How to pick YOUR word of the Year 2018

Trending right now on Twitter is the hashtag #wordoftheyear.  So what exactly is a WORD of the year?  Simply put, your WORD of the YEAR is an easier and more motivating way of guiding your life over the year ahead. 

In 2017 my WORD was NURTURE.  I had experienced some issues with my health and I knew I wanted to be guided and inspired to take better self-care.  We often make resolutions on New Year’s Eve and usually they are the same mix of lose 20lbs, go to the gym 3 times a week and we can find ourselves quickly feeling uninspired.  Or we take an all or nothing approach, we missed the gym on Monday so we’ve failed for the entire week, no month and soon our membership card is sat idling in the bottom of the draw.

Your WORD of the year isn’t restrictive it instigates and keeps us open to change.  In 2017 NURTURE inspired me to exercise in ways I enjoyed from Chakra Dancing to Move classes.  Starting my day with a 7 minute stretch routine on YouTube so every day I knew I had done SOMETHING! 

My WORD encouraged me to make sure I ate lunch, regularly!  I started packing my lunch so I was tempted to grab chips from the canteen. 

My WORD also motivated me to try to live more compassionately by going Vegan, I signed up for Veganuary and it stuck.  I’m nourishing myself by cooking more from scratch and cutting back on junk food.

NUTURE served me well in 2017 I haven’t completely settled on my 2018 WORD, but DARE is sitting quite well with me at the moment.

Choosing Your WORD for 2018 – Top Tips

1)   What is it you most want to achieve?   

Start or grow a business? Change your career? Take up a new hobby or develop a new skill? Have more adventure? Be healthier or more active?  Start to think of all the words that exemplify what you want to achieve.  Is your WORD about…

CHANGE? LEARNING? FUN? CREATING?

2)   Create a list of words that inspires and motivates you.

Look through a dictionary or find a thesaurus and look for synonyms. As you write check in with yourself.  What words are really resonating with you?  Is a particularly word making you FEEL?  Are you smiling, invigorated or inspired by particular words on your list? We manifest our desires more quickly and easily if we have an emotional connection.  The universe doesn’t pick up on what we say but what we feel. 

3)   Get some feedback.

If you’ve some fabulous, like-minded friends, have a chat about your words and your goal for the year ahead.  Sometimes your word finds you and a conversation with a friend may furnish you with the precise word you’ve been searching for.

4)   Sit with your word. 

Before you commit, sit with your word.  A few years ago I really thought my word was going to be ADVENTURE.  I was going on a New Year’s Day labyrinth walk.  On completing the labyrinth I had a brand new word SHINE! It ended up being exactly the word I needed.  My career had, up to that point, been about helping other people find their sparkle, 2015 was about me finding my own. 

5)   Enjoy YOUR word of the Year. 

Embrace YOUR word.  Revel in it.  Let it help you guide you when making decisions in 2018.  Are your choices embodying YOUR word?  Own YOUR word and use it to inspire and embolden your year ahead.