Last year, I took a cue from some favorite bloggers (like InspiredRD and Danielle Omar) and chose a word for the year to guide me. My word for 2015 was FOCUS. I spent the year trying to reduce distractions, be leaner and meaner with my workday, and limit technology during family time.
How did I do? Honestly, I struggled to set up boundaries around technology and avoid the allure of my iPhone. That’s still a work in progress. But I did successfully incorporate Focus Booster into my workday. Focus Booster is an app that uses the Pomodoro technique of time management to keep you on task using a simple timer. I highly recommend it!
When I thought about a word I wanted to focus on this year, the one that kept rising to the top was CONTENTMENT, a state of happiness and satisfaction. All too often, I’m guilty of losing sight of all the good things I have and dwelling on what I don’t. My train of thought tends to goes like this:
My house is cozy BUT the couch is ripped and the carpet is worn.
My kids are great BUT they’re not competing in soccer tournaments or learning Chinese.
My blog is successful BUT my traffic could be better.
Social media worsens this tendency. While I can’t change the fact that Facebook and Instagram are necessary parts of my job, I can change my outlook. So I’m going to try to be CONTENT with what I have.
That’s not to say I’m going to be complacent. I’ll still be improving my blog, looking for new opportunities for myself and my kids–and hopefully someday shopping for a new couch. But in the meantime, I’m also going to count my blessings.
Want to choose your own word for the year? I posted about this concept on my Real Mom Nutrition Facebook page, and people chimed in with some great ones:
- RELEASE (release fears, doubts, guilt, pressure of living up to unrealistic expectations)
- RELAX
- CONSISTENCY
- ORDER (get organized)
- INSPIRE
- CREATE
- EXECUTE (ideas and plans)
- GENEROSITY (to others and yourself)
- BALANCE
- INTENTION (being more intentional about money, eating and how you spend time)
If YOU were going to choose a word for the year, what would it be and why?
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I’ve already told you how much I love this idea Sally. I shared my own thoughts about it, and explained a bit about my choice of the word “Relax” in a post yesterday. Thanks again for the inspiration!
Janet–I love your word! I need to do more of that this year too. Off to read your post!
I love this, Sally! I think I need to write a blog about my own chosen word. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks Lauren! Looking forward to seeing what you choose.
I remember your post last year and meant to write something similar. A while back a yoga teacher at the start of a New Year’s Day class had us write a word on an index card to keep and refer back to as our goal for the year…the first word that came to mind. I wrote: Breezy. I was a new-ish mom, full of anxiety and stress. I wanted to be carefree and enviable but not aloof or snobbish. I didn’t want to care about what others thought of me, but I wanted to care about others. I wanted to be a breath of fresh air to those around me, but not to suck all the air out of the room. So…breezy. I placed that card in my junk drawer and found it again when we were packing up to move across country. I’ve since misplaced the card, but I still think of it and have adopted the word as my mantra.
I guess my word this year will be “follow-through.” As in, write those posts when I first think about them, and not a year later!
Elana–that’s a great idea to write the word down and keep it somewhere you see it. And I like that word “breezy”. I think that’s something I could strive for–though I’m usually way too frazzled on the inside to look breezy on the outside. 🙂 I, too, could use some more follow-through in my life–there never seems to be enough time to do everything I’d like to do. So in the meantime, I started using an online app called Trello which is a big digital to-do list. Whenever I have a random blog idea, I put it there. I forget way too many things these days, I have to write it down to remember! Good luck with follow-through this year!
Sally, this is such a great word and goal for the year ahead. A couple of years ago my sister shared the three words philosophy with me and I shared my 3 words on my blog, but I didn’t do it last year and have not yet thought through my goals for the year ahead. Thanks for inspiring me to do so. Let’s hope I can come up with a word – or 3 – that I can work towards for the year. It may not appear on the blog, but I’ll have to be content with that!
Jessica–looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
This has gotten me to crystalize my word for the year: consciousness. Thanks for the nudge.
You’re welcome! Good luck with your goal. 🙂