Transcript: Stop Waiting for January 1st to Change Your Life | Why 'New Year, New Me' Fails Every Time
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Ashley introduces the episode's premise: she doesn't subscribe to the 'new year, new me' mentality and questions why people wait for an arbitrary date to start changing their lives.
What's up, you guys? Famous Ashley Grant here. Welcome to More Movement, Please, the podcast where I hope to inspire you to move your body more by sharing my story and occasionally the stories of others. Let's get into it. Today, what I want to talk about is this new year, new me. I'm not subscribing to it and I don't think you should either. So here's the thing. I understand that at the beginning of every new year. We all make these lofty goals and these big plans of how we're going to change our lives. We're going to overhaul our lives and we're going to make this year the best year yet. But why do we wait to the new year? Why is it that whenever we're thinking about fitness and, you know, losing weight and, you know, improving our lives that we wait until later? I want you to do it today.
I don't care whether you're listening to this, you know, in the middle of December. or if you're listening to it on New Year's Day, or maybe you're listening to this in the dead of summer, I think that if you want to change your life, you should start today. Don't wait for a new year. Don't wait for a new hour. If you want to make a lifestyle change, what are you waiting for? Like, really? Because every second that you wait, you're giving yourself an excuse. to not start. Let's say you say to yourself, in the new year, I'm going to make my life better. I'm going to lose weight.
Ashley points out that life events — losing a pet, a loved one, or a job — can derail New Year's plans, and asks whether that means you have to wait another full year to start.
I'm going to go to the gym. I'm going to do all the things. And then the new year's comes and something happens. Maybe you lose a pet or you lose a loved one or you lose your job or something happens that just completely wrecks your plans to finally get in shape. Does that mean you have to wait until the next year? To start? I don't think it should. I think that what we should do is treat every single day as a new day, a new opportunity to start. So that's what I want you to do. I want you to just think about this as not waiting for some day in the future, not waiting for some arbitrary moment where you're finally going to change things. Because like I said, Every minute that you wait, every day that you wait is another day that you're not taking care of yourself, that you're not improving your life. So what are you waiting for? It just so happened that whenever I started getting serious
on July 14th, 2025, it just happened to be a month till my birthday. It wasn't a deliberate choice. It wasn't one of those moments where I was like, oh, I'm going to do this because, you know, it's this many days to my birthday. Sure, it made for a fun headline like, oh, month to my birthday and I'm doing 100 days of fitness. Yeah, that was fun, but it wasn't intentional. What was intentional is I'm going to make the change today, right now, I'm getting serious.
Ashley shares that she started her 100 days of fitness on July 14th — a month before her birthday — not as a deliberate milestone but simply because she decided to get serious that day.
And that's what I want you to do too. I don't, like I said, I don't care what day it is right now. I don't care what hour it is right now. If you want to start losing weight, if you want to start having a healthier lifestyle, start right now. Today, at some point, start moving your body more. Maybe instead of reaching for soda all the time, you're grabbing water. Instead of reaching for candy, you're reaching for something healthier. Just simple changes. That's the big thing that I'm all about is making simple, consistent lifestyle changes to overhaul your entire life.
You don't have to do it overnight. You don't have to go crazy with this. I want you to do something you can actually commit to. So that's what I'm talking about is small changes. Don't do new year, new me. Do I'm changing my life and I'm doing it one step at a time because I am committed. I am serious. I mean it. And this is what I want for you. Onwards and upwards, my friends. Have you worked out today?
Ashley wraps up by encouraging simple, consistent changes — swapping soda for water, candy for something healthier — rather than dramatic overnight transformations.
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