![\"friends](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/friends-shadows-jumping-scaled.jpeg\")
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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.<\/p>\n
Thus, enter the New Year\u2019s motto.<\/p>\n
I learned about the concept of an annual motto from Eliza, my best friend from college, who\u2019s always been both witchier and more grounded than I am. We\u2019ve spent New Year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
My first motto, which I came up with in 2017, was \u201cimprove gently.\u201d I expected to forget about it in a matter of days, but instead, I found myself whispering \u201cimprove gently\u201d<\/em> 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 \u2014 like 2019\u2019s \u201cenjoy it!\u201d or 2023\u2019s \u201caim for yes\u201d (that last one is borrowed from a Cup of Jo post<\/a>, but I decided to apply it to parenting myself!<\/em>).<\/p>\n This year, I\u2019m newly single and settling into living alone, embracing the motto \u201cstrive for it\u201d to push myself to pursue the things I want, from romantic flings to a new embroidery hobby<\/a> to cute drawer pulls for my studio-apartment kitchen. Meanwhile, Eliza \u2014 who\u2019s adjusting to life with an active six-month-old \u2014 is promising herself that she\u2019ll \u201cstrengthen her core\u201d (physically, but also emotionally).<\/p>\n While I can\u2019t promise a New Year\u2019s motto will change your life or even your year, it\u2019s a small way to be kinder to yourself. And the end of January isn\u2019t too late to write yourself a message of guidance, especially when the news is as consistently appalling<\/a> as it is right now and we sometimes need to gather all our strength just to face the day.<\/p>\n So, I\u2019m curious, what will your 2026 motto be?<\/strong><\/p>\n Emma Specter<\/a> is a journalist and author who currently works as the culture writer for Vogue.com<\/a>. Her first book, More, Please: On Food, Fat, Bingeing, Longing and the Lust for Enough<\/a>, is out now from HarperCollins. She loves vintage purses, swimming laps at the public pool, and her little white dog, Franklin.<\/em><\/p>\n P.S. Toby\u2019s genius approach to making friends<\/a>, and what are your core values?<\/a><\/p>\n (Photo by Aila Images\/Stocksy.)<\/p>\n