Make Your Year Great with a Word

Make the next year even better with a little word.

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I used to make the longest lists of resolutions about this time of year. I’d have so much I wanted to do or change there would practically be a different thing I could focus on every week of the new year.

Those resolutions lists began to look a lot like to-do lists, and they weren’t very motivating, so the same things would show up year after year.

A few years ago I changed my perspective on change and starting using a little word instead of making a big list of hopes and want tos.Make the next year even better with a little word.

About One Little Word

One Little Word is a program developed and trademarked by Ali Edwards. She does a year-long program with elements of crafting and journaling to help people stay focused on their words throughout the year.

I used the program that first year — my word was create — but I didn’t stick with the exercises very well, so I’ve done it on my own for a few years with a few different words.

It’s a good way to make your year great if you like doing the projects and stick with the community through the year, I just didn’t do it the way you should. Which is totally predictable. I have to find my own way.

Choosing a word is great because:

  • It gives you one thing to focus on all year.
  • It can apply to lots of different aspects of your life all at once.
  • Or it can focus your efforts on one particular thing for a time, then adjust when needed.
  • You can put it everywhere so it’s a constant reminder of what you really want.
  • It’s completely personal, so there’s no choosing something you think you should want or that other people would want for you.

My Word for 2017

I had some trouble coming up with a word for 2017. I pretty well crashed and burned on my word — clear — this year (though I did get some good work-related clarity, my spaces are not as clear as I’d hoped) and I wanted to come up with something that could be a daily focus and didn’t sound like a list of things to do.

I started with healthy, because that’s a great goal, and can apply to lots of different aspects of life, such as healthy body, spaces, work/life balance, relationships, boundaries.

But I wasn’t really excited about it.

So I kept thinking, while I was going through chores and daily life stuff.

What did I want my life to look like?

What did I want to change?

What could I focus on that would make those changes easier?

The word I came up with was energy.Start the year off right with the help of a single word.

What Energy Means for Me

Everything we do requires energy, of course, and we bring a certain kind or level of energy to everything we do.

So this year for me will be thinking about what gives me energy and what saps it (spoiler alert: real books > Facebook) and how I can use that knowledge to approach tasks with better energy and enthusiasm.

While it’s impossible to completely avoid those things that are low energy (like bookkeeping, making appointments, keeping appointments, running errands), it might be possible to plan my days so those sorts of things aren’t so draining.

So my hope is that I’ll look at each day, and the activities in each day, as a choice that can boost my energy or not. Exercise, eating right, spending time with my family, clearing spaces all become high priorities because of their effect on my — and my family’s — energy.

energy little word
Photo by Nicholas Petrone, via Flickr.

Work and chores and errands still have to happen, of course, but maybe it’s possible to feel better about them, to approach them with a different attitude, to make them about caring for myself and my family as much as they are about getting the necessary things done.

Maybe, approached in that way, the must-dos of life will take less time and use up less energy so that I have more of both for more of the things I really want to do.

The people I want to spend more time with.

The books I want to write. (And read.)

The things I want to make.

Wouldn’t that be great?

And Some Resolutions, Tooenergy little word

But while I’m at it there are a few specific things I want to work on, too. Call them resolutions or goals or things to focus my energy on, or whatever you want. I hope they will be a thread that runs through my life and this blog throughout 2017.

  • I want to stop buying clothes. Except for my few-times-a-year StitchFix. But still being really mindful about what I buy there, too.
  • No yarn, fabric or craft supply purchases unless I need something for a specific project and don’t have something that will work at home.
  • Make something every day and document it on Instagram. (You can join in, too. Follow the hashtags #yearofmaking and #ourdailycraft.)
  • Make a new recipe every week. Bonus points if I use my new Instant Pot.
  • Clear out and organize my office once and for all. ASAP.

Do you have a word or a resolution list for 2017? How will you make your year great? I’d love to hear about it!


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