New Year’s Resolutions are something most of us start to think about when closing out a year and beginning a new one. We get excited about thinking — a new year, a new me. However, how many resolutions have we all made, only to forget or drop them after a few weeks or months?
According to research done by University of Scranton Psychology Professor John C. Norcross, Ph.D., about 50% of the population makes New Year’s Resolutions each year, but less than 10% of these resolutions are actually accomplished. This statistic goes to show that while we are ambitious, changing our lifestyles and habits is quite a challenge.
Fortunately, there’s a new alternative some people are choosing in lieu of a New Year’s Resolution — choosing a Word of the Year. One essentially chooses one word to focus on for the year, a mantra if you will for the next 365 days. In this method, we are to concentrate on our daily living routines by weaving in your word of choice-creating a vision for your upcoming year rather than a goal. This involves more of who you want to be rather than what you want to do/achieve.
The first time I heard about this “Word of the Year” trend was approaching 2019 in a women’s Bible study. We all decided to think about and choose a word, share with each other our choice, and discuss throughout the year how we are applying it to our lives. Choices within the group were fearless, creativity, courageous, presence, consistency, grounded, confidence, and dedication. My personal choice for 2019 was dedication. The leader of the Bible study group made each of us a small framed picture of our word to put in our home, which helped to be a daily reminder.
The path to choosing a word appropriate to each of us and our lives will look different one to another. For example, what did dedication mean to me that year? I wanted to dedicate more time to advancing my knowledge in my career; dedication to more good old fashioned quality time with my family; being a more dedicated Christian and building my faith. These are the three areas to which I really wanted to apply a new-found sense of dedication.
The following are some ways that worked on these areas of dedication:
- Knowledge in my career: I work part time as an infant and toddler Speech Language Pathologist. There is an ever-growing need to stay on top of new ideas, techniques and research in my field. This year I dedicated time to advancing my knowledge in childhood feeding disorders so that I could better support the kiddos I serve.
- Quality family time: We can ALL admit that getting down to the simple, old fashioned quality time with the husband and children can get quite difficult because, well, life. Work, school, other to-dos get in the way all too often. This year, we (husband and ), dedicated more time to sitting and playing family games with the kids, coloring and craft making, and taking at least two big family vacations all together.
- Being a more dedicated Christian: I wasn’t putting in nearly enough effort here. I began listening to faith-building podcasts with all the driving I do and reading the Bible more. I began to serve in the PreK Sunday School class.
Have you ever tried to identify a word of focus for the upcoming year? What was it, and how did it work out for you? If not, I encourage you to give it a try. Give yourself time to think about your word and don’t rush it. For many, a new year is like a clean slate and a means to start fresh. Focusing on this single word can be a very reward for you and your family.
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