News and views

New Year, but is it really a new you?

‘Happy YOU year’ proclaims @fournine’s Instagram New Year post as a continuation of the new year revolution they started in 2021 – a rebellion of New Year resolutions! 

Increasingly each year, we see a wave of memes mocking those ‘new year new you’ memes, dismissing the age old ‘resolution’ approach.

Does that mean we don’t want to grow and improve? No. But it is a different, kinder perspective. One that will have a more lasting impact. Realising that being a better you isn’t about being a ‘new’ version of yourself but being more you.

The mental wellbeing conversation has grown and people are increasingly considering how to be better versions of themselves. There is a shift towards people wishing to step out of the expectations we put upon ourselves. Abandoning the comparisons and the societal norms and pressures we so readily think we have to adhere to for our worth.

An example of this in action is a 2021 research study by the Hinge dating app. It found that single people are more likely to get a second date if they mention going to therapy on a very first date, with 88% of Canadians surveyed revealing that they’d prefer to date someone who goes to therapy.

If Covid has taught us anything, it is that we can’t plan and control everything in life. We can only accept what is in front of us now, let go of the burdens we carry, celebrate our mere existence (and even making it through the somewhat traumatic uncertainties of the last two years).

Being here, and having acceptance, is the kindest but also the most powerful human thing we can do. It is a better version of ourselves, because we are truly being vulnerable in our own rawness, and acceptance, ironically, is the place where we are most likely to find growth.

As brands look to 2022, it’s crucial that we remember the human truth of existence in the here and now. Behaviour is a response to a combination of emotion and beliefs, some conscious, some subconscious. But the shifting of our beliefs and values are behaviours that need to be taken note of.

What does that mean for us at Catalyx?

We have a new look this year, but for us this isn’t about being new and different. It’s about being more of who we already are. We are innovative and agile, that’s just in our DNA, but we also innovate to better enable what we believe in.

As part of our guaranteed outputs programme, delivered through our Consumer Activation System, we empower you by providing results that will create actionable outcomes. It takes the best of us and ensures you get a transformative result, every single time.

Back to more
news & views