The October Theory on TikTok has creators treating the month of October like a preemptive New Year’s Day for making resolutions and setting goals for the coming year.
What is the October Theory TikTok trend?
The basic gist of the October Theory is that a lot of folks have realized that the year is coming to a close and they haven’t tackled their New Year’s resolutions for 2024. Rather than giving up on these resolutions, they have decided that the changing of the season should also signify a major shift in their lives, trying out various methods of self-improvement and big decisions before the year ends.
Another aspect of the October Theory is that folks are specifically doing a lot of self-reflection and meditation on where they are in their lives and where they want to be in the future. Because time seems to just disappear like the sand in an hourglass, people who are fans of this theory want something to hold onto and feel good about what they’re doing in accomplishing their goals.
Origins of the October Theory
There were a few posts about the October Theory on TikTok in 2023, most notably from TikToker Macy (@macyymorgan_) who talked about how the holidays make people reflect on their past year and want to get their “butt into gear” to improve themselves. That being said, the trend didn’t take off and become popularized until late September and early October 2024.
@macyymorgan_ OCTOBER 1ST THEORY #october #fall #fallaesthetic #theory #fyp #grwm #grwmroutine #makeuptutorial #letschat #grwmmakeup ♬ original sound – Macy
How to participate in the October Theory trend
There are a couple of general rules that folks posting about the October Theory suggest people follow. The most important of these rules is that you need to set achievable goals that you can complete in a short amount of time, and set deadlines to make those goals.
This is different from New Year resolutions because many folks want to jumpstart on January 1st and then very quickly fall off the bandwagon as they don’t commit to their attempt at a lifestyle change.
Once those goals have been set, according to the TikTok meme trend, you need to learn to live with how fast life seems to go by and be flexible when new opportunities appear. Make those big decisions that you were too nervous to do, so says the October Theory, and embrace getting out of your comfort zone.
Another seemingly important aspect of the October Theory is “cuffing season,” which is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as, “a period of time where single people begin looking for short-term partnerships to pass the colder months of the year.”
TikToker Chloe Van Berkel (@chloevanberkel) describes the month as “The time when people are going to be making a lot of big life changes, a lot of major life decisions, and a lot of canon events will be happening for a lot of different people at this time.” Van Berkel has nearly 70K followers on the social media platform and her video on the subject was viewed over 972.8K times.
@chloevanberkel tik tok comes up with a lot of theories but i’m kinda here for this one #october #octobertheory #firstofthemonth #endoftheyear #fallseason ♬ original sound – Chloe Van Berkel
“People are realizing that they want a special someone to spend the holidays with,” the TikToker went on to add. “So you’ll definitely see a lot of new couples around this time.”
October Theory examples
@herculeankate idk how much i believe in october theory tbh but i have a strong feeling i’ll get a job offer so this is what i’m going to do to make sure happens 🙂↕️ #octobertheory #octobertheoryexplained #howtogetajob #postgradjobhunt #socialmediamarketingportfolio #creatorsearchinsights ♬ original sound – kate | post grad life
@gabrielscottstevens halloweekend’s got me
♬ original sound – The Random
@mindandbodymamas It’s the first of the month ✨ wishing you the best rest of the year #octobertheory #october1st #q4 ♬ original sound – Monica ✨ Mind and Body Mamas✨
More TikTok trends explained:
- Why are TikTokers screaming at their phones like chickens?
- What is the ‘Rip Me Out The Plastic’ meme?
- What is hurkle-durkling? It’s like bed rotting, but not
- What does it mean to be a Nonchalant Dreadhead? The TikTok slang, explained
- You can tell whether someone’s Gen Z or millennial by the way they do the ‘heart hands’
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
