What’s Your Personal Motto for 2026?
Waking up on January 1st always makes me feel like Bridget Jones: hungover, crabby, and likely wearing a two-decade-old nightgown in my childhood bedroom. Unlike sweet Bridget, I no longer believe I need to lose weight or snag a boyfriend in order to make the coming year better than the last, but I still like to commemorate the new year in a way that feels definitive.
Thus, enter the New Year’s motto.
I learned about the concept of an annual motto from Eliza, my best friend from college, who’s always been both witchier and more grounded than I am. We’ve spent New Year’s Eves together all over the country, from New York to Ohio to Los Angeles, and she taught me to swap out resolutions with calmer phrases, which feel more like loving suggestions than a list of specific imperatives bound to burn me out.
My first motto, which I came up with in 2017, was “improve gently.” I expected to forget about it in a matter of days, but instead, I found myself whispering “improve gently” to myself all year as I pitched big stories or nervously waited at bars to meet first dates. Other years, my mottos have encouraged me to take stock of what I already have — like 2019’s “enjoy it!” or 2023’s “aim for yes” (that last one is borrowed from a Cup of Jo post, but I decided to apply it to parenting myself!).
This year, I’m newly single and settling into living alone, embracing the motto “strive for it” to push myself to pursue the things I want, from romantic flings to a new embroidery hobby to cute drawer pulls for my studio-apartment kitchen. Meanwhile, Eliza — who’s adjusting to life with an active six-month-old — is promising herself that she’ll “strengthen her core” (physically, but also emotionally).
While I can’t promise a New Year’s motto will change your life or even your year, it’s a small way to be kinder to yourself. And the end of January isn’t too late to write yourself a message of guidance, especially when the news is as consistently appalling as it is right now and we sometimes need to gather all our strength just to face the day.
So, I’m curious, what will your 2026 motto be?
Emma Specter is a journalist and author who currently works as the culture writer for Vogue.com. Her first book, More, Please: On Food, Fat, Bingeing, Longing and the Lust for Enough, is out now from HarperCollins. She loves vintage purses, swimming laps at the public pool, and her little white dog, Franklin.
P.S. Toby’s genius approach to making friends, and what are your core values?
(Photo by Aila Images/Stocksy.)
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113 commentsMi lema para este año es “Cada uno, todos los posibles”. Lo tomé prestado del actor, músico y escritor argentino Facundo Arana. Hace alusión a disfrutar los amaneceres o atardeceres, cada uno, todos los que podamos. A ser conscientes de que somos tiempo que se acaba y que cada día es un regalo.
I just came across this post and it made me think of what I have been telling myself on repeat lately – “it’s not my problem to solve.” I spent SO much time last year worrying about a few family members and really, the things I am worrying about are just not my problems to solve. It doesn’t completely cure the worrying, but it’s applicable in so many situations for a lifelong worrier and over thinker. It helps to stop my thoughts from spinning endlessly.
keep the light on. it’s unexpectedly fit into any situation i’ve used it in over the last month, and when i close my eyes and see the metaphorical warm glowing light, i’m instantly calmed.
Closer to TRUTH
Inspired by the brilliant Kate Baer, mine is “how about now?” A reminder that life is short and to stop procrastinating. There is no better time than the present.
more whimsy, less efficiency <3
I’m reading a novel called Glittering Images set in 1930s England and centered around a 37-year-old priest in the midst of a nervous breakdown. The priest talks about having two selves: who he really is and the “glittering image” that he tries to be to fulfill his professional role and impress people. To improve his life, he has to reject the glittering image and let his true self come through. I really identify with that sentiment so I think my motto for the year is “You don’t have to be a glittering image.”
Just got back from a first vacation with my new guy, which blew me away in its stress-free loveliness thanks partly to our adopted motto: “sometimes, things take two tries.” A gentle way to vacation and to live and a generous way to love.
After a really hard few years (lockdown, major health scare for hubby, major health scare for me, all with two little kids), we’ve entered a sweet spot. My daughters are 6 & 8 — no more wiping butts, not yet buying bras. Our health issues are managed for now. My business is finding its stride. So even though the world is burning, our little 4-some is in a bliss period, so my goal this year is Soak It Up. I don’t have to improve or fix or *anything* other than just savor this pocket of time.
