How to Choose Your One Word for The Year

Resolutions are easy to forget and fail at! That’s why I like choosing one word instead. learn how to choose your one word for the year. Check out these tips to help you narrow down and choose your one word of the year. with options.

“We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential.” ~Ellen Goodman

On Evolving and the New Year

For me, the Monday when Pookah goes back to school after the Christmas Break is the start of my New Year. 

My husband has also taken himself into the office and it’s just me, my coffee and the blessed peace of silence.

I usually use those last few weeks of the old year and the first of the new to sit down and reflect on what I want for the new year. 

Not just what I need. 

I started picking a word of the year to help me focus on what I want to accomplish a few years ago. And it works oh so much better than a resolution!

So before I get to my own word, let me tell you how you can pick your own.

 Most years, I think about what I need to CHANGE. It’s all about, oh, I need to improve this. Get better at this, stay on top of that. 

But this year, I’m taking a new approach.

I’m not thinking about things I could be improving. 

My to-do list for the year is about evolving. 

It’s about seeing the potential in everything and running with it. 

Last year was so much about adjusting. And figuring out HOW to live my life entirely different from anything I’d ever done before. 

This year is about focusing in on what I want, and about evolution and creating the life that I want. 

It’s about dreaming big and making those dreams come true.

How to Choose Your One Word For The Year

1. Reflect on your current year. 

What went wrong? What went right? What do you want to change or keep going? How do you want to feel at the end of the next year? What do you want to accomplish? 

2 Sit down with a sheet of paper or a notebook and dream about your next year.

Dream. Sit down and write a paragraph or two or three about what your dream life looks like next year. What do you want to accomplish, where do you want to go?  Don’t edit yourself, don’t limit yourself.   Think about your career, your personal life, your family, YOU. Think about what you want to accomplish by December 31st of the next year. 

3. Visualize and Create a List

Meditate on it. Sit down quietly and focus on : what do I want to accomplish in the next 365 days.

Ask yourself: what word do I want to focus on this year?

Set a timer for 10 minutes and create a list of all the words that come to mind that help define your vision for your year. Need help? Check out these suggestions:

4. Narrow down your list and choose

Choose 2-3 words that you feel like work for you. Do those words have a theme? Are they similar? Ask yourself a few questions:

Do any of these words jump out at you? Do they make you excited, scared, nervous, uncomfortable?

Those words are usually the ones that mean you are on track. Take these words and sit with them for a few days. See what feels right. 

5. Finally, choose your one word

Choose the word that you think brings all of tyour goals and dreams together. Think of it as a theme for your life for the next 12 months. 

My one word this year is Adundance

In abundance, I’m not just talking about money. It’s also abundant in love, in family, in life. I want to live my life aticipating the idea that everything I need is coming or I have it. 

If I’m honest, I acutally have a phrase: Mindfully anticipating a life of Abundance.

Mindfulness is described as

“The basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing and not overly reactive or overwelemd by what’s going on around us.”

I think it’s going to be a great year. 

Did you pick a word of the year?

Anyway, Happy New Year Friends! It’s going to be an awesome one for all of us.