My real New Year starts this week

Originally shared in Tuesday Notes on November 10, 2026.

This autumn I made some of the biggest decisions I have made in years. Some were exciting and some were scary but mostly they were both. I’m moving toward a future I’m excited to watch come to life and that has me thinking about how we begin things.

On the 1st of January 2026 I started a 5 Year Journal a friend gifted me. It's a journal where each page holds the same date across five years. I can’t look back on November 2025 yet, but next year I’ll open this page and read what I wrote today. I’m really looking forward to that, and to reading back through this whole year.

There’s a reason a birthday makes you want to start something. Researchers at the Wharton School call it the fresh start effect. In their 2014 study, people were more likely to go after their goals right after “temporal landmarks”: a new week, a new month, a new year and birthdays. Searches for “diet” went up, gym visits went up and more people signed up to commit to their goals.

Landmarks draw a line between an old self and a new one. Past slip-ups start to feel like they belonged to someone else which makes it easier to begin again.

Landmarks draw a line between an old self and a new one.

So I’m not waiting for January. Here’s the exercise I’m doing this week. It takes about 30 minutes, ideally with pen and paper.

Part 1: Look back

• What did this year give me?

• What did it cost me?

• What am I done carrying?

Part 2: Your best possible self

This is one of the most studied exercises in positive psychology and it’s been linked to more optimism and better mood.

Imagine it’s one year from today and things have gone as well as they realistically could. Write about what your days look like, who’s in them, how you feel and what you’re proud of. Be specific and write in the present tense.

Part 3: The why test

Pull two or three goals out of what you wrote. For each one, ask why you want it.

Research on goal-setting has found that goals reflecting your own values and interests are the ones you keep working on. Reaching them actually makes you happier. Goals you chase out of guilt or pressure don’t do either as well.

So be honest with yourself. If the answer is “because I should” or “because someone expects it,” that goal may not survive February. If it’s “because it matters to me” or “because I enjoy it,” keep it.

Part 4: Make one goal real

Take your strongest goal and run it through WOOP, a method developed by a psychologist at New York University:

• Wish: what you want

• Outcome: the best thing about getting it

• Obstacle: the thing inside you most likely to get in the way

• Plan: “If [obstacle] then I will [action]”

That last step matters a lot. A review of 94 studies found that simple if-then plans make a real difference to whether people actually reach their goals.

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Tuesday Brain Snack 🧠

How you phrase a resolution matters. Researchers at Stockholm University followed over a thousand people with New Year’s resolutions for a year. Goals framed as something to start succeeded more often than goals framed as something to stop, about 59% versus 47%. “Cook at home three nights a week” beats “stop ordering takeaway.” It seems we’re better at moving toward something than running from it.

What’s one thing you’re starting this year, not stopping?

Much love, Claudia ✨