Unpopular Opinion

Unpopular opinion: You don’t need a ‘New You‘ this January. We’re told every January 1st that we need to reinvent ourselves from scratch. What if this year isn’t about starting over, but about leaning in? I’m talking about perseverance over perfection. 

There is a specific kind of magic in the air during the first week of January. The holiday decorations are coming down, the calendar is a clean slate of empty squares, and for a brief moment, the weight of last year feels a little lighter. It’s the season of the “Fresh Start Effect”—that psychological phenomenon where a new date on the calendar acts as a landmark, allowing us to distance ourselves from our past mistakes and imagine a better version of ourselves.

New beginnings are often painted as drastic transformations. We think we need to be an entirely different person by February. But the most beautiful starts aren’t about shedding who you are; they are about planting new seeds in the soil you’ve already spent years tilling. This year, instead of looking at the “new you” as a project to be completed, look at January as an invitation to realign. It is an opportunity to ask – What served me well last year? What did I outgrow? And what am I finally ready to say yes to?

We all know the feeling of New Year energy fading by mid-month. This is where the glamour of a fresh start meets the grit of perseverance. Perseverance is often misunderstood as a constant, high-energy grind. In reality, perseverance is quieter. It is the decision to keep going when the novelty of the new year wears off and the real world settles back in. It’s the choice to return to your goals after a bad day, a missed workout, or a moment of doubt.

True growth doesn’t happen in a straight line. It happens in the moments where you stumble, catch your breath, and decide that the journey is still worth taking. Perseverance isn’t about never falling; it’s about having the grace to get back up without punishing yourself for the trip.

To make this year’s beginning stick, we need to trade perfection for persistence. Here are three ideas to keep the momentum:

• Celebrate the Micro-Wins: Don’t wait for the end of the year to feel successful. Acknowledge the small daily choices that align with your new path.

• Audit Your Environment: Surround yourself with people and spaces that support your growth, rather than those that tether you to your old habits.

• Practice Radical Patience: Change is a slow-cook process. Give yourself the same patience you would give a friend starting something new.

As you navigate this first week of January, remember that the calendar gives you the start, but your heart provides the staying power. This year isn’t about being perfect; it’s about being present and persistent. The door is open. The page is blank. What will you write first?

I have a confession to make. I didn’t write this blog. It was written with AI by Google Gemini. I recently read an article about the huge improvements in AI creative efforts and thought I would generate a small test. I submitted this request to Gemini: “Please write 500 words for a blog I want to post the first week of January. The post should be about new beginnings, a fresh start in a new year, and perseverance.”

That was the only guidance I gave and what you read above is what Gemini produced. I did a couple of minor edits and that was it.

Is there good advice in the blog? Yes. Is it well written? To this amateur’s eye, without a doubt.  Does it sound like my voice? To me, Not exactly. Both Cathy and my friend and editor, Colleen, said it wasn’t a typical blog for me. Colleen even started to suspect AI as she neared the end.  

There is certainly good stuff here, but as I read it, or perhaps as I reread it, it comes off a bit sterile. A little bit like something you might read in the back of a self-help magazine.  What’s missing? The personal touch.  The human touch.  I probably would have added an anecdote or two, and mentioned something about the farm, or some other part of my personal life. Still, it is consistent with the guidance I gave, and was a decent read.  I could have woven some personal stories in, and it would have sounded like something from me.

Bruce Springsteen had it right: 

“You might need somethin’ to hold on to

When all the answers, they don’t amount to much

Somebody that you can just talk to

And a little of that human touch…”

It is both amazing and scary how much AI has advanced in just a few years. This is the brave new world we live in. Not only is AI assisting in science, industry and the medical field, it is truly becoming creative. It may be an unpopular opinion, but like it or not,  this is the path we are on.

Is there a path forward for creative people as well? Of course. And God help us, the personal touch I mentioned before will make the difference, at least until computers develop their “own personalities.” Honesty needs to be a part of the equation as well. Don’t we as readers, or observers of art have the right to know who, or what, is the real genius behind a creation?

One of my New Year’s resolutions this year is to keep an eye, no, two eyes on AI and its continuing growth. The computer HAL in “2001: A Space Odyssey” will soon look like a relic of the past. 

Addendum:

• If I ever use AI in writing a blog, or part of a blog, I promise that I will give it full credit, just as I acknowledge anyone who provides editorial or writing assistance.
• Thanks to Colleen and Cathy for reading the blog and offering their thoughts. Colleen also noted that she found no editorial errors in the text Gemini provided.
• I wrote a blog about AI three years ago in January, 2023. You can read it here, including a story I asked ChatGPT to write about a dog stealing shoes. I think you will note a marked difference in the writing ability: There’s been a lot in the news lately about Artificial Intelligence (AI) art and writing programs. Some see them as the doom of mankind, others as a bright and shiny future. I don’t have an answer to either point, but I know people better get ready – this is […] Continue here: https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2023/01/17/artificial-intelligence-art-and-writing/
• The pictures/photos for this blog were also generated with AI via Google Gemini.