Hey there! Welcome to a new week, and to the next installment of my series on make the next year your best year yet. Even if you’ve never figured out how to stick to new year’s resolutions in the past, I’m hoping this series can help us all make better plans than we have before.
In parts one and two, we looked to the past, thinking about our biggest joys and sorrows of the year that’s almost done, as well as the best times of our lives up until this point. That’s given us a good idea of what we want to do…and what we don’t want to do.
Now, we’re looking ahead and picking a word that we want to sum up our next year.
Basically, we’re finishing this sentence:
2018 will be the year of __________
I came across this idea of choosing one word on a defunct goal-setting site, 43things.com (which another enterprising person has revived.) If it’s from someone’s book or blog or something, let me know so I can give proper credit!
I’ve more often seen people choose a verb, though, like “Thrive” or “Connect.” Maybe you’d prefer that approach! For whatever reason, a noun feels more satisfying to me.
For the coming year, I choose “romance” as my focus. My marriage is so important to me, and I feel like focusing on our relationship and on our shared enjoyment of life is the best thing I can do right now.
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Everyone’s different, and every year is different. Here are some other possibilities for focus words.
health
family
adventure
balance
creativity
writing
publishing
faith
friendship
the home
kindness
learning
courage
enjoyment
wealth
peace
cooking
running
organization
my career
play
success
activism
nature
confidence
generosity
productivity
boundaries
You might very well have better ideas of your own!
Just be honest about what you really want. If you pick a word because you “should” focus on it, but your heart isn’t in it, you’ll be fighting yourself from the start.
And now, I should confess something.
I tried choosing a focus word last year, and I completely failed.
At the beginning of last year, I thought that if my new business didn’t move forward, I’d be depressed, and if it did move forward, I’d be busy. (I somewhat underestