Word of the Year

As soon as Christmas is over you start to hear talk of New Year’s resolutions ev-er-y-where.

Some people are still working out what theirs will be. Some are all in on making commitments to their resolutions. Others are already struggling with the pressure of fulfilling theirs.

I’m gonna be honest with you, I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions.

I think we should always be adjusting and evolving. We should be flexible about our goals for ourselves because our lives don’t work on a calendar- life is the moment you’re in right now.

Lots of times the universe throws us a new opportunity or a new challenge on a random Tuesday when we least expect it. I wouldn’t want to miss that invitation to grow and change because I was so focused on a goal I set on January 1.

And I don’t want to spend time beating myself up because a new challenge came along that really needed my attention, which put me behind on my resolution.

So often we set resolutions, get off track, and then get so down on ourselves for being inconsistent. The problem is that we judge ourselves as if we had control of absolutely every aspect of our lives.

Spoiler alert: we just don’t.

Let me paint you a picture…

Imagine on January 1 you decided to renovate the kitchen in your house. (Anyone else spend a loooooot of time watching HGTV during quarantine? You too? Okay, good, you’re with me, then. Haha!)

You gave yourself an entire year to get the work done, set a budget, put together a really detailed project plan, and then got to work right away. You’re plugging along, making progress, hitting all your mini-goals, and feeling good.

And then on February 17, a pipe bursts in your bathroom.

What do you do?

Do you ignore that burst pipe because it’ll put you off-schedule in the kitchen?

Of course not!

You’d get in there, shut off the water, assess the damage, and put together a plan to get everything repaired.

You might even see an opportunity in the mess. Maybe you’d been trying to decide whether to renovate the bathroom or the kitchen first. All of a sudden the universe gave you a nudge in a different direction.

Should you beat yourself up because that burst pipe put you behind on the work in the kitchen?

Nope!

Life handed you something that you couldn’t have anticipated on January 1. Stressing about the timeline for the kitchen when you needed to address this new situation would’ve been a waste of your time and energy (and probably money, too!).

You didn’t quit; you didn’t give up on your original goal. You flexed, set new goals, and moved forward in a positive, constructive way.

It’s the same thing with New Year’s resolutions. Lots of times what we see as our failure to be consistent is really just life taking us in a new direction. We can waste energy fighting against it, or we can grow with the flow, set a new goal, and celebrate a different win.

So I personally say No to New Year’s resolutions.

BUT I also think the start of the new year is a great opportunity to evaluate where you are, recommit to the growth you want to achieve, embrace the potential of a brand spankin’ new year, and then set an intention.

This year, I’m doing that by picking a word of the year.

Instead of setting huge goals or putting together an elaborate vision board for the year, I’m focusing on just one word that helps me align myself with my goals.

My word will be a simple way for me to check in with myself and focus on who I want to be, the life I want to create, and what I want to achieve.

Are you with me?

Start looking for inspiration to help you uncover your word of the year. There are lots of ways to get started. You can brainstorm words that resonate with you. You can journal about your goals for the year and then go back and look for words that jump out at you.

But here’s a little life hack:

If you google “word of the year” and click on “Images,” you’ll find a huge variety of lists, infographics, and art full of suggestions.

In fact, that’s exactly how I picked my word for the year—FLOURISH.

Looking through some of the images on Google, I came across an infographic with that word, and it immediately resonated with me, even though I didn’t totally know why.

So I followed my gut and looked up the definition, and hoooo boooooy, it was so good!

Flourish means to grow and thrive because you’ve cultivated a healthy environment.

Yes! That’s exactly what my soul was yearning for coming into this year!

I’ve been in a season of growth, which has been pretty incredible. But now it’s time for me to make sure that I’m being intentional about cultivating an environment that will support me as I grow so that I can be healthy and strong.

Having a single word is a simple way to make sure that you are bringing that intention into your life, that you’re aligning yourself with that goal, and that you’re making decisions that support your journey to embody that idea.

When you’re in the middle of a high-stakes meeting, an intense discussion with your partner, or a stand-off with your kiddo, you probably aren’t going to have a chance to pull up your vision board to make sure that what you’re about to do or say aligns with your goals.

(And hey, listen, don’t get me wrong—I think vision boards are amazing tools! But I also think it’s important to have a simple way to check in with yourself in the heat of the moment.)

But you can take a beat to remind yourself of your word and decide whether or not the step you’re about to make brings you closer to that intention.

Because that’s the heart of everything we achieve in life, right? Becoming the best version of ourselves by striving to be better in each small moment.

Here’s to a new year that’s full of tools that help us feel empowered, centered, and resilient, friends! Happy 2022!