What’s your word of the year?
I saw a funny post on instagram recently that said "This year I'm going to start a new business. For the first two weeks, it's going to have exercise equipment and for the other 50 weeks it's going to be a bar." LOL
It made me think. I thought about how often we start the new year making resolutions, only to ditch them within a few weeks. Why do we keep torturing ourselves with these resolutions? Here's what I've come up with: It's a symptom our all or nothing mindset. This is why we lean into big changes the first of every year. We have a misguided expectation that a "better" version of ourselves are going to show up in the start of the year. We're going to be perfect. We're going to "do it all right". Is this resonating with you?
What if you could ditch the new year's resolutions for actual longstanding change? So this is what I'm thinking: instead of a resolution, you create a word of the year.
Choosing a word of the year isn’t necessarily a goal, but rather a guiding principle that helps you stay aligned with your goals and values. It can help you stay focused and when you feel overwhelmed or off track can give you a sense of what matters most to come back to.
How to create your word:
Think about the challenges and the accomplishments over the last year. Consider the lessons you learned. Ask yourself what you want more of in your life. After you’ve journaled about all of this, read through it again. What are the major themes that come up? Then think about one word that captures all of this exemplifying your intention for the year.
Expand on your word of the year:
Once you have your word, here are some good questions to prime your brain on how to manifest that word for your year. These questions are going to get your executive decision making part of your brain really thinking, but equally important, it's going to help create an unconscious roadmap for you. It's our unconscious mind that drives much of how we think and what we do.
Can I commit to this word? If not, go back to the drawing board.
Why is this important to me?
What would it mean for my life in the big scheme of things?
Where are all the different areas of my life that I can apply this word?
For each area, how would this look in my day to day life?
What are the desired outcomes of applying this word to the year?
What might be some unintended consequences, positive or negative?
What does this person look like, who do I want to become?
Review your word:
Revisit your word weekly if possible, but at least, at the end of each month. It’s not going to work to only think about the word for the first month of the year and allow it to fizzle. After all, we have all done that before, calling them New Year’s resolutions.
When you revisit your word, you can see where it’s changing your life. I love the idea of starting the year with an empty jar and jotting down something good that has happened each week and placing that in your jar. At the end of the year, you can read back over these small successes and see the evidence of how the word has manifested in your life.
Revisiting the word also allows us to see where your actions or your thinking is not aligned with your principles. This awareness gives you the opportunity to grow. A growth mindset is so critically important to living a value driven life.
Changing our habits and changing our thinking is hard. It requires energy and effort. Our brain naturally wants to default back to the way things have always been, because it thrives on habit. This is why revisiting our word is crucial.
I hope this is helpful. Let's forget about resolutions that we know we're not going to follow through with and use our word of the year to guide our actions and make small changes in our life. Here's to your best year yet!
Warmly,
Amy