I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. But I do attempt to create new goals for myself for the new year.
With a new year comes a new beginning, a chance to start over and start something new. The brutal winter weather and lack of sun doesn’t help elevate the mood though – wouldn’t it be much more productive to have the new year start in May or June?
But January it is and through the bitter cold and snow, we push through with fresh ideas in our minds and a renewed sense of hope.
Last year I jumped on the blogging bandwagon of creating a “word” for the new year and sharing it with others. Rather than make a new year’s resolution, you create a power word or theme word for the new year – a simple way to remember what your main goal for the year will be.
Narrowing it all down to just one word can can be a challenge. How can you sum up everything that you want to achieve this year in just one word?
At end of the year, it’s helpful to review the year and how that word affected your actions. Did your life change because of that one word? Did you learn something new? What challenges or blessings did the word bring?
In 2014, my word was flourish which I was drawn to because I felt I had built a solid foundation in my work and it was time to see it grow vigorously.
The best part of writing out your goals for the year is that you can see what you’ve accomplished. When you are able to write out what you hope to achieve, your goals become clearer and you’re able to put your ideas into concrete action.
So what is my word for 2015? I have three simple but powerful words that I’m drawn to for 2015:
Focus.
It’s time to tune out the noise which has caused me to procrastinate, be less productive and waste precious time. This means cutting down the time spent on social media which is a big time sucker.
Do I really need to know what that girl who I barely remember in high school ate for breakfast? No. I don’t need to spend 10 hours on Twitter every day so that I’m up-t0-date on every news story or celebrity Instagram photo uproar.
Be.
Live in the moment. Find the simplicity in everyday tasks and enjoy them fully. Take deep breaths along the way. Focus on the present moments rather than worry about the future.
It takes practice – I know this because I was there some time ago where I felt like I was in a meditative state all the time. Then the stresses of life built up and overcame me, wreaking havoc and disrupting my calm demeanour. It’s time to get back to that cool, calm and collected person that I used to be…before kids, right?!?!
Leisure.
Stress is at an all-time high and it’s terrible for your physical and mental health. I need to carve out time to relax, exercise and meditate. Following those first two words will enable me to have increased opportunities for leisure.
Spend more time playing, experiencing, cooking for fun, traveling… the things that we work to hard to enjoy.
What is your theme word for 2015?