When in doubt,, mumble
Lol! I really want to know more about what this means!
Over the holidays, I had an epiphany. My husband & I traveled all over to see our family & spend quality time with everyone. My in-laws talked a lot about learning to budget & cook at home, I got my feelings hurt when effort wasn’t given to make time for us…& all of a sudden, I realized to love is to be inconvenienced. I haven’t been able to shake it for a month now. As we all talk about adult friendships being hard to find & keep, I can’t stop thinking about how inconvenient relationships are. But they are SO worth it. & when we love someone, we take the inconvenience that comes with it. So, this year, love is inconvenient. I’m embracing it ❤️
Thank you for this, Rebecca 💖 This is absolutely what i needed to hear ! Love is inconvenient. And so worth it indeed ✨
I’m just doing a word this year, nothing else. It’s “reflect”. Often I am too quick to move onto the next, the next, the next, without giving myself the time to absorb or truly think through what is happening. In choosing to reflect my hope is that it will cause me to both slow down, absorb, and be more present in the moment. I also feel that if I am not properly reflecting on any given situation, how will I ever learn or grow from it? Here’s to trying!
“Lead with love.” It’s really lead with love, not fear but I use the first bit as the motto. I feel as though, since Covid, I’ve been in a heightened state of fear. It got better since the worst days of Covid but with the unraveling of our country, the fear is palpable. So, I am trying to not let it jump into the drivers seat. Fear is a lot of what got us into this mess to begin with. Am I making this decision out of love or fear?
Alignment: If it doesn’t bring peace or joy to my nervous system, it is not for me.
Probably the entire Snoop Dog Affirmation Song I play for my four year old on the way to school.
“Little things add up” when it comes to finances, yes, but also as a reminder to myself that progress is made through small, repeated actions, habits and thought patterns.
As I wait for someone to answer the phone, I find myself repeating “don’t be a dick. don’t be a dick. don’t be a dick.” So I think that’s my motto this year. Don’t be a dick.
Thank you for posting this. I’m THE BIGGEST DICK on the phone. Send me thoughts and prayers.
Same. I am the kindest, sweetest, do anything to help anyone person but get me on the phone because someone delivered me a chair with marks on it and my attempts at fixing the situation have been ignored – I am 1000% ruthless.
Expect nothing, appreciate everything!
Free Palestine, boycott Israhell, UAE, India, support Ukraine, Venezuela, Greenland, Sudan, Yemen, and show up for everyone who are harmed by the ICE.
@cupofjo are you really going to leave this hatefull comment here? Boycott Israel ? For real?
I think Hana is referring to the movement to divest one’s financial investments and personal purchases from those that support weapons manufacture and sale or Israel’s regime so as to not be supporting a genocide with one’s dollars. (Though if you’re in the US your tax dollars are supporting it whether you like it or not, sadly.) You can have a deep love and respect for Israeli people and culture while still abhorring Netanyahu’s regime and what the IDF is doing in Gaza.
I’ll need to think more on a motto but have been noodling on this Kafka quote; I suspect it might resonate with others here, too: “Rise up, then. Mend your ways, start seeing what you are instead of calculating what you should become.”
Wow, thank you for that food for thought. I think my motto would be something along the lines of: appreciate how you are, not just how you appear, and strive to better that. The Kafka quote definitely feels like it’s running on the same lines.
I’m a big fan of setting personal mottos for the year. In 2020’s motto was “A Hint of Danger” (WELP), and other past mottos included “Savor,” “Nourish Thyself,” and “F*** It.” This year, I’m settling into finding ways to add pleasure to every day, so I’m leaning towards “Add Joy.”
Go Slower. I tend to feel urgency alllllllways, and I like that I’m enthusiastically in pursuit of so many things all the time but it can also be very overwhelming and I need the reminder often that life is long (in some ways.) So in the age of Efficiency Above All Else, I’m trying to enjoy being very humanly inefficient. I’m ditching spotify and the rate at which I consume music and other media in favor of CDs and tapes (which has meant visiting used record stores, dusting off my old middle school boombox, and actually supporting the new artists I love with a purchase from their website!). I’ve decided not to repair my dishwasher so I *must* slow down enough to handwash our dishes, and dream a little in the process.
