That "Word of the Year" Thing

It's been a "thing" for several years now, and I've been doing it for about that long. It took me a while to get the hang of it, though. At first, it was just a shiny new penny to play with. Or a reason to make a fancy new page in my bullet journal.

Over time, though, I came to realize the true power in the "word of the year."

Somewhere in the middle of a year, my resolutions, plans and goals failed me, and I needed a reset button. But with everything falling apart it was difficult to find some shred to hang on to in order to piece it all back together.

But I really didn't need to scramble to put it all together...I only needed to find one piece. One word. The word.

I don't remember which word was on deck that year, but let's say it was "shine". (It's been my word a couple times.)

When I felt overwhelmed by all the to-do's and I didn't know what to do, I would think about "shine" and it would help me see past all the mess to that thing that would let me shine.

​Having a word of the year brings clarity to your busy mind. It helps you focus, in a positive way, on who you want to be and how you want to live, as opposed to the things you want to do.

Pretty cool, right?

So no more lengthy list of resolutions for me, but one single word that encapsulates the growth I want to see in myself each year.

And...now I'm gonna throw you a curve ball and tell you my word for 2023 is actually two words, but I think they go together and together, they inspire and encourage me.

What about you? Are you a still a fan of self-improvement lists? Or have you joined the word-of-the-year club?