I've Thrown My Resolutions Out. I'm adopting a Word of the Year.
Take Pen to Paper: Edition 15
New Year’s resolutions are bossy, even demanding.
A word of the year is inspiring.
You may know this practice as choosing a word of intent or a theme to carry with you throughout the year.
I’ve done this for the past two years to be mindful of what I want to embody during the year. A word of the year is an overarching theme to the accomplishments you want to pursue.
Your word of the year can inspire you to be your best self.
My first year, I chose ‘nurture.’ My mother was entering an assisted living and nursing care facility. I chose nurture to remind me of nurturing her, other family members, and mostly myself.
My word this past year has been ‘discover.’ I knew I would be retiring in June. I needed to discover options for activities in retirement. I wanted a reminder to take advantage of opportunities.
My word for 2023 is ‘connect.’
I want to connect:
with people, both in person and on social media.
with others through my writing.
my actions to my purpose.
Having a word (or phrase) of the year keeps your intention at the forefront of your mind. It’s so much easier to remember and execute one word than resolutions. With the word connect, all I need to do is ask, “Does this help me connect?”
Have you thought about adopting a word or phrase for the New Year?
Let a chosen word inspire you to your best year.
7 Days, 7 Thoughts on Gratitude and Good
It’s good to keep resolutions or words of intent within sight. Tape them to your mirror, add them to your vision board, or wear them. As you can see from the picture, I wear my word of the year on a bracelet.
Francis Ford Coppola chooses one word to carry him through each of his movies. If you are a fan of his or his movies, in this 28-minute video, he talks about the words for some of his movies. If you don’t want to watch the entire video, skip to the last section at 25 minutes.
In this blog post, writer Austin Kleon talks about how he uses a secret sentence in each of his books to keep him on track.
This episode of How to Build a Happy Life Podcast talks about the importance of being connected. The podcast can be found on your favorite podcast platform.
“Self-reflection entails asking yourself questions about your values, assessing your strengths and failures, thinking about your perceptions and interactions with others, and imagining where you want to take your life in the future.” – Robert L. Rosen
It is good to connect with each other. Jenny Lawson is an author and blogger who writes about her hilarious life adventures and her bouts of depression. (If you look her up, be aware that she doesn’t shy away from profanity). In a recent post, she wrote, “I’ll say it to you if you say it to me. I’ll keep saying it until it’s okay again. Because it will be. For you and for me. Because we are not alone.”
It’s good to reach out to others. It’s good to reciprocate to those who reach out to you.
Thank you for reading!
What are your thoughts on resolutions and words of the year? What motivates you?
Connect with me to let me know!
-Susan
Mary, Happy New Year! I find as I age I must remind myself to stay open to new ideas. Iam happy to here I make you think. :) You are my big reader friend and I know you love memoirs and biographies. Have you read Oliver Sacks' autobiography "On the Move"? I just finished it and really enjoyed it.
I hope the New Year has good stuff in store for you!
Thank you, Susan, for once again making me "think" ! I do appreciate your writing. My word this year is "Open"--mostly as in "keep an open mind" avoid being judgmental and be open to new (& opposing) ideas. Happy New Year!