025 to feel “better.”
You are perfect and whole just as you are right now.
If you’re reading this and feel like you stumbled off the moral path last year, the most compassionate thing you can do is forgive yourself, share your reflections with someone you trust, and grow in your self-awareness. Let go of the relentless pursuit of empowerment, achievement, or external validation.
Just be you. That’s all we ever wanted from you anyway.