I’ve spoken about this before, but you know that this past year has been all about inner change for me. I’ve worked on my mindset by fixing beliefs I had about myself and my body. I’ve worked on things with my therapist and nutritionist through journaling, talking, and other exercises to help me deal with issues I had surrounding food, exercise, and self-hatred. I’ve declared myself a WRITER to the world and to myself by joining groups, continuing work on my book, sending it to an actual editor, and making real plans to self-publish in the new year. And through this whole journey, I have used one overall word and two supporting words to guide me. I used Susannah Conway’s method for finding my Word of the Year in December of 2016 and decided upon the trifecta of Nourish, Patience, and Compassion.
Nourish came into play with everything from making time to write, to eating nourishing foods, to giving myself time to rest and practice self-care. Patience reminded me to be patient not only with others (especially my six-year-old son) but also myself as the process to change was going to be very long. Compassion reminded me to love myself as a best friend and to give love and acceptance to those around me. I journaled and planned and thought about what those words would mean, I talked about them during sessions with both my nutritionist and my therapist, I thought about them as I worked on my book and my blog, and I thought about them as I went through my daily life. They became a part of my year-long journey and as the year comes to a close, I’m kinda sad to see them go.
The thing is, I redid the whole process again this week and came up with my words for 2018. While the words I chose for 2017 were very inward and introspective, the words that came up for 2018 are all outward words – big and loud and scary words. Exciting and daring and a little Holy Crap…but I know they are the perfect three words to support me as I step more into the role of Professional Self-Published Writer, as I become a real Authorpreneur, and as I make decisions about my business and my career. Are you ready? The two supporting words this year are Open and Magic and my big overall word is Courage.
I’m hoping to carry these words into all aspects of my life from my relationships, my food and health issues, my therapy sessions, my writing, my self-publishing career, and the way I interact with others and myself in general. I am hoping for big, scary, amazing things to happen next year and with the support of these words I know I can handle anything and everything life has to throw at me.
So, do you choose a word (or words) to help you through your year? Do you choose a mantra or motto? Do you make a vision board (I’m planning on doing this again soon) and create a visual reminder of your yearly goals, hopes, dreams, and plans? If you do, I would really love to know what word or motto you chose and why, what helped you make the decision, and what you’re planning to do to remind yourself of the word throughout the year. I plan on having the courage pictures and quotes from this post on my cork board over my desk, and I plan on asking myself the following three questions every day. What can I do today that would be courageous? What can I do today to be more open? What can I do today that would help bring some magic to my life?
As the year comes to a close, give yourself time and space to reflect and think back on how much you’ve changed over the last year – then give yourself time to dream and plan and bring some hope as we usher in 2018 and a chance for even more growth and learning. Isn’t that an amazing thing? We always have more to learn, more to be, and more to give.