It’s that time of year again – the very beginning of it. Month number one. The fresh start. The perfect opportunity for reinvention. The time for everyone to stamp out their insecurities and flaws. You can almost smell the motivation in the air – or that may just be the freshly oversubscribed gyms. Even if you’re not partaking in the self-improvement movement its pretty hard to avoid. Like mine, I’m sure your ‘for you page’ is riddled with ’75 Hard challenges’ reduced ‘mango greens’ or apple cider vinegar gummies. Even if you’re not on Tik Tok you aren’t safe from the toxic ‘reinvention’ epidemic. One way or another companies, influencers, shops will find a way to create and then solve our insecurities. It is no secret that the wellness and self-improvement scam is infectious but in January it becomes even more rife.
Now don’t get me wrong- I am in no way saying that you shouldn’t want to improve yourself or change for the better. I also understand why you may decide to begin your self help journey in January. In theory it is a tidy and logical starting place – ‘new year new me’ mentality. Going to social media and the internet can also feel like a good idea, perhaps to get advice or inspiration. However, a journey of self-improvement is an extremely individual and personal experience. Therefore, using advice from strangers and money-hungry companies, who claim to have a quick fix for insecurities that you probably didn’t even realise you had, isn’t the best idea. I’m not just talking about the vitamins or bars that claim to give you abbs, a bbl and clear skin overnight. I’m also talking about the wildly popular fitness challenges that seem to be trending at the moment. The ‘75 hard challenge’ seems to have resurfaced with force in 2025. For the very few people who have no idea what this is, the 75 hard challenge is a 75-day long fitness challenge with an extensive list of rules that you must adhere to daily (including 2 workouts a day, no alcohol or fizzy drinks, drink a gallon of water everyday etc). For some, this challenge could be the perfect kick start to a new life and may genuinely improve their lives. Yet in realty, for most of us this challenge is impossible and unachievable. It’s a luxury to find the time to do even just one workout a day and to have the access to these super-health foods. Even if you were to survive those 75 days its very likely within a week after this challenge your progress will be reversed. For example, we’re nearing the end of January, have you actually stuck to all of those new year’s resolutions you optimistically wrote down on the 31st of December? If you have then you’re better than me.
As someone who has fallen victim to these scams many times – from excessively calorie counting to greens powder to facial exercises- I can confidently say I have been the most content and productive when I block out the noise of social media and set my own achievable goals. A small change is better than no change. By setting these incredibly unrealistic goals and spending extreme amounts of money on unreliable product you’re more likely to make no progress or even reverse progress. This doesn’t go for all advice or all challenges that you may come across, but I think that if you are going to stick to any resolutions or set any goals then it should be to take your time and understand that your goals should be catered for yourself.