New Year - New Me in 2023

Plans for New Year's Eve are under way and our reservation for dinner has been set. We're heading to a new to us restaurant, Kimi's Chop and Oyster House, and we're really looking forward to sharing the New Year with some of our loved ones and partners in business. 

Looking towards this shiny New Year I think of a tradition I began for our household after hearing Kevin Hall speak on The Power Of Words at a business conference we attended years ago. It spoke to my spirit. Since then as the New Year approaches I have been selecting a single word to focus on in the New Year. I see it referred to by others as ONE WORD.

Stephen Covey wrote as part of his forward for author Kevin Hall' in his book, ASPIRE : "There is a language of success and a language of distress. There is a language of progress and a language of regress... Words lead, and words impede... 

What a powerful description...Perhaps the focus of our word/s can make A NEW YOU?!

Cultures around the world and through history have commemorated the ending of one year and the beginning of another. Being inspired by Kevin to focus on ONE WORD has been such a meaningful year long activity. Far different than the experience of myself and many others who make lists of resolutions. Historically as many as 45 percent of Americans say they usually make New Year’s resolutions, only 8 percent are successful in achieving their goals. 

Beginning this New Year I choose to focus my thoughts on one word... I believe it can make a new me as the year progresses. Perhaps you'll choose to join me. This year could mean for you A NEW YOU too.

One Word: Thoughts Going in to the New Year in 2022

Last night I found myself saying it aloud to our business team... "39 days until the New Year. " Wow this year has been a lot of things. I began it with hope; my dreams, desire, intention all focused on being resilient. I had selected my One Word for 2021 as resilient with my focus on overcoming, standing strong, holding out and holding on. I did not know it then but for so many areas of life it would be painful, hard, reflective and in many areas it related to beginning again. I'm looking and longing for better days. 

Here we are just 38 days until this year ends...just like that roll of toilet paper analogy.

Reflecting on that thought above, just 38 days left in this year brought me back to refocusing on not just finishing strong but what my one word will be in this new upcoming year. It reminded me I had placed a note in my phone back at the beginning of the month for a word I was pondering. Perhaps it would be my choice for 2022...ABUNDANCE. I liked this quote from Eckhart Tolle.

This concept of selecting One Word that I had begun many years back...perhaps you too may have also heard of this idea...selecting one word to focus on in the new year rather than writing out resolutions I select a single word. 

I really like how this author explained it

... Hm-mmm that word I mentioned topped her list.

The practice of choosing a “Word of the Year” is that, instead of setting a lot of different New Years resolutions, you select one single word to be your focus for the year.

You can use that word to set goals or intentions for each area of your life but have them all tie back to the single word. For example, if your word of the year was “abundance” you might have sub-goals of investing in an abundant number of friendships, or hitting an income goal, or spending more quality time with the people you love without your phone. “Discipline” could entail going to the gym, sticking to an evening routine, and no longer being late to meetings. 

By tying all of your goals back to your overarching word, it is easy to keep them front-of-mind. 

2022 Word of the Year Ideas

1. Abundance
2. Adventure
3. Align
4. Authentic
5. Available
6. Aware
7. Balance
8. Become
9. Better
10. Bless
11. Bold
12. Breathe
13. Bright
14. Calm
15. Celebrate
16. Centered
17. Challenge
18. Change
19. Commitment
20. Compassion
21. Confidence
22. Connect
23. Creativity
24. Cultivate
25. Daring
26. Dedicated
27. Delight
28. Devotion
29. Discipline
30. Distance
31. Dream
32. Embrace
33. Emerge
34. Empower
35. Expansion
36. Express
37. Faith
38. Feast
39. Fit
40. Focus
41. Forgiveness
42. Foster
43. Free
44. Friendship
45. Glow
46. Giving
47. Grace
48. Gratitude
49. Grounded
50. Honesty
51. Hope
52. Humility
53. Integrity
54. Intentional
55. Intuition
56. Journey
57. Joy
58. Kind
59. Learn
60. Listen
61. Love
62. Magnify
63. Meek
64. Mindful
65. Motion
66. Nourish
67. Nurture
68. Organize
69. Passion
70. Peace
71. Permission
72. Persistance
73. Play
74. Polish
75. Power
76. Present
77. Progress
78. Radiant
79. Recovery
80. Relationships
81. Release
82. Reset
83. Resilient ** (I added this word...my word for 2021)
84. Resolute
85. Rise
86. Risk
87. Savvy
88. Service
89. Simplicity
90. Slow
91. Smile
92. Space
93. Sparkle
94. Strong
95. Teach
96. Thrive
97. Tranquil
98. Whole
99. Yes
100. Zen
101. Zest

Have you picked a word for the year? I’d love to hear it!

On Being RESILIENT

"One Word" My Focus For 2017

Today we are stepping into a brand new year.

 For some it is viewed as just another day and for others it is just another New Year and for still others it is THAT day or more directly New Years day but for many others it is THE Day to begin anew. 

It may mean that time of special reflection and goal setting. Perhaps you write out a page of resolutions in expectation of getting it right this year... Getting to your appointments on time, losing a specific amount of weight, beginning an exercise regimen, following through on your To Do List daily, improving one's health, and on and on.  By the mid point of the year less than 47% of those folks have kept their resolution. 

Ultimately resolutions can be very difficult to maintain. There are many reasons but I feel it is very similar to an interesting definition I heard many years ago that has been attributed to among others: Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain. Perhaps you know it too... "Doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results" {Insanity}. I find that "the same thing" is setting those goals and resolutions but finding down the road we just need a break from that diet or our exercise is too difficult or even that we simply can't check off those To Do's and then we begin to beat ourselves up for our lack of determination etc. All in all I think many would agree that the New Year and its freshness might feel like a revolving door un-achieved resolutions/goals.

A number of years ago as my new calendar was making it's debut I also had been hearing about choosing a single word, or "One Word" for the New Year.

I began to ruminate on this concept as well. When our family got together to celebrate Thanksgiving 2014 I shared an idea with them. This idea was to create [oh yeah, this blog is mostly about creating] a banner...a simple one made with shipping tags. Each tag would represent our personal "One Word". It turned out really cute and it was such a fun but meaningful project.

I have continued to select a new word year by year. Why? For me it is about a single FOCUS. 
I wanted to share a few other articles and sites that shared "One Word" experiences, thoughts or ideas. I hope you will find it a challenge for you and perhaps check out

a few of the links below.

My One Word

One Little Word

Get One Word

"Make a Promise" with Get One Word

Appsolutely April

Amazing Mess

My One Little Word

Simple As That

In case you are wondering what I selected for my "One Word" in this New Year is...Drum Roll ........ I selected Complete...

Colossians 2:10New King James Version (NKJV)

10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
So-ooo perhaps you will join me, if so....

One more thought...

If it is worth our focus, worth our ruminating, worth thinking and debating on what "One Word" important...

What does that mean? Treat it like when we are determined to memorize that very important class assignment or the name of someone very special to you!