Acharya Prashant begins by using an analogy of an old towel that, despite being bought only last year, now looks worn out, has lint, and is no longer shiny white, prompting the desire for a new one. He relates this to the concept of a "Happy New Year," explaining that its true meaning lies in removing all the old "garbage" to allow one's true potential to emerge. The day a person truly emerges in this way is their first real Happy New Year; until then, no new year has truly occurred. Responding to a question on how to start the new year and see something new in it, Acharya Prashant states that one must first identify what is old. The old is everything that has been a part of one's life in the past months and years. He clarifies that newness is not an external object to be acquired like new shoes or glasses. The fundamental problem is the search for newness while remaining the same old person. True newness, he explains, is the state of being fed up with the old. When the year 2024 arrives, if the person remains unchanged, then nothing is new. Changing clothes, visiting new places, or reading new books does not bring about genuine newness. What we often perceive as new is merely a recycling of the old, giving an old thing a new appearance. The speaker points out that even the celebration of the New Year is an old, repetitive act. The only thing that changes is a digit, like 2023 becoming 2024. He suggests that people are fundamentally bored with their own being but falsely attribute this boredom to external things. The process of finding the new is not about addition but subtraction—removing the old. He compares it to removing layers of dust or a hard crust to reveal what is already present underneath. The new is not something to be invited from the outside; it is already present, even older than the old, but has been covered. The process is one of uncovering or "discovering" the new by removing the old. He further illustrates this with the analogy of physical fitness: the "new" is like abs, and the "old" (ego) is like fat. One doesn't add abs; one removes the fat to reveal them. This process of removal, akin to exercise and diet, is painful but essential. He likens the Vedantic process of 'Neti-Neti' (not this, not this) to a gym where the fat of the ego is shed. When one truly becomes new, everything in their experience—the year, their smile, their perception—also becomes new. He concludes by questioning how the year can be new if the individual themselves remains old.