It’s 2025 and it’s a new year. With new year’s they say come shifting perspectives, which I must say doesn’t quite hold weight. A turn of the calendar does not equate to a change in mentality. An effort must be made long before the page is flipped before any noticeable change is manifested.

This year is certainly brand new for me because over the course of the last few years every upset, heartbreak, loss, and gain has brought me to an altered state of mind. I am not the person who left off in the middle of this blog a few years back. Sufficed to say I may not even recognize that person. I would gather I would have to go back and look over the article I wrote and immerse myself in its ramblings to re-introduce myself to whomever that was. Regardless of the outcome, I am certain that I will never be the same person I once was. An old friend perhaps, molted skin left on the pages. I say that to say that neither is anyone reading this the same. Growth requires change.

The Ever-Changing Self

If you have grown by any measure over the last year, month, week, day, or, dare I say, second, you are not the same. You are different. If you have not grown, which I think to be impossible as one either progresses forward or they go backward. A lack of any growth is certainly regression. In short, you and I are both different in some sense.

Transforming Intentions: The Shift from Goals to Character Growth

A few years ago, I would have talked about new year’s resolutions and resolved to accomplish these specific goals and tasks. Today I say that’s an impossibility. Why may you ask? It’s not that I have grown more pessimistic. The container in which I hold my thoughts has shifted. I have realized that no manner of setting goals and objectives will make you keep them. No amount of forcing oneself up, keeping an organizer, or getting accountability partners will help me keep them. The change starts in character, not objective. You must be a finisher first. You have to be what you desire first.

It might appear confusing, but here are some examples.

If one desires peace, one might think of ways to transform one’s existence into one that is more peaceful. However, without changing one’s inner spirit to a more calm and self-soothing one, external peace will always be unattainable. Genuine peace can only come from within. To experience more of it in the outside world, you must transform yourself to align with that desire.

Achieving abundance isn’t about notating, seeking accountability partners, or following a ten-step plan. It stems from believing you are worthy of abundance and that it is already yours. Similar energies attract each other, not the reverse.

Authentically Present

This year, my thoughts might shift from philosophical to straightforward and practical. One thing is for sure: they will come from a place of pure authenticity, as that is where I am currently operating, rather than just hoping to be there someday.

I invite you to follow my path through forests, jungles, along broken sidewalks, and unimagined kingdoms as we embark on this new year together. May our personal growth lay the foundation for our future endeavors.