I don’t think I have ever made a new year’s resolution. It seems that the majority of resolutions made at the top of the new year are forgotten by mid-February. If it works for you, that’s awesome! Keep it up.
While I don’t do resolutions, I do always do something similar… sort of.
Every year, I select a “Word of the Year”. This is a word, or multiple words, or even a phrase you can select to keep with you for the year (or for as long as it serves you). I use my Word of the Year as a reminder, a goal, a target, an intention, and a guideline. I guess ultimately, it’s a mantra with the intention to help me be a better version of myself through the year.
Perhaps cliché, but still applicable, the end of the year offers a natural time of introspection. The time is right to reflect back on the past year and take an accounting of the highs and lows, and ultimately how well you did at living. At the same time, it is the perfect time to look ahead to the coming year and ask what you will do this year. Who will you be? What do you desire? Hopefully, the Word of the Year will help you in achieving or being that which you desire next.
My family and I all do this collectively. My wife and my three daughters also participate in selecting a word of the year. This past New Year’s Eve, the five of us collectively created a painting using acrylic paints. After the paint dried, we wrote our Words of the Year on it. The canvas of our painting with our Words of the Year is now in our foyer where we see it every time we come and go into the world and return to our home.
It is the beginning of the year. If this resonates at all with you, perhaps now is a perfect time to ask yourself what word or words would support you in becoming healthier and happier this coming year. What phrase may aid you in becoming who you desire to be? What word will remind you of your target? What words evoke within you the energy or the feelings you desire to experience?
It’s your life. It’s your word. It’s all up to you.