With a new year comes a chance to reimagine life, to reflect on the past year and decide how to improve in the year to come. I have seen people choosing their “word of the year” to help define and focus their vision for the year ahead. I thought today I would share MY word with you.
First, I need to give credit to Jessica at Pretty Prints and Paper for providing two posts that guided me in choosing my word. The first is A Year in Review. In this post, she provides six key questions to help readers identify what to start/keep/stop doing in the coming year. The second post is Reflections to Resolutions. This post explains how to evaluate responses from the reflection exercise to guide your choice in resolutions for the new year and creating action steps to accompany them.
In the past when I sat down to create my new year’s resolutions, I thought of all the things I’ve always wanted to accomplish and never have. I made lofty goals and then lost focus after a month or two. In retrospect, my goals were worthy tasks, but they weren’t personally meaningful. This year I’m taking the opposite route. My goals won’t win me awards or recognition, but they are extremely personal and meaningful.
From the reflection exercises, I realized that what really matters to me is having meaningful interactions with the people around me. I also thrive when I am comfortable in my home, my job, and my body. The more I thought about this, it became clear that I value connecting with people, my surroundings, and my actions.
I knew then that my focus for the new year, my word for the year, would be CONNECT.
I created a page in my bullet journal to serve as a reminder all year long. I listed the main areas of my life and included a few key words under each to guide me in choosing daily actions that will help me focus on strengthening my connections. I believe this will be one of my most satisfying and enriching years yet.
What do you value? What brings you true joy? At the end of the day, what makes you feel proud and satisfied? I encourage you to consider these questions and refine your focus for the year ahead.
What will your word of the year be? Share it in the comment section below.
Amy I love what you’ve done with this! I am glad that exercise was helpful to you – I know that in the past it was so easy to fall into the trap of just doing the tasks and forgetting why we do them in the first place. Connection is one of my all time favorite endeavors – cheering you on 🙂
Thank you, Jessica, for the inspiration and the support. It is wonderful to be part of such a generous and uplifting community. I am also a fan of lettering and am excited to incorporate your tips for using colored pencils. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful focus page! I like the idea of choosing a word to guide the year. It looks like you’ve put a lot of thought into your choice. This should help you to be intentional as the year progresses.
You are absolutely right; I believe this will be a very intentional and productive year. And I wish you the same. Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Happy new year!