What´s in a Word?

Have you heard of the word of the year? The word of the year is a really easy way to create a laser focus on your goals so that every choice and decsion you make is in aligment with what you want to achieve. It´s so simple yet surprisingly effective. 

The word you choose encapsulates what you are creating in your life this year, a guiding principal to genlty bring you back to centre when you start to drift away from your dreams. Think of your word(s) of the year, as the theme for this year, a kind of one-word mantra that focuses your mind on what is most important to you and what you have chosen to put your attention on in the coming months.
I started choosing a word of the year a few years back, and it is one of my favourite things about the turning of the year or the season. It can be more than one word  but definitely no more than three.  It allows me to identify a central motif that unites my goals, which is why I find up to three words to be more appropriate as you may have a number of things that you are inviting in or creating at any one time. I use the word to keep my choices in alignment with my goals, what I want to achieve and how I want my life to be. And the best thing about it is that it’s really easy to do and use. So grab a pen and paper and let’s get started.

Choosing your word of the year is slightly different from choosing your goals in the sense that it is more of intuitive exercise rather than an intellectual one and to access your intuition you need to be in a relaxed and receptive state of mind. Take a few minutes to allow your thoughts to settle and release tension from your body, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. If you find this is not coming to you easily you can listen to my 5 minute grounding meditation here.

Once you have reached a state of stillness close your eyes for a couple of minutes and see if any words arise, after a moment or two has passed write down anything that has come up.
If nothing came up for you, don’t worry, we’re going to dig a little deeper, and if you did come up with some words don’t stop yet.

​Think of some of the goals you have identified for yourself this year, and with them in mind answer the following questions;

• What do you want more of in your life?
• Who do you want to become?
• What kind of energy do you want to invite in to your life?
• What do you want to create?
• What do you want to refine or gain clarity around?
• How do you want to feel?

Brainstorm and write down all the words that come to mind as you answer the questions, it doesn’t matter what form of the word you choose, write down all variations at this point we are still generating ideas.

Now you should have a decent sized list of words so it’s time to narrow it down. The trick here is to not overthink, go with what feels right, there are no wrong answers. Keep going until you are left with 1-3 words. Now ask yourself what does your word mean to you?

Finally write it or them down somewhere you will see them often, when faced with a choice or decision ask yourself which choice is more in line with your word of the year.

​Share your word(s) in the comments, mine is below!