One Word Year

It’s the first day of 2018!

Have you set your New Year’s resolutions? I’m a big goal setter so I’ve been taking the last week of 2017 to write down some goals that I want to accomplish in 2018. This is a practice I’ve been doing for many years. I set goals in different areas: career, health, financial, family, and personal growth areas.

I’ve learned that to really make progress from year to year it’s important to be intentional, and writing out exactly what I want to accomplish helps me to be more intentional.

A couple of years ago I began another practice at the beginning of the New Year. I picked “one word” for the year to be a focus word. I still make my goals, but having one word is a simple way to keep focused on what’s important.

We all know how easy it is at the beginning of the year to be focused on change, only to have it fade by mid February, if not sooner.

Having one word helps me stay focused throughout the year.

There is a word for you.   Chances are, there is one word that could summarize some of the changes you want to make in your life.

At the beginning of the year many people decide on 2 or 3 bad habits they want to change and they try to focus on not doing those things. There is a problem with this approach. Your subconscious mind works in pictures, and it is always at work to bring about whatever word picture you are giving it. The problem with focusing on “not doing something” is that your brain doesn’t have a picture for the word “don’t”.

So if you say to yourself, “Don’t snap at the kids this year” or “Don’t procrastinate this year” or “Don’t eat food that is bad for you” your subconscious mind doesn’t register “don’t”. So you might as well be telling yourself, “…Snap at the kids this year…procrastinate this year…eat food that is bad for you…”

Think of a word that is a positive action word that will help you focus on doing the things you want to do, rather than not doing the things you don’t want to do. Focus on what you DO want, rather than on what you DON’T want.

Pick a word.

What is one word that for the next 365 days will be a driving force for you…that will help push you to greater success in the different areas of your life?

Last year my word was perspective.   I wanted to remember in every situation there are different perspectives…different ways to look at something. My goal was to keep an open mind and not get tunnel vision on something, whether it was with my family, my work, my team, or even in my own personal growth. When faced with a challenging problem where I didn’t have a solution, I tried to remember there must be different ways to look at this thing. Perspective.

This year my word is influence.

For 2018 I want to influence and impact as many people as possible in a positive way. I want to remember that I have the ability to make a small difference in someone’s life. We all do. It’s easy to get caught up in self and this year I want to focus on ways I can lead and influence others. I want my life to make a difference.

So what will your word be?

Today, January 1, 2018 your life is a book with 365 blank pages. Each day you write your own story, one page at a time. You decide what goes in that book on each and every page. I hope you write it well!

Have a great 2018!

-Gary