I do this every year too! This year my motto / guiding phrase is, “if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hard no”. It has already been so helpful in figuring out my priorities and not investing my energy in the wrong things, and it’s not even the end of January.
“eat pie for breakfast”
Yes.
My favorite auntie used to say “Life is uncertain; eat dessert first.”
After two extremely challenging years, I am hopeful that things will slowly begin to get better this year now that a major change is about to take place. So, perhaps my motto should be, “One step at a time.” Followed by, “You can get through this.”
These comments have been the highlight of my day. I think mine will be: “Enlarge your heart”.
My motto this year is “do less better.” Or “do fewer things better,” I suppose that’s more grammatically accurate! The point is: quality over quantity. I found that in 2025, I totally overbooked myself again and again. Why? I suppose I was trying to fill a void instead of sitting quietly with myself and asking — “What do I really want to do with my precious time? What really matters to me? Where I am agreeing just to please others? And what’s the worst that will happen if I decline an invitation or a project?” Attempting to lean into how it is interesting, at the very least, how long things can take. I am not a naturally patient person (lol), but this feels like giving myself a break I never allowed myself to accept before. Ohmmmmm…
I can’t resist suggesting “less is better” but maybe the “do” is key!
Do less better was my motto for work last year…but it didn’t exactly work. Still worth a try!
“The trouble is, you think you have time” followed by “just do it”. Do it badly, do it imperfectly, but just do it, because later is now. I find I keep waiting until I “have time” for things I want to do.
“But what if it goes right?” My anxious brain is so consumed with preparing for the worst-case scenario that it doesn’t even pause to imagine things going well. My therapist asked me one day “What would it look like it everything worked out?” and I realized I couldn’t even answer her because not once had I thought to envision that!
yes!!!!
The funny thing is that I am a born optimist for whom things always goes wrong. What could go wrong? well in my experience you can actually get hit by a bus, you can actually break your break your back, you can actually contract a near fatal infection …. just saying your instincts might have saved you from a world of pain… I recently said I would love to roller blade, and the entire group of people I was with in unison said “NO”.
After two incredibly trying years, my motto will be: you can do hard things but you don’t have to. Life is not a stairmaster.
in 2025 i did a years-long exploration of anger that was actually terrible for me. i ended up holding far too much in and really falling apart emotionally. so for 2026 i chose “let it rip” as my motto with a focus on the resolution part of conflict resolution xx c
Cass! I feel this. Sometimes we just try our best to address something that feels negative and then it all goes pear shaped. It sounds like you learned something though, I hope it feels that way. I’m trying to learn that it’s okay to feel and express emotions like anger, but we need to be mindful, as you say, of the reconciliation and resolution part of things.
I hadn’t thought of one, but then these two previous mottos floated up together: “Relaxed vigilance, strive on with diligence.” (The first borrowed from Eric Gentry and the second from buddhism.) I also find these words comforting from Pirkei Avot (Ethics of Our Fathers): “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” That one isn’t quite as pithy though!
There are so many great mottos here. I’m happy for all of us who can give ourselves grace, take exciting risks, and do less. I think my motto for this year is something like “don’t shoot the second arrow.” My yoga teacher talks about how in Buddhism, the first arrow is the pain – we cannot control it. The second arrow is how we react to the pain – largely within our control. I have a tendency to beat myself up about my reaction to suffering (I should have been kinder, I should have done something different, etc etc etc). This year I’m trying not to shoot the second arrow, not to add self blame to the pain itself.
My motto this year is “Why not me?” I finally landed a literary agent over the summer and my debut novel is on submission! It’s so tough to be so close to a dream but still so far. A lot of books in my genre (middle grade) aren’t selling, and it’s my natural temperament to figure that mine will be one of the unlucky ones. BUT: Why not me? Why can’t my book be one of the few that gets through and gets published?! I recently heard someone say, How would you act if you knew your dream or goal was inevitable? Really trying to channel that positivity!
