Have you chosen your word for the year yet? Or maybe I should ask, do you plan to choose a word for the year? Personally, I like choosing a word in addition to my goals because the word is usually tied to a feeling, whereas our goals may not be, or let me say the feeling associated with our goals may be harder to identify. I would argue then that you picked the wrong goal if it’s not tied to a feeling, but we’ll save that discussion for another day. Let’s stick to your word for the year.

I chose surrender.

I chose surrender because 2018 felt like I made decisions for other people and not for me. In some areas, I seemed to still be functioning under what I “should do” instead of listening to what it was I really wanted to do. I was getting too many opinions, letting too many people in, and forgetting to listen to the most important person, God, the Holy Spirit, that lives within me. I was looking outside for guidance, looking for external validation. I thought I could figure out, handle it on my own. I couldn’t, I didn’t. So I surrender. I don’t know it all and I can’t do it without You. Regardless of whether the person you identify with is God or someone else, we all have that voice inside that we ignore. Our voice, our wisdom, our truth.

As a result, I felt disconnected from who I was and what I wanted for my life. Selecting the word surrender made me feel empowered and like I wasn’t alone.

Surrender isn’t directly tied to my specific goals. It’s tied to a feeling that I can also experience as I meet various goals throughout the year. I can easily remember the word surrender and be instantly reconnected to how I want to feel this year. So if I feel empowered, I will likely take action on something I may have been procrastinating on out of fear, dislike, or uncertainty. Taking action will get me closer to my overall goals. Whereas just stating the goal itself might not move me enough if I don’t have an emotion tied to it. Now it’s your turn. Let’s choose your word for the year.

How To Choose Your Word For The Year:

Start by reflecting on the previous year. If you keep a planner or put reminders in your phone that you ignored, notice them, take inventory of them, write them down. Are there any repeats from the prior year?

Now, what happened? Why were those reminders ignored, what goals or appointments didn’t you keep? Can you identify a theme? Were all the reminders or goals related to your job or maybe your business or maybe your weight?

Reflecting on that, how does that make you feel about not having achieved that goal or having ignored that reminder? What would happen if you missed the goal again this year? Is there a pain to staying the same?

Start to circle any words that you repeat as you work through the above questions. Identify your word from those repeated words. It may be the exact word, it might be a synonym. For example, give up and surrender.

Before I finally decide on word I selected, I pay attention to if it shows up again. Do I hear it on a podcast, does it jump off the page of something I reading? Does someone else use the word when speaking to me? If so, then I know that’s my word. If the word keeps showing up for you, it’s doing so for a reason.

And there you have it, your word for the year! Now put your word in the comments below. No need to explain it, just put it in writing and claim it!

Talk soon,