Everyday Life Personal Development Personal Ramblings

Action. Courage. Trust. {Words Of The Year}

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed it’s become increasingly popular to choose a word for the year. At first, I didn’t get it; choosing a word for the year? What did that even mean? But two years ago I decided to jump on the bandwagon and pick a couple of words for my year ahead, the trouble was, I still didn’t get it. I had them written in big red letters at the top of my whiteboard and every day I would look at them and wonder why they weren’t working for me. Why didn’t I feel any real connection when I looked at them and why wasn’t my year reflecting my words? I just figured at some point along the way everything would magically fall into place. But they didn’t.

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Unfortunately, what I didn’t realise at the time, was that the words had to fit how I wanted to feel. I couldn’t just pick two random words and think they would work for me; I had to work for the words, not the other way around. It was up to me to figure out how I wanted to feel throughout the year ahead. What did I want to achieve, what actions would leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling when the year came to a close and more importantly, what words would sum all of that up?

I didn’t bother choosing any words for 2015 and to be honest, the whole year felt pretty messy. Looking back, if I had to sum up the whole year in just one word, without any hesitation I would choose chaotic. I had so many ideas on the go and a new business to contend with; I struggled to plan anything; I flew by the seat of my pants throughout the whole 12 months. It was only towards the end of the year that I realised I couldn’t keep on going with such chaos and I bought a desk planner; I started to break things down and finally began working to some kind of schedule. If I really want to do something, I throw myself into it wholeheartedly, but if I don’t want to do something, you won’t see me for dust. I’m an all or nothing girl, there’s no in between. I’m either in or I’m out; there’s no half arsed attempt with anything. But last year I felt like I’d lost control; I spread myself way too thin and began to lose sight of so many things; my head felt in a constant state of confusion ready to explode at any moment.

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This year however, I’ve started out differently; I purchased ‘Your Best Year 2016’ by Lisa Jacobs and I’ve already got my working year planned out until the beginning of June. It felt like such a relief to get everything out of my head and down onto paper; seeing what I have planned for the first half of the year makes me feel calmer already. I’ve also chosen three words for 2016 that I feel connected to and actually bring meaning to how I want to feel over the next 12 months. Each day is like a reminder, a guide almost; a way of bringing intention to everything I do and even though it took a while to decide on them, I’m pretty happy with my choices:

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Action: I’m a procrastinator. Big time. If something can be done tomorrow, then tomorrow it is. One of my biggest downfalls is coming from a place of fear, being indecisive and generally waiting for everything to be perfect before starting. I can be very impatient for some things, a want it now kind of person; but with other things, work related matters, or big time consuming projects, I ponder. I think everything through. Then I think everything through again. If there isn’t a problem, I create one. I can definitely live too much in my own head. This year is all about moving forward and getting things done.

Courage: I pondered over this word for ages. I was torn between courage, bold, daring and fearless, but courage won. I don’t always put myself out there, I worry too much about what others might think and I realised that this year, I need to get over myself a bit. As the saying goes: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

Trust: This was the hardest word to settle on, it drove me nuts trying to make a decision. But then last week as I was reaching the end Yoga Girl (I think this book deserves a whole separate post), there was one sentence that jumped out at me: “Trust that you are on the right path and that life will take you exactly where you need to be”. <fist punches the air>. I realised that I need to trust my gut instincts and decisions more. That one sentence summed everything up.

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So far I’m happy with how I’m living true to my words and it’s looking like action is really helping to push me in the right direction of how I want my year to pan out. Here are some of the things I did in January:

  • I finally got my blog up and running for my handmade business, The Last Twinkie. It’s been on my to-do list for nearly a year.
  • I started decorating the bathroom; it’s something I’ve been getting around to since September!
  • I planned my working year up until June.
  • I completed my tax return
  • I prepared blog posts in advance for both The Last Twinkie and Radiating Chaos.
  • I started learning calligraphy and hand lettering
  • I joined a new gym – I absolutely hated my old one

I’m really hoping to keep up momentum and I’m looking forward to watching the year unfold. If anyone else has a word or words for the year, I’d love to learn more about your choice(s) in the comments below.

 

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