Joy you’ve got to post the book title on CoJ once you can! There’s a whole community that would love to support you!
Aw, Katie that is so sweet! 🥹
I always do a word of the year and it is so fun to look back and see how those all manifested! This year my word is “less”. Less consumption, less to-dos, less work. I’m newly pregnant with my third and facing a high risk pregnancy so this word feels very aligned with not wanting to add any unnecessary stress to my plate. I’m already using it to guide me in decisions throughout the year as I am normally a rather gluttonous person about life and filling my calendar with fun things which then turn into stressful to-dos.
I pick a word too and have for years! This year is “healing” – I’m pregnant also, (36w with my second, a girl this time), and it’s bringing up a lot of emotional wounds in me. It’s also an acknowledgement of the physical healing I’ll need to do and a reminder that healing takes rest and care and listening to my body and my emotions instead of all the “shoulds” and expectations.
Wait me too! Mine this year is Strength. Both physical (goal is to get and STAY injury free) and mental (working to increase my window of tolerance before emotional dysregulation). Woo!
My husband and I picked “grow” as the 2025 word of the year for our family and it turned out to be literal. We grew from a family of 3 to a family of 5 last year with the addition of twins 🫣
I do too! I love this practice and have done it for a long time as well. Last year my word was “forage.”
I had a high risk pregnancy last year and now one twin rests on my belly while the other one sleeps in her crib. Healing resonates a lit – from the stress and uncertainty and anxiety of the pregnancy, the hospital stay of one of the twins, the lack of time to bodily heal for me as I was torn between one twin at hone, one still in the hospital. To heal, and to rest, and to trust that the worst is over and to let go of the vigilance and remember my strength. I felt let down by two friends (who probably have their own story and pain, I think they are struggling with infertility) and writing this just helps me realize I can also let those wounds heal, allow myself space for the pain of the (current?) loss of friendships (they have completely withdrawn)*, but also letting those wounds heal. *And I understand how hard it is when friends get pregnant but not you – been there – and I still can be disappointed and most of all – miss them in my life. A lot of things can be true
Meredith, that is so sweet! And funny!
I’m feeling a real urge to spend more time in person with people who I love! I’m layering it on top of my existing motto of “always accept an invitation” (if possible obviously) and I’m thinking now I need to be pushing out more invitations myself! This month I’ve made a big effort to go to my brother’s 30th drinks with his friends (left husband and child at home and stayed over on my brother’s sofa and it was SO nice to spend that time), and I’ve taken Monday off work to meet up with a friend who lives 90mins drive away because I realised if you don’t say yes to these things you are likely to drift apart.
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
I’m embracing ‘what do I want’ as my motto. At work it may look like getting out of my own way: asking for clarity when things feel swirly and vague, requesting timely updates instead of stewing and waiting, being willing to be heard and take up space. At home it’s removing “I don’t care, whatever you want” or “I don’t know” and embracing the pauses that come from reflecting first, answering second.
When it comes to being hard on myself, I am a champion. At the end of last year, when I was beating myself up about the latest thing, a thought came to me and stopped me in my tracks: “What would it be like if you were kinder to yourself?” It allowed something inside me to instantly unclench and shift my perspective. I decided in that moment that it would be my motto for this year, and while it does not come naturally to me, it definitely works!
“Try Softer” – borrowed from Aundi Kolber By nature, I am not a “soft” person in any sense except, perhaps, my belly. Grit has gotten me through most of my life’s obstacles. Since becoming a mother, however, that doesn’t always work or, even if it does, it’s not a great way to address challenges or help others. Last year’s word was “rest” and it was a great challenge for me. I’m building upon that with “try softer” and taking time to slow down, thinking about if a situation or opportunity requires more grit, more grace (softer), or maybe a combination of both. I don’t need to be a “hard” person – I am safe, I am loved, and I can be soft. There’s a whole other part of me that I’m getting to know in 2026 and she’s lovely.
Same! But I would love tips on how to soften some of my sharper edges. Cup of Jo community?! Stories from people who have done this successfully and how!
