Happy 22W! After the rush of the holiday season, our favorite (or least favorite) time is here: the early months of the year dominated by new year’s resolutions, building new habits, and attempting to achieve goals we haven’t gotten to yet.
It’s good to make a list of resolutions to kick off your year but goals without intention are easy to forget. To make the most of this fresh start, let’s connect our goals to intentions by picking a personal word of the year!
Let me give you some background…
In January of my Junior year of high school, my English teacher handed us small notecards and colorful Crayola markers, and one piece of direction:
As you walk into the new year, what is the one word you will carry with you?
After some thought, I chose the word, “fearless” – partly because I am a huge Taylor Swift fan but also because I wanted to spend my year taking healthy risks and living fearlessly. Throughout that year, I intentionally walked into all experiences with my word of the year involved. Even though I wasn’t always actively thinking about it, the spirit of the word lingered in my mind. I still have the notecard back home. “Fearless” is written in purple marker.
Turns out my teacher was not the only person with this idea. For a more comprehensive perspective on this “Word of the Year” concept, check out: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/06/well/mind/word-of-year-2022.html
The bottom line is, intention gives us direction and can make us more mindful in a way that helps us to make the most of this new year.
So, let’s pick our words of the year! Grab paper, a pen, or really anything to get your thoughts down. If you want, you can check out our January Wellbeing Playlist on Spotify for some inspirational tunes as you follow these steps:
- Reflect on your past year: What were three experiences that stick out to you, positive or negative? Write them down.
- Look forward: What is getting you excited about this year?
- Brainstorm: Write down as many words as you can that capture the experiences you want to have this year. Take your time 🙂
- Expand: Select 3-5 words from this list and expand on them with others. For example, if you wrote down “balance,” your expansive words may be “harmony” or “equal.”
- Select: Now, it’s time to pick one word. Which one speaks to you most or captures the change you want to see in your life?
Once you have picked a word, write it on a notecard and stick it somewhere visible to remind yourself of this new intention and guide.
That’s it! You have just formed an intention, and hopefully, you’re a little more clear-headed about starting this new year.