Hello, and Happy New Year!

People always say the expression "new year, new me". I think the intentions behind it are solid, but there's a time component to it which allows people to put off being the "new them". Why wait for the new year in order to be the new you? You're technically a new you right now: you always have the ability to make a choice to be the best version of yourself that you didn't make a moment ago.

Last night, I was at a New Year's party with some old friends and some new. I was having conversations with many different kinds of people and all different personalities. I really love being able to have these conversations because you learn about them as well as yourself: listening to someone else really can become a journey of self discovery. In any case, one person I spoke to was quite interesting. I'd never met them before, but they were coworkers/friends with some other good friends of mine (hey, a friend of a friend can be a friend too).

I had a chance to get some one on one time with this person, and I came to the conclusion that they seemed to be one of those people who liked speaking about their issues to a crowd but didn't want to change. Blaming others, blaming their background, blaming, blaming, blaming. Mind you, this isn't a knock on their personality, but rather something I noticed in the conversations we were having. Let's put a pin in this for a second.

I was texting a buddy of mine the other day and we were talking about this "let them" theory that is being popularized by Mel Robbins. Mind you, I haven't read the book, but I think I get the concept on a very surface level: if someone wants to go down a path that doesn't align with yours, let them because it's not your problem. I understand it, and fortunately or unfortunately I'm starting to become that way with people on a certain level. In trying to become more positive, I've always been encouraging and trying to get people to do better, but nowadays if someone doesn't want to put in the effort to change, let them be. It might be a tough pill to swallow sometimes, but hey: c'est la vie.

Back to the conversation at the party. This whole "let them be" thought was crossing through my mind as this person was speaking. But something pulled me in the opposite direction every single time they would speak negatively about themselves or someone else or a situation that happened. In my head (and I could be right or wrong), if it truly did happen the way this person said the things that happened to them happened, then no one would have told them that there is a different path in life, that you can make a choice to be happy. So even though the thoughts were running through my head to let them be, I still tried to be positive and tell them that they can be the best they can ever be starting right now.

New year, new you? Nah. Right now, new you. If you want it.

Anyways, I just wanted to put that out there. As an aside, I never make New Years resolutions but I did make one this year: that I will try and sleep early and prioritize my sleep. So I'm going to go ahead to bed, get lost in the pages of a good book, and drift off to sleep.

Let's get after it today and revisit our thoughts tomorrow. Happy New Year all: let's get to it in 2026 and beyond.

Vivek.

Hello, and Happy New Year!

People always say the expression "new year, new me". I think the intentions behind it are solid, but there's a time component to it which allows people to put off being the "new them". Why wait for the new year in order to be the new you? You're technically a new you right now: you always have the ability to make a choice to be the best version of yourself that you didn't make a moment ago.

Last night, I was at a New Year's party with some old friends and some new. I was having conversations with many different kinds of people and all different personalities. I really love being able to have these conversations because you learn about them as well as yourself: listening to someone else really can become a journey of self discovery. In any case, one person I spoke to was quite interesting. I'd never met them before, but they were coworkers/friends with some other good friends of mine (hey, a friend of a friend can be a friend too).

I had a chance to get some one on one time with this person, and I came to the conclusion that they seemed to be one of those people who liked speaking about their issues to a crowd but didn't want to change. Blaming others, blaming their background, blaming, blaming, blaming. Mind you, this isn't a knock on their personality, but rather something I noticed in the conversations we were having. Let's put a pin in this for a second.

I was texting a buddy of mine the other day and we were talking about this "let them" theory that is being popularized by Mel Robbins. Mind you, I haven't read the book, but I think I get the concept on a very surface level: if someone wants to go down a path that doesn't align with yours, let them because it's not your problem. I understand it, and fortunately or unfortunately I'm starting to become that way with people on a certain level. In trying to become more positive, I've always been encouraging and trying to get people to do better, but nowadays if someone doesn't want to put in the effort to change, let them be. It might be a tough pill to swallow sometimes, but hey: c'est la vie.

Back to the conversation at the party. This whole "let them be" thought was crossing through my mind as this person was speaking. But something pulled me in the opposite direction every single time they would speak negatively about themselves or someone else or a situation that happened. In my head (and I could be right or wrong), if it truly did happen the way this person said the things that happened to them happened, then no one would have told them that there is a different path in life, that you can make a choice to be happy. So even though the thoughts were running through my head to let them be, I still tried to be positive and tell them that they can be the best they can ever be starting right now.

New year, new you? Nah. Right now, new you. If you want it.

Anyways, I just wanted to put that out there. As an aside, I never make New Years resolutions but I did make one this year: that I will try and sleep early and prioritize my sleep. So I'm going to go ahead to bed, get lost in the pages of a good book, and drift off to sleep.

Let's get after it today and revisit our thoughts tomorrow. Happy New Year all: let's get to it in 2026 and beyond.

Vivek.