As I was thinking about the new year and the power of taking action without guarantees (because who actually knows if we’ll meet every goal we set, right?), I kept coming back to how much tension shows up at the start of the year.
January can feel exciting and motivating and somehow heavy at the same time. One part of us says, Let’s go, while another says it with a much quieter sigh. And depending on the day, we either feel fueled or not fueled at all.
Leadership
January has a way of feeling cold, wet, and gray. The sky. The snow that quickly turns dirty. The long stretch between holidays and spring.
It’s ironic that the year meant to represent fresh starts arrives wrapped in weather that feels anything but fresh for many parts of the world. If you live somewhere warm and sunny, just know the rest of us are a little jealous.
January also creates quiet pressure for leaders. New year. New goals. Clean slate. And the same expectation to move fast. Leaders are ready to think about direction, priorities, where to focus energy, and what needs to happen first. Not all at once, but in the right order.
Here’s the part leaders sometimes forget. You’ve already been living with the priorities and goals longer than your team has.
You’ve thought through scenarios. You’ve daydreamed at stoplights about how this year could unfold. You’ve had meetings, weighed tradeoffs, and mapped timing in your head, often without realizing it. That muscle is more developed for you.
The trap is assuming your team should feel just as oriented and ready simply because the calendar flipped.
One of the most important leadership skills in January is slowing down long enough to help your team see the year ahead clearly. What matters. What comes first. And what does not need to be solved yet.
This is where leadership shifts from setting goals to preparing people for execution.
When leaders help teams understand what matters now, how their work connects to the bigger picture, and what is coming later and why it will matter, work feels more manageable. The picture in a team member’s head starts to appear and make sense.
Strong leadership in January is not about having every priority finalized or every strategic decision locked in. It is about helping people get their footing before, during, and after the pace picks up.
Think of it like the gym. Or if you are avoiding the gym, think of it like literally anything else that requires practice, patience, and some warm up time.
January is not about personal records. It is about rebuilding form and strengthening fundamentals so the heavier work ahead does not lead to burnout.
Every conversation that reinforces priorities, sequencing, and readiness is a rep.
The takeaway:
You do not need to have everything figured out right now.
You need to help your team see what matters most, what is next, and how to prepare for what is coming.
January is a month for direction and readiness, and a bit of execution.
Life
This week I went back and rewatched a video about a woman whose goal for 2025 was not a promotion, a dream, or a milestone most of us would recognize.
Her goal was to get 1,000 rejections.
Big ones. Small ones. Sensible ones. Completely out there ones.
She applied for things fully expecting to hear no. A pageant. Accepted. An audition for a play. Cast and ended up doing 11 shows. She signed up to be an extra in a commercial assuming she would not get picked and she did. She pitched brand deals thinking they were a stretch and landed a few. One of her wildest attempts was applying for Dutch citizenship, convinced it would be a rejection.
It was not.
What struck me most was how intentionally she removed the pressure to win. Rejection was not the failure. Not trying was.
Going for the no put her in motion. And once she was in motion, the math started to work in her favor.
There is something powerful about being in enough action that, statistically, some yeses are inevitable. Not because you are chasing validation, but because you are participating. Asking. Auditioning. Applying. Raising your hand.
Those yeses, big or small, have a way of quietly changing the course of things. A career path. A friendship. A family story. A sense of what is possible.
I also loved that she did not stop there. Some of her 2026 goals are simply ordinary and quietly bold at the same time. Reading 50 books. Exercising 45 minutes a day. Investing monthly. Becoming a voiceover actor. Traveling internationally.
Nothing too flashy, except maybe the voiceover actor part….just consistent movement toward a life she is actively building.
It made me reflect on how often we talk ourselves out of action because we are trying to protect ourselves from hearing no. But sometimes the only thing standing between us and an unexpected yes is simply being willing to try.
I am not setting a goal to collect 1,000 rejections (though the thought did cross my mind). But I am paying closer attention to where I am hesitating. Where I am waiting to be more ready. Where I am opting out before anyone else has the chance to.
Because the yes you do not expect often lives right on the other side of the ask you almost did not make.
Cheers to a bright, productive, and rejection filled 2026!
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Have Good Ripple Effect,
Lisa