Move Over, Merriam-Webster. We've Got Our Own Words for the Year

Hi. Welcome to Bloom Anywhere. I'm Gwen Moran, a writer, editor, author, and problem-solver. My goal is to share information, ideas, and resources to help you overcome obstacles, reach your goals, and find more joy in life, even when things are messy. Thanks for joining me. (If you got this from a friend, subscribe here: Bloom Anywhere.) I'd love your feedback and suggestions for future topics. Please send me an email: connect@bloomanywhere.com.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a goal-setter. I think that’s always been my nature: Think about what I want to happen and then design a way to make it so. I typically focus on these goals in June, September, and late December into January. This is how I’ve built a couple of businesses, built a couple of houses, written a few books, and accomplished many other things in my life. I like the SMART approach, although some believe other systems work better for them.

I also adopted another practice years ago: choosing a word or intention for the year.

I first heard about this in an online writers group to which I belonged. The purpose is to choose a world, phrase, or declaration that summarizes what you want to happen in the coming year or what you want the theme for the year to be. Some folks choose an aspirational word, while others treat it as an order. There aren’t any hard-and-fast rules.

Say the Word

I’ve written in the past that I’m about 40% “woo-woo.” (I’ll amend that to be 25 to 40%, depending on the day. It might also be lower or slightly higher depending on the circumstance.) I am primarily driven by facts and reason, but I also leave room for forces I do not understand. I have also written about the ascending reticular activating system, which essentially triggers our awareness. (Like when I was shopping for a black Jeep, and all of a sudden, I noticed how many are on the road.)

For me, the word or intention helps keep me focused on what I want in the coming year. Two years ago, I chose two words: abundance and fearless. I wanted to head off scarcity mindset, and the word “abundance” seemed like a good antidote. I wanted to be more fearless about everything—the writing I was doing and the way I was living my life. So, that was another good one.

I started a meditation practice after swimming a few days each week and focused on these words and on how I would embody them in the day or week ahead. Fearlessness when pursuing a new client or trying something new. Abundance when I was worried about the amount of work that was coming in or running out of time.

Let’s be clear: I don’t believe choosing a word or intention is “magic”—you can’t just say the word and expect it to change anything. However, they are good anchors and reinforcement to remind us how we want to show up in the world.

Did they help? I think so. In the year of abundance and fearlessness, I had one of my best years ever in landing new business. In the year I chose the word “create,” I made good progress on a few creative projects and launched this newsletter. The words were a tool that helped me reinforce what I knew I needed to do.

What's Your Word?

This year, I’m still contemplating the word or words I’ll use. I could just adopt the ones that worked for me before, but I’m also craving something new. I asked some friends on social media to share their words of the year. Some of the most common were versions of peace, patience, heal, focus, and survive.

Will you choose a word this year? Have you done this before? I’d love to hear about it. I’ll share my word in a future newsletter—once I decide.

Bloom Drops

Things I want to share with you.

Goal-setting. There are many online resources that can help you set goals and find ways to be more effective in various areas of your life. edX has a number of courses from various instructors and universities, and lets you take them for free when you choose the “audit” option. (Coursera recently discontinued this option.) You may have less time to complete the course, and you won’t get any kind of credit or certificate upon completion, but if you’re in it for the knowledge, you can’t beat “free.”