Life Coaching Tip: Choosing a “Word of the Year” will help bring clarity and focus into your new year. It can serve as your North Star to direct your decisions and guide your steps, so you can live more intentionally. You believe what you tell yourself, and since your thoughts create your outcomes, it just makes sense to choose a “Word of the Year” that will steer your thoughts in the direction of your dreams.
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Have you ever thought about choosing a special word to help you define your focus as you begin the new year?
I have done this for the past few years now, and I’ve found it to be such a powerful practice that I’ve encouraged my clients to do the same.
Each year, I choose one guiding word to focus on that sums up what I want to create or who I want to be that year. My words for past years three years have been: Courage, Freedom, and Fun.
I want to encourage you give this a try because your word can help bring clarity and focus into your new year. It can serve as your North Star to direct your decisions and guide your steps, so you can live more intentionally. It’s kind of a big deal!
As you’ve probably heard me say before, we believe what we tell ourselves. I mean, your subconscious mind is taking notes 24/7! And since your thoughts create your outcomes, it just makes sense to choose a “word of the year” that will steer your thoughts in the direction of your dreams.
Then, you can refer to your word for guidance and inspiration when you’re making decisions in the months to come or when you need to choose your next step forward.
For instance, if your word of the year is Growth and a new career opportunity comes your way, you might ask yourself: “Would accepting this opportunity to align with my word of the year?”
Or if your word is Balance and you’re asked to sit on the board of a non-profit, but the meetings are scheduled at the same time as your yoga class, your word can be your guide and help make your decision easy.
Finally, if your word is Health, you might ask yourself questions throughout the day like: “Would a healthy person take the steps or the elevator?” or “Would a healthy person order a hamburger or a salad?”. And consequently, if you act like a healthy person long enough, eventually you will become that person. Ta-da!
Want to give it a whirl? Here are some questions you can ask yourself to get started:
- What do I want more (or less) of in my life?
- What word represents my big dream?
- What positive attributes would I like to have?
- How do I want to feel?
As you consider your answers, take some time to quiet your mind and listen to your inner voice. It will never betray you.
Finally, once you choose your word, commit to it completely!
Write it on Post-It notes and put them all over your home, office, and car. Look for evidence of it showing up and open the door when it comes knocking!
I’d love to hear what you come up with! Once you decide, please email me and let me know your word and your reasons for choosing it.
And if you’d like some more help moving forward, let’s talk about life coaching together.
This is your year. This is your time!
Let’s do this!