A few years ago I added an important ingredient to my annual planning and goal setting process, the ‘my one word for the year’ theme made popular by writers Jon Gordon, Dan Britton and Jimmy Page in their book, One Word That Will Change Your Life.
The concept from the book is that the properly chosen word can summarize our goals and resolutions for the entire year into a single word. A single word allows focus, simplicity, determination, and according to the authors, a greater percentage of success than just making a list. I however do both.
Their book guides you through a helpful process centering around three questions:
What is needed? What’s in my way? What must go?
I have improvised my own method of getting to my own word that works well for me. My method centers around the guidance in the book, my journaling, a deep reflection on the previous year, and listing words that I believe are suitable and choosing among them.
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In previous years I have selected such words as: fit, earn, and simplify. The year I chose “fit” my thinking was that my word should center around physical and financial fitness. Fit to serve my family and my colleagues. Mentally fit to take on challenges and stress. The year I chose “earn” it was in similar thinking. Earn the rights to the titles I have in my life as a father, husband, work title, as well as the titles in my life I wish I had, like bestseller, international speaker, among others. I was also thinking along the lines of ‘earn’ the right to run a race, earn the vacation, earn the things I want in my life. The year I chose “simplify” is the year I believe things really changed because I started to think about an improved approach to doing things. The word simplify offered a new approach to life’s tasks; I was to keep things simple and therefore anything could be started and worked on. (Now that I think of it, one year I had the word “Finish” as my word for the year, and that was the year I published Unthink Before Bed, my children’s book on mindfulness and anxiety.) I think you can understand how the one word works from the examples above quite well. It’s living the word in your mind and actions.
This year I believe I have chosen the perfect ‘my one word’ for the year 2023. As I look back at quite a few years and examine what has been missing from my life, and where things went wrong, and what I really need to do to live a good life, I wrote down a good quarter of a page of words that would serve me well, but one word truly stood out and summed up all that I need to do.
My one word for 2023 is the word “ENJOY” because that is truly what I need in my life. While I am fun onstage, in my writing, and certainly have fun with coworkers and family, quite often in my thinking, planning, execution, and alone time, I become a little too serious. Hey, these are not easy to share and confess, but it’s true. This is probably the biggest area I need to work on. I have a bad habit of overthinking and over planning. So, 2023 is going to be the year of ENJOY.
I will:
- ENJOY a workout (rather than demand a rigid and formal routine.)
- ENJOY my job (rather than stress over what needs to get finished.)
- ENJOY the moment (rather than being worried about the past or being anxious about the future.)
- ENJOY starting the day (rather than beginning with anxiety).
- ENJOY being me (rather than worry about what others think.)
- ENJOY my family (rather than trying to do a multitude of tasks all the time.)
- ENJOY life.
You get it.
I like the verb of enjoy over the noun of enjoyment. I can only control what I do. I can try.
I’m really excited about my one word, and I can share that in these first 15 days, while they haven’t been perfect, I have noticed a real change in every area. I’m not hyper focused on consistency but rather what I can do in the present moment. My focus is on the now rather that past or future. When I experience a feeling I don’t like, I literally do a recalibration and examine my one word in the moment. “How can I enjoy this task, this moment, this challenge or this time?” It’s working.
My one word for the year, or even previous years, may be of help to you, take it, but I recommend you choosing your one word with intention and reflection, if you like and choose this approach. Your one word needs to serve you, uniquely. You may need a more militant word where I at this point in my life need a softer and kinder word.
I enjoyed sharing these thoughts with you and hope they serve you on your journey to designing and living a better life.
I hope you give the one word of the year a spin and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Always forward,
Kelly
Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leader and Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library.
Educator, Author, Keynote Speaker
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