Self-Improvement is a Lie | Deinfluencing "New Year New You" Motivation
Frugal Friends Podcast
Jen Smith & Jill Sirianni | Backyard Ventures
4.8 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 January 2026
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Every year we hear “New Year, New You” but you are just buying the same journal, the same supplement, and the same productivity tracker. In this episode, we’re calling out the pressure to constantly upgrade yourself, breaking down the marketing that preys on insecurity, and offering a different path where you don’t need a “new you.”
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. |
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| 0:21.0 | Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. |
| 0:23.4 | Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup. |
| 0:28.6 | Self-improvement is a lie, de-influencing the New Year, New Year, New You motivation. |
| 0:38.8 | Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, |
| 0:45.3 | and live a rich life. |
| 0:48.5 | Here are your host, Jen and Jill. |
| 0:55.5 | If self-improvement worked, why are we out here buying the same fixes every single January? |
| 1:02.2 | Every year we hear New Year, New You, just buy this planner, this supplement, this productivity tracker. |
| 1:10.4 | But it's a lie. In this episode, we productivity tracker, but it's a lie. |
| 1:12.3 | In this episode, we are debunking the idea that you have to be constantly upgrading yourself, |
| 1:19.2 | and we're going to be uncovering the marketing that is preying on your insecurity |
| 1:24.6 | and telling you that every new year you need to be upgrading, buying, |
| 1:30.9 | etc. |
| 1:32.0 | This year, my New Year's resolution is to be more menacing, to be scarier, to be a horror, |
| 1:39.2 | to be haunting, insidious, sinister, even. |
| 1:42.6 | Hey, frugal friends, I'm Jen. |
| 1:47.7 | I'm Jill. And if you're looking to be more menacing in 26, you are in the right place. Or if you're looking to make any change, we want to help |
| 1:53.2 | you figure out what is the healthy change and what is the change that is just toxic New Year, |
| 2:00.5 | New Year, New Year marketing? |
... |
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