How to pick a word to define the year ahead

Let me share with you how to pick a great word that will resonate with you for 365 days.

I have made it a habit to pick a word for the year rather than make a resolution. I have found this practice to be helpful in that it sets the stage for where I want to put my focus and is simple enough to remember. Plus, it doesn’t set me up for failure. If I commit to and don't lose ten pounds I feel defeated, whereas if I’m not living into my word, for some reason, it feels easier to simply ask myself “how can I now?” Each day brings new mercy.

Last year my word was “try”. In a series of four short videos, that you can find on my YouTube channel or blog, I explained how, through four steps of a process, to successfully embed the word into your life. I recommend you watch them if you’re looking for a bit of inspiration on how you can bring about change in your life. 

In the last of those videos I promised to return, as an act of accountability, to share my results, which is only part of the purpose of this post. I kept a journal of new things I tried. This ranged from new experiences, going to new places (as much as Covid allowed) and particularly trying new things in my practice. I’d love to say it was a raging success, that I made millions of dollars and unlocked new business secrets. But the reality is that it was challenging. Many new things I tried simply didn’t work, or didn’t fit me and my style. Often I wanted to give up, but then I would hear my word calling back to me, reminding me that the game is not in the ‘winning’, the game is in the ‘playing’, and I should keep “trying”. 

I want to encourage you in the early days of this year, or whenever you’re reading or watching this post, to pick your word. What is that one change that you want to bring about in your life? What is that one area in which you want to grow? Let me share with you how to pick a great word that will resonate with you for 365 days. Let me do so by sharing my word for this year. 

My word this year is “stretch”. It means that from where I am now, in the acceptance of my current situation, I need to lean further, into a place of discomfort, as much as I can handle, in order to extend my reach. A few years ago I broke my leg and as a long distance ultra-runner this is a big deal. After further surgery and lots of physiotherapy and chiropractic help I’m back running. But in the healing process my tendons, ligaments and muscles have pulled back, protected themselves, and shrunk. It’s partly due to less activity, but partly due to self-protection. If I want to pursue the lifelong joy of running I need to combat this atrophy and focus on getting supple and limber. I’ve begun a daily routine to practice stretching yoga. I want to see in one year how my body and my running will respond and be impacted. I want to push through the discomfort I feel when I stretch so that one day, with ease, I can touch my toes. I imagine the feeling of being light and limber and moving with ease again. 

It’s when I made a commitment to this practice that I realized that this was my word for the year. It dawned on me that this was really a metaphor for what I wanted in my life. There are other areas of my life in which atrophy has set in. Comfort is a silent killer. I see a number of ways in which I’ve been lulled into not pressing forward or leaning in when I feel resistance. It could be new ideas in my business, new habits personally, complacency socially, or withdrawing spiritually. Maybe that’s just getting old. Yet this one word, that stemmed from the physical, extends into the spiritual, social and psychological. So here’s the truth. We are body, mind and spirit. We are an integrated system. You may focus on one aspect of this trio but you cannot divorce one side of this holy trinity from any other. The point here my friend, is your word, that one thing that just popped into your mind, has ramifications across that system. It’s as if something below the surface, in your subconscious, knows what you need and brings it to you as a word. 

So what will that be for you? I encourage you, I challenge you, to take 10 minutes, to sit in silence and listen for the word. Just one word. Then write it down and reflect on how if you did that one thing, if you leaned into and lived that one word, how it might impact your body, mind and soul. 

Think about it.