“If you can be calm, they can be calm.” – A motto for parenting.
Also a motto for other forms of caregiving.
Love, love, love, how can I try to remember this when needed?!
I didn’t have one, but after I opened this link and before I read this post, it came to me: Be willing to be soft. I am a person who loves structure and a routine and who also fights my physical body, so I would love to be willing to soften up and release my hold on myself physically and mentally, to allow myself to release control sometimes.😅
that’s so beautiful, Cassie. xo
Stop being my id’s bitch.
Hahaha amazing. I’ll give you my superego if you give me a little more id
“Connect.” By nature, I can be a bit of a lone wolf. I’m in my head a lot. I always tell my kids that I don’t listen to music or podcasts because I have a rich internal monologue. I’m also at a stage in my life where most of my day is focused on the needs of other people, which can be exhausting (mother to four children). But, I want to go beyond being duty-bound and diligent. Getting things done and showing up for people has always been easy for me, but I worry that my loved ones aren’t actually feeling my love and sacrifice because I’m not the greatest at connecting with them. So, when I see the opportunity to connect this year, I want to go for it. To me, that looks like watching Survivor on the couch at night with my tweens, snuggling my toddler every morning, calling a friend out of the blue when she crosses my mind, saying yes (and meaning it!) to sexy time with my husband, allowing myself the simple luxuries of life like a cup of tea and a book instead of focusing on tasks and chores. To even desire this is growth for me! I’m excited.
I might steal this one. It’s beautiful.
enemies to lovers, except i’m my enemy and i want to be my lover <3 (ofc i saw this on tiktok) i'll be 35 in march and i want to stop hating myself. it's exhausting.
I adore this
Oh my gosh. I really struggle with being hard on myself so this resonates with me, too. And the way of calling it ‘enemies to lovers’ makes it sound funner and funnier than just having self compassion. I am going to try this! Best wishes to you!
I love this motto! I’m also 35 in March (the 11th!) and have been feeling this weight of growing older. I want to change my perspective and embrace and love all that I am :)
Flexible – at its core it means doing more stretching, pilates, etc., but also being more flexible mentally: stepping out of my comfort zone, embracing change as it comes, and allowing myself to be more spontaneous.
Thank you–what a nice idea! I think I’ll go with “Stay Grounded.”
I started 2026 with the word “simplify” in mind, interpreting it as trying to stay present and keep things simple as I was in the early stages of a much-wanted first pregnancy. My goal was to be more curious than afraid, at least a tiny bit. This week we learned things are not working out, and in the thick of this first pregnancy loss I have to keep bringing myself back to right now. Not next week, next month, just right now, the next best step I can take, simplifying life wherever I can. This too shall pass but I am so floored by how painful life can be.. and grateful to read all the perspectives and hopes gathered here.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Bre. Sending a warm hug as you navigate this difficult time. My first pregnancy loss was eight years ago, and even after having successful pregnancies, I still remember how hard that season was. I hope you’re surrounded by as much care and gentleness as you need right now.
I’m so sorry, Bre. I’ve been there, and it is so painful. Sending a big hug and hopes that you take gentle care of yourself.
Shine. There’s so much in the world that makes me feel scratched up and dull. And I have a way of doing it to myself, too. I want my shine to be belief made visible. A tension I’m holding is that it does almost feel out of touch. But I’m choosing to see shining as a defiant act of resistance. It’s choosing hope and belief when it would be easier not to. I’m not looking for a toxic positivity here, I don’t want to be performative. The darkness is contagious – but so is the light. So I want to shine.
Shine!!!! ✨ ☀️ 🪩 I love this and agree that it is resistance!
Talk sing* it with me now (Trying not to CRINGE over my typo. Sigh.)
Also, I must a share this too – I was sitting in a women’s circle on the winter solstice & someone mentioned that this year they strive to ‘be less efficient’ because their hyper-efficiency was exhausting & also wasn’t giving space for others to [have to] show up & be efficient in their own right. YES! When it was my turn to share in the circle, I mentioned to her that when she said that I heard “Be less efficient, be less efficient!” to the tune of the meme that we all know & love & treasure… “Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious.” Talk sign it with me now, y’all, “Be less efficient, be less efficient.” It is hard (because we are absolute *beasts* at efficiency – which we all know is its own tangent symptom of a greater issue) but we can do hard things! :::::Whispers as she backs out the doorway::::: “Be less efficient, be less efficient.”
