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I started writing this post about my One Little Word about a month ago, but I never finished. After looking back at the progress I made in January I figured it was still worth sharing. It’s never too late to come up with a word.
I’ve been using the concept of one little word for a few years now, and I like it a lot better than making resolutions. The idea is that the word will guide you through what you want to do or how you want to think or feel through the year.
Last year’s word was deliberate, and ironically I didn’t even write about it, which will tell you something about how well that went.
The idea was that I was going to be more deliberate in the use of my time, deliberate in relationships, what I eat, the things I keep in our house, stuff like that.
What really happened is that we moved three rooms in our house, a lot of the stuff is still around and work got crazy at the end of the year so I wasn’t being deliberate about anything.
Listening for One Little Word
The way I usually figure out my One Little Word is that sometime in December I’ll start thinking a little about what I want from the new year and how I need to approach my time and work and life in the next year.
The idea I got from this listening to my thoughts (and writing my morning pages, of course) was that I need a reminder that things take the time they take and not to rush them, but also the fact of things taking time doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try to do them.
Not exactly little or a word.
I eventually came up with a three word notion of what I want for the year:
- Progress
- Process
- Momentum
First I need to make progress on all my goals, and once I’m in a better place I can work on a process to make those things easier to do/maintain and then build on the momentum of all that good work to make even more improvements.
How it Went in January
January was definitely a “progress” month. I had a lot of things I wanted to get done (cleaning the upstairs, blogging more, posting more often on Facebook and Instagram, more reading, more exercise) and I definitely made progress in all these areas.
I wouldn’t say I got any of them to where I hoped I would be (except maybe exercise; I worked out all but one weekday that the girl was out of the house) but it’s all about progress, right?
This is the lesson I needed to learn.
Just because you can’t do it all at once doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing, and doesn’t mean it won’t ultimately get done.
It just means you have to keep working, keep making progress and keep acknowledging the things that did go well and the progress that was made.
What February Looks Like
Of course I am planning to make even more progress this month. It’s a short one but there’s still plenty of time to pack a lot in, and I plan to: working out and eating better, more cleaning and organizing, more making (in particular submitting knitwear designs to publications, which I haven’t done in way too long), putting some designs in my shop on Ravelry, more writing and reading and fun.
It sounds like a lot, and it is, but again with the emphasis on making progress, incremental improvements and trying again every day, there’s a lot that can be done.
Do you have a one little word? How is it going for you so far? I’d love to hear what it is and how it’s working for you!