The power of ONE word

If you have made New Year’s Resolutions, by now they may have already gone by the wayside.  This is what happens, and you haven’t screwed up or failed!!

Rather than a resolution, I have been encouraging my friends, family, and clients to select a word for the year. 

A word that resonates with you and where you are right now.  A word that you want to focus on for a year.  Focusing on one word will bring clarity in many areas.  It may ignite you to choose another word to add as well.  Stay with your one word all year round and see how things change.

My word is Patience. 

There is a lot going on in my life this year and with it, I have decided to work on my capacity to focus on my level of patience.  Patience with myself, with others, with circumstances that surround me.

My clients have chosen the following words:

·        Pause

·        Onward

·        Silence

·        Listen

·        Laughter

·        Attract

·        Boundaries

·        Constraint

·        Focus

·        Love

·        Me

·        Health

·        Adventure

·        Family

·        Independent

·        God (Spirit, Goddess)

·        Grace

·        Presence

·        Positivity

·        Self Care

·        Courage

As we move through the days, just like a resolution, if we don’t focus on the word we have chosen, it will also fall by the wayside.  We decided to be intentional about keeping our word at the front of our attention by doing a short, but powerful evaluation at the end of each day.  It looks like this:

·        What worked

·        What didn’t work

·        What will I do differently

Using a journal or notebook, somewhere you can look back on, spend a few minutes each evening evaluating your life focusing on the word you have chosen.

Here is my Evaluation from yesterday:

Patience

What worked:

• I was patient with myself as I practiced yoga

•   I was patient with my husband as we figured out the wifi

• I was patient with my children as they texted me questions all day

• I was patient with the office staff even when they didn’t answer my questions.

What didn’t work:

• I found myself impatient with the weather

• I was impatient at the gym

What would I do differently:

• Give myself grace as I get back into my workout routine

• Allow the weather to get better over time while acknowledging that it’s not snow!

It’s really as simple as that!  You can take as long or as short as you want each evening to reflect and evaluate.  My hope is that the evaluation tool becomes a part of how you look at anything and everything, almost second nature.  Start here, and we will circle back to other ways to use this tool later.

Happiest New Year!!!

With Love and Joy,

Sheila