Choosing Your Word of the Year

Choosing a word of the year can seem a little woo woo but it’s not.

If you haven’t been in the entrepreneur world long or a little woo woo then you may not know what choosing your word of the year is. First choosing a word doesn’t necessarily need to be one word, it can be a group of words if that’s what resonates with you. Let’s talk about what a word is and why you want to pick one for 2019.

Choosing a word (or group of words) for 2019 helps you focus your year and helps you decide how you want to feel. For example, in 2018 my word was Persevere. I knew that I would be quitting my day job unexpectedly and we had not planned for it. I was going to be launching into my business full time instead of slowly building it up as originally planned. It would be a rough year but we would persevere through all of it. It helped me focus on getting through any issues that came up.

Your word can also be flexible and apply to various aspects of your life. If your goals change your word can fit in with your new goals. My word for 2019 is Abundance. I went back and forth between prosperous and abundance but after doing a brain dump and figuring out what I wanted my goals to be, Abundance felt more in line. Prosperous felt like it was all about money and that’s not what I wanted my intentions to be for 2019.

I wanted abundance in work and money, yes but I also wanted to have an abundance of time with my husband and my family. Abundance also meant having lots of books to read, both business and fiction throughout the year. Networking, and meeting a lot of ladies while networking to have an abundance of people to bounce ideas off of etc. Abundance was my word.

Not sure what your word should be? Here are some things to do to narrow it down.

1. Visualize your 2019. What do you want your year to look like? How do you want to feel? What do you want to accomplish?
2. Grab a piece of paper and do a brain dump. Write down all of the words that pop into your head.
3. Now figure out what your goals are for 2019. (Tomorrow’s podcast episode breaks down goal setting).
4. Take a look at your goals and take a look at the words that you brain dumped. What words mesh with your goals? Is there a word that unifies your goals? Is there a word that scares you? This may mean you are heading in the right direction. Narrow down your words and pick your one word or phrase for 2019.
5. Post it! Post your word somewhere you will see it! It can be a vision board (learn to make one here), or a bulletin board, a post-it on your bathroom mirror, a post-it in your car. Wherever you will see it each day is where you should post it so you can be reminded and empowered.

Picking your word of the year, and setting goals go hand in hand. Listen to tomorrow’s episode about goal setting to get in-depth with setting your goals for 2019.