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[Reflecting on New Year's Resolutions: The Power of Planting Seeds]-[reacting to my old new year's resolutions]

anything goes with emma chamberlain · B2 · 2024-12-08

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📋 Summary

Reflecting on New Year's Resolutions: The Power of Planting Seeds

In a recent episode of Anything Goes, Emma Chamberlain takes a reflective look at her New Year's resolutions from 2023 and 2024. Rather than viewing resolutions as a binary of success or failure, she reframes them as "seeds planted," acknowledging that personal growth often occurs on a timeline that doesn't strictly align with the calendar year.

The Concept of Resolutions: A Reset or a Trap?

Chamberlain acknowledges the polarizing nature of New Year's resolutions. While some find them pointless and overwhelming, she champions the idea of the New Year as a "new chapter" that allows even the most "rigorously busy person" to pause and reset. She admits that while she once was a "hater," she now values the practice, noting that even if goals aren't met immediately, the act of stating them plants a subconscious seed that can bloom later.

Reviewing 2023: The Delayed Success

Looking back at her 2023 list, Chamberlain realizes that many of her goals, such as finding hobbies and managing finances, didn't materialize until 2024.

  • Hobbies and Self-Worth: She admits to struggling with the sustainability of hobbies, often prioritizing her "work and career" and "social life." She notes that while she previously tied her self-worth to her "physical body," she has shifted toward valuing her "heart and mind." This progress was fueled by surrounding herself with people who "empower" her rather than those who make her feel "unhealthily attached."
  • The Internet and Mental Health: A major breakthrough was overcoming her "fear of the internet" and the anxiety surrounding being "canceled." She reached a point where her fear was causing more harm than the internet itself, leading her to consciously choose to stop being afraid. She also successfully curbed her "doom scrolling" addiction by adopting a two-phone strategy to separate entertainment from productivity.

The 2024 Reality Check

Chamberlain concedes that her 2024 resolutions were more "surface level" and met with varying success. While she failed to become a prolific reader or movie buff—admitting she prefers the comfort of YouTube—she successfully changed her work habits. By moving her workspace from her bed to a dedicated desk, she reclaimed her bed as a "sacred space" for rest, which significantly improved her mental well-being.

Looking Ahead: 2025 and Intentionality

For her 2025 resolutions, Chamberlain focuses on intentionality and maintenance:

  • Goal Setting: She aims to maintain "clear goals" to avoid feeling "directionless" amidst her many interests.
  • Personal Growth: A key priority is working through her "bullshit" to prepare for her future desire to have a family. She emphasizes becoming a more "dynamic person" through reading and learning new skills, such as music production and photography.
  • Maintenance: Having overcome her "shopping addiction," she is now focused on the "maintenance game" of consuming less and helping others more frequently.

Ultimately, Chamberlain’s journey highlights that resolutions shouldn't be a source of shame. Even if you haven't ticked every box, the process of setting intentions creates a trajectory for change. As she puts it, "it’s okay to keep the same list year after year," because eventually, the seeds you plant will bloom.

🎯Key Sentences

1
I'm going to react to them with you.
2
Did I fail miserably?
3
Did I fall somewhere in between?
4
The New Year is a great time for that.
5
okay, we're opening a new page of our book
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📝Key Phrases

1
fail miserably
2
in hindsight
3
lean into
4
barking up the wrong tree
5
come to fruition
Expand All

📖 Transcript

In front of me today, I have a document.
A document that contains two lists.
To be more specific, two lists of New Year's resolutions, one from 2023 and one from 2024.
I have my last two years of New Year's resolutions in front of me today, and I'm going to react to them with you.
Did I accomplish my New Year's resolutions?
Did I fail miserably?

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