One word

When the “one word for the new year” craze started a few years ago, I rolled my eyes and thought it a bit too off-the-wall for me. There was no way I could build my entire year around a single idea or concept. So much was unknown about the coming year, would I really want to tie myself down to making decisions based on one thing? It was too broad and too vague.

In January 2016, my husband and I did our typical “goal jar” tradition, where we each write down big and small things (make homemade ice cream, blog more often, write songs and make an album…) then look at them together. That year, we had each written down something about our house — but they were a bit conflicting.

We had moved into our house in 2009, and started to finish the basement, but never got it completed. I said my goal for 2016 was to “move – or at least prep the house for moving.” But the goal he wrote down was “finish the basement and enjoy it.”

I’d been looking at our house with a sort of I-want-to-get-out-of-here-and-move-on-to-the-next-part-of-our-lives mentality. But during our discussion, my eyes were opened to looking at the here and now instead of the future.

So I resigned myself to the fact that I did indeed have a “word” for 2016 — home. And once I acknowledged that, I started seeing the word and theme everywhere. I read a few books about home (like this one and this one). And guess what? Five months later we found out we were pregnant, and NEEDED to finish that basement to have enough bedroom space. 🙂

I really did grow that year in that one, simple, broad-yet-specific word. (And guess what? We did end up moving, but not until 2019.)

2017 went “word”-less for me, and that was okay. I didn’t dwell on it too much as my brain was focused on all-things-baby (she was born February 13). Then we reached 2018, and all of the one-word talk happened again. I loosely made THRIVE my “word” for 2018.

In 2017 I had spent my time mostly in survival mode, adjusting to life with three kids and simply being on autopilot (understandable!). That fall I took an online class* with one of my favorite authors and podcasters. It was amazing to take some time for myself (even if it was only in short moments throughout the day).

Through the guided questions I discovered passions and skills I’ve had for years but had never actually put into words.

The purpose statement I developed during the course was “I care about faith and family, and am good at communication and problem solving, so I’m here to grow in and write about simplicity and rest.”

In the course we set 90-day goals, and as I reached the end of that timeframe in early 2018 I acknowledged that I’d only followed through with one of the three goals that I’d set. And that’s okay! Daily life is full of kids and activities, and even as I type this my 10-month old is pulling on my computer screen.

That’s the beauty of 90-day goals instead of full-year goals — it’s easy to reevaluate and restart when needed because it’s such a short timeframe.

The one goal I accomplished? Starting this blog! I’m excited to work on it during my year of THRIVE.

Dictionary.com defines THRIVE as “to grow or develop vigorously; flourish”.  I love that, because I have some areas of my life where I want to grow in, but I also want to do more than simply grow. I want to put concentrated effort into one or two things at a time and see where it takes me. Wish me luck!

Do you choose a “word” for your year?

*It looks like the Like-Your-Life course is no longer available, but if Tsh does decide to offer something similar again I’ll be sure to update this post!