I LOVE this!
I can relate to this! I can also be that hyper-efficient person, always trying to make sure things are done right and perfectly on time, and always feeling that I can’t rest or enjoy anything until all the work is done. As a result, I usually feel guilty for trying to relax and actually enjoy life. I was discussing this with my therapist and she gave me “permission” to be a “pillar of inefficiency.” That has become one of my favorite phrases and it has helped me to learn to relax and enjoy life a little more.
^ (because words are spells. So, let’s cast them!) For my tour of the year 2026: I give you/me/the world (here’s hoping) – “F*çkery & Nonsense”.
I do a word for the year. My word is “light”. It’s connected to the following: SAD LIGHT has been a game changer this dreary winter (30min when I wake up. I want to make sure that after work when I greet my kids that my eyes LIGHT up. I’m trying to feel LIGHTER even during heavier times. I want to try to see some differing views in another LIGHT. I want to shine LIGHT on my family and close friends.
Delightful! ✨
As someone who has spent a life with pretty debilitating anxiety and the adult child of a divorced alcoholic and now the widow of a partner with significant mental health problemns, people pleasing and scanning the room (my life) for threats was second nature. I didn’t realise how long I had been living in fight or flight. I got diagnosed 18 months ago with ADHD and have discovered Vadim Zeland’s “No Big Deal” theory. It’s allowed me to step off the spiral of my anxiety and view it for what it is. It’s not gone but I can recognise it and it’s helping me change the way I show up in the world. So I’ve got a few mottos to help me do that,: 1. “Clock it, don’t rock it” -To remember that what my anxiety tells me isn’t the absolute truth and I can question it and push back, and seeing a slight change in a pattern (hello AudHD) or a person’s demeanour does not automatically equal threat. Recognise the change and wait for more data before going worst case scenario. Clock it, don’t rock it! 2. “It’s already mine”- Whatever you want, a certain type of life, peace, support, just assume it’s already yours and fake it till you make it, if you can convince your brain that it’s yours then it’s only a matter of time until it actually is. I feel like as incredibly challenging as these past years have been through for the world, we are all collectively starting to wake up and realise we can change and we can effect change. Start with yourself and we’re unstoppable.
This resonated with me so much. Anxious seems to be my default state, and it has a strange way of presenting itself. Sometimes it feels mental, sometimes it’s physical. Anyway, a therapist recommended The Four Agreements, a self-help book based on Toltec wisdom. One that stuck with me was not taking things personally. I, too, have a habit of reading everyone’s emotions (or clocking them) and allowing their energy to have too much impact on me. Working on it…
I don’t have a motto, but this is a year I want to find myself by remembering myself. This means getting offline and rediscovering myself as a reader, artist and musician. I strongly believe that we can only fight fascism by existing fully present in the physical world. I plan on biking more too.
I don’t do a motto for the year, but I pick a word for the year and for 2026 my word is “Rediscovery” It’s also fun to look back on my words of the year at the end of the year and as the change
Mine is “trust yourself”—I’ve already used it a few times too!! Skiing challenging terrain, giving a big presentation at work, having a tough chat with my kiddo, carving out a date night with my husband despite the long to-do list. And I believe in saying it aloud to myself in the mirror (cheesy but it works for me!). It’s given me the freedom to take risks within my own boundaries.
I’m taking inspiration from Cup of Jo for mine! “Run towards the storm” seems an apt motto for this season of my life. I’m balancing parenting a neurodivergent 6.5 year old and a busy 3.5 year old while working in Australia’s deeply underfunded mental healthcare system, which can be and emotionally exhausting combination. It’s a great reminder for me to weather the storms and turn towards the coping skills I know support me in the long-term rather than reaching for quick fixes and pushing away tough feelings. Thanks for the inspiration Joanna!
