For many people when they hear New Year, they simultaneously think of resolutions. This is not the case for me. I abandoned New Year’s resolutions several years ago and traded in for a new way of intention/goal setting (more on that below).
As I am sure many of you know, resolutions are tough. They often overwhelm us and are too lofty of a goal for us to realistically reach. We end up tying the negative emotion of failure to any slip-ups during our year, then feeling disappointed, shameful, etc.
Many years ago, I was introduced to a new way of bettering myself for the New Year, called the ONE WORD technique. I was given the ONE WORD book by a dear friend of mine. The concept is SIMPLE, something that resolutions are often not.
So, how it goes… you select one word that you want to manifest your life around throughout the new year. So rather than setting clear linear goals, you use the ONE WORD as a touch stone during all your experiences throughout the year. You don’t set any operational goals, but rather try to LIVE the word throughout the year.
For example;
· In 2017, I felt I needed to put in some effort and handwork throughout the year, doing a few things that scared me and having discipline in my career and fitness/health.
· In 2018, it was SOAR, a year that meant more hard work, and rising as a high as I could – a year when I signed up for my 300hr Advanced Yoga Cert. in Manhattan New York.
· In 2019 the word morphed into FREEDOM (specifically living without fear, but with wonder and curiosity and feeling I had plenty of years of effort-- so I made the choice to give effort when I chose or lay low when I wanted – my big Freedom experience was traveling to India for several weeks).
· Then there was 2020, at which time I shifted into the world ELEVATE, a time to elevate both my career and personal habits as well as elevate others – doing kind things for people – going back into psychotherapy after 2 years of being a supervisor. During this time, I got married, graduated my 300hr certification and left my cooperative large company job for private practice.
And this year, 2021, I have chosen PURITY/PURE (more on that in another blog). WHAT’S YOUR WORD!??? Drop it in the comments.