I recently met the fun and highly energetic Maeve Conte, a 23-year-old professional in New York City, who shared an approach to the new year that struck me as both clever and sustainable. Instead of crafting an ambitious list of resolutions each January – you know, traditionally built commitments that are often abandoned by February – Maeve sets a playful monthly intention, each one beginning with the month’s first letter.
For January 2026, she’s embracing “J’adore January.” The goal? Fall in love with a month she typically finds gloomy. Rather than white-knuckling through winter’s darkness with rigid resolutions, she’s choosing to discover what makes January worth celebrating. For her, this looks like watching all of the Oscar-nominated best pictures and getting a cappuccino in a different neighborhood every week.
What makes this approach work is its flexibility and lightness. In fact, Maeve won’t even finalize her February theme until mid-January, allowing her to respond to how she’s actually feeling and what she genuinely needs, rather than locking herself into predetermined goals when she’s still recovering from holiday excess and facing the year’s coldest, darkest weeks.
Last year’s themes included “Make New Friends May” and “Get Jacked June,” with the, slightly obvious, goals of investing in new relationships and working out. “No Narcissism November” and “Development December” gave her a reminder to stay grounded as the year accelerated toward the holidays. Specifically, November highlighted gratitude and giving back, while December brought encouragement to finish the year strong. Where some monthly goals are simple and obvious, others require a bit of nuance. Each month got its moment of focus without the pressure of maintaining twelve simultaneous commitments.
This monthly rhythm aligns with how we actually experience time. A month is long enough to create meaningful change but short enough to maintain focus. It’s a sprint, not a marathon, and when February arrives, you get to start fresh with a new intention tailored to that moment in your life.
The alliterative requirement adds an element of creativity and play. Choosing a word that fits both your needs and your month’s first letter transforms goal-setting from a solemn exercise into something more joyful and whimsical. It’s a constraint that sparks creativity rather than limiting it.
For those of us who’ve watched New Year’s resolutions crumble by Valentine’s Day, Maeve’s approach offers something different: permission to focus on one thing at a time, to adjust as we go, and to make intention-setting feel less like self-improvement homework and more like an ongoing conversation with ourselves about what we need right now.
As you consider your own January, whether you call it “Joyful,” “Journey,” or “J’adore,” remember that the best intentions are the ones we actually keep. Sometimes that means thinking smaller, staying flexible, and giving ourselves permission to start fresh every thirty days.
As for me, I’m going with Jump In January. What will your January be?
Happy New Year! Happy Networking!
What a great idea! I haven’t done New Year’s resolutions in years because they seem so unsustainable, but I love the idea of cycling monthly emphases to stack and keep the small improvements brought on by those few weeks of focus rather than burning bright and burning out on a single idea.
So welcome to Juxtaposing Jovial Jaunts with Jolts of Judiciousness January! You know… when you work to give appropriate amounts of focus to productive fun and productive work in the dead of winter when it’s so much easier to just be lazy on both ends.
I might need to workshop the name though.