I choose a word each year and make it my password for my devices so I have to think about it multiple times a day! Past years have been abundance, curiosity, inward. This year as I’m settling into single motherhood after a rocky year post-divorce, my word is worthy, to remind myself that I don’t *deserve* anything more than anyone else, but am worthy of anything I’m willing to work for and prioritize in my life.
Love this. I also incorporate key words into passwords so it’s like repeating a mantra throughout the day. One of my previous passwords included “crone era”. I’m in my mid-50s and a recent empty-nester. I finally have more time for myself and am figuring out who I am in this moment and what interests me. I am embracing my inner crone. Definition: an old(er) woman regarded as having magic powers or wisdom.
For me, 2026 is the year of the “no” Too much work, too many sollicitations and I am a yes person who tries to please everybody I have reached my limites in 2025. So I decided and informed everybody around me: 2026 is the no-year It should uncontestedly should teach me a lot
My motto for this year: “There is always a way forward—and I will do my best to make it happen.” I’m currently feeling hard-pressed, in my private as well as in my professional career. A lot of things let me worry. Climat change is happening, ignoring it won’t help at all. AI slop making people hallucinating about replacing people instead of enabling people, which I personally don’t like at all. The far-right backlash across the world. Blaming minorities and hiper-focus on woke topics in order to ignore big topics that would require change for our society. A near relative who belives every myth out there and being misused by Russian propaganda. Fear is not a good adviser. My small children which I need to give warmth stability and hope. They are wonderful and draining at the same time.
My best ever NY Motto was in 2020 “I will not reason with unreasonable people”. It helped me distinguish who wanted a rational conversation and who just wanted to oppose something, anything. 2022 came from a podcast opener “Do not ask for directions to places they’ve never been”. Why o why was I concerning myself with the opinions of people who have not stood where I stand?
I read The Four Agreements towards.the end of last year and the one that I repeat to myself all the time is Do Your Best. The key here is to remember that your best is different every moment of every day. Sometimes doing your best is taking a nap on the sofa. Doing your best means being honest with where you are at and what you have to give and showing up in a way that feels authentic. I have become really good at getting quiet and checking in with myself about what I need and what I am able to give and honoring that.
I’m going with CONFUSION TO THE ENEMY.
Lauren O, I always appreciate your comments but this one put a big smile on my face in spite of my mood and circumstances being very much “Monday” (IYKYK). Thank you and keep up the good work (words!).
I feel too old for resolutions or annual mottoes but, in times of trouble, like the past year, I’ve always asked myself that classic question, “What would J……..ohn Adams do?” He’d do the right thing, so I try to do it, too.
hahahahah
Last year my word for the year was “home” as I embraced all things related to my hermity-ness. It ended up taking on new meaning for me throughout the year as we (almost) unexpectedly uprooted ourselves and moved homes and I contemplated the word in a more literal and ephemeral sense. While being at home I also discovered a new love that has changed my life… sewing! This year, I feel vague yet also a few things come up. Lemons. Choosing colors. More living. More experiencing life. Human interactions. Using my voice even when I am scared. Listening to myself. Having fun. One thing at a time. Acknowledging my creativity. More new and daunting experiences (enter swimming lessons, solo trips). Oh. And more SEWING!!
Lemons ! Aren’t they just beautiful ? Cross sections of citrus fruits floor me. Lemons limes. Just beautiful.
I’m also down for the new years motto- mine this year is “what if it all works out?” It’s already been helpful so far to ward off anxiety.
Thanks for this one!
I swear yearly themes or mottos have been COMING TO ME without me even asking since 2017, and it’s so magical when the they arrive toward the end of one year to help guide me into the next. It feels like a magical gift from God/the Universe. This year’s theme arrived to me in late December in a line spoken by a yoga instructor: Palms open to receive.
The words I came to for this year are resilience and humor. The old pattern is – I try a new thing, I don’t do as well as I want, I give up. New pattern – Give les f*^ks, don’t take myself too seriously, and do it again anyways. That’s my motto.
I have two this year: 1. Close the loops. (Finish outstanding tasks that have been hanging over me for ages and making me feel guilty and overwhelmed.) 2. Cultivate connection.