Last week I shared what my word of 2023 was and how staying committed to it changed a great deal in my life. It was the first time I’d ever made a beginning-of-the-year intention and stuck with it. I could fill reams of paper with the New Year’s Resolutions I wrote over the years (since I was a teenager!) and promptly forgot or put down.
I’m not alone in that, either. A survey found that 66% of us make New Year’s resolutions – which are mostly health-related – but, after an average of 7 weeks, we run out of steam.
So, what made last year so different for me?
The Right Motivation
When we set ourselves generic goals, it’s typically in the absence of a crystal clear vision of where that goal will take us; what it will actually look and feel like to attain it as well as what it will actually look and feel like to take the steps to get us there. There’s a different between ‘I’d like to…’ and ‘I have to…’. The goals which are driven by an uncompromising need are more likely to be achieved, we’re more resolute.
Keeping It Simple
A list of resolutions can be overwhelming and then some. Where do we begin? How do we prioritise? Have we considered the actual actions we’ll need to take to get there? The door is wide open for self-doubt to climb in and trip us up. Plus, these resolutions are often big changes and to make big changes we have to be willing to take big action and that’s uncomfortable and requires self-confidence aplenty.
Instead, choosing a word of the year, keeps it simple. It’s more values and feelings-based and feels intrinsically more ‘do-able’.
How To Choose The Right Word For You
In 2022, I chose the word ‘ease’. On reflection, it was so far removed from where I was, I just didn’t think I’d get there. I failed before I even began by choosing a word that, although aligned with my values, was too big, too lofty, to be motivating.
Fast forward to 2023 and ‘joy’ felt so much more possible. Not only was I truly fed-up with ending the year spluttering along on empty but leaning into joy felt achievable. At least, something I had the wherewithal to do. That’s the difference between having a word of the year that works and one that doesn’t; it needs to be a stretch but not a stretch too far.
You’ll want to reflect on the year that’s gone and where you’re at right now, jotting down notes as you journal. Ask yourself:
- What were the highlights?
- What were the lowlights?
- How am I feeling in this moment?
- How would I prefer to feel in this moment?
- Where would I like to be in a year’s time?
- What would I like to be feeling in a year’s time?
- What are my core values? (Mine are integrity, freedom, autonomy and creativity.)
As you read back over your answers, highlight some words which seem to pop out of the page at you. Keep trying them on for size while remaining mindful of what it might actually require of you to choose a word like ‘grow’, for example. The key is to not overthink your word choice but do sit with it and make sure it lights a flicker of fire in your belly rather than feels too heavy to carry. When I chose the word ‘ease’ I really wasn’t willing to create boundaries to support a more ‘easeful’ year even though it’s what I clearly wanted. You need to be willing to create a framework, take action, put boundaries in play to support the word you choose.
You Already Probably Know
When I made a major life change, someone responded by saying that my heart had known all along but it’d taken a while for my head to catch-up. When I look back on my life, that’s been true many a time. We usually do already ‘feel’ what we need and want, the area of our life which could do with a boost, the decisions we need to make, the conversations which are well overdue, the courage needed to take that step. Trust that inner knowingness of yours and trust yourself that you can do whatever it is you need to do.
Looking Ahead At 2024
Having done all of the above, my word for 2024 is ‘effervescence‘. (It was almost ‘play’.) I’ve decided I’m having a glow-out; that I want to feel full of life and to glow from the inside-out. That looks and feels like making choices based on ‘will this help me to feel more effervescent, or not?’. The word itself is one that hasn’t really left me alone since someone called me it in 2004 which was also the year when I started to get unwell with depression. Since then, I’ve often felt positively uneffervescent for the most part and I’d really like to experience what it’s like to wake-up each day with a genuine pep in my step, with a vibrancy and energy that’s sustainable and authentic. More importantly, the word itself creates an ‘oooooh, yes, let’s do this’ in my belly. It feels right for me, for where I’m at in my life.
Have you landed on a word for the coming year yet?