I know that the time has come and gone for making New Year’s resolutions—the official ones, anyway. But just like every morning brings a new day, doesn’t every day bring a new year? Of course it does! So today is the first day of your new year, isn’t it? What are you going to do with it?
Christine Kane talks about New Year’s resolutions, and why they seldom work, in You Say You Want a Resolution…. Her solution? One word. One word for the whole year, that you focus on every day. A word that you keep in front of you, at the forefront of your daily living, a word that when you see or hear it reminds you of what you want to accomplish for the coming year.
She says it better than I can:
One year I just decided to revolt against resolutions. I had my very own “resolution revolution.” I decided to simplify, to focus, and to be gentle about the approach. Here it is:
Pick a word for the year.
Just one word. That’s all.
Then, hold that word in your mind throughout the year, and let your word guide you to take action. For instance, let’s say you want to make a resolution to lose 20 pounds, and to change jobs. Rather than say, “I resolve to lose 20 pounds and get a better job,” (which can be somewhat overwhelming) you might sit with this thought for a little while. Write in your journal. Maybe then you would recognize that you’ve been scared to look for another job because there might not be something out there, and maybe you’ve been overeating to stuff down the fears that come up and the feelings of insecurity.
So, instead of making resolutions – which do little to inspire you – you choose the word “courage.” Courage then becomes what guides you. Each day you focus on that word. When you don’t want to go to the gym, you don’t berate yourself with the threat of your resolution. Instead, you motivate yourself with your word. “Courage.” You say it aloud to remind yourself. And you go because learning how to not be scared of change is exciting to you. The word then builds on itself. You might decide to take a yoga class even though the skinny yoga girls have always scared you. You might find that you have a little more energy with each new thing you try. Maybe this energy motivates you to call an old friend in your field and let her know you are looking for another job. Courage becomes the guiding force, not the harsh standard. (And WAY better for you than a pound of bacon and four eggs for breakfast, too!)
My word this year? FOCUS.
Too much distracts me. Rather, I let myself get distracted easily. ADD, if you will. I know if I went to an M.D. and described my day, they’d jump and down for joy if they owned stock in the pharaceutical company that owned the drug they were about to prescribe for me!
My mind goes a mile a minute, sometimes in directions it shouldn’t, and by the time I notice I’m off track I can’t even see the track any more! That has led me on some interesting journeys, though…
So what’s your word for your new year? Leave a comment and share!
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Great post, Steve. A great idea as well, thanks for sharing it. My word for the new year is going to be serenity. I want to get my “inner” self healthy so that I can, in turn, get the “outer” self healthy as well.
neat concept..my word will be “patience”
thanks.
It IS a neat concept, isn’t it? I’ve received a lot of inspiration from Christine Kane’s writing.
Hi Steve,
I loved Christine’s post and idea about choosing a word to focus on. I too am working on staying focused. I can tend to get myself spread too thin trying to do too many things at once.
I created a process based on a vision book (I wrote about the process at Positive Thinking Magazine) and I find that it helps keep me on track.
What a great idea! – thanks. Really makes you think about exactly where you’re at. Easy to remember and simple to apply. My word is “embrace” – the good and the bad…the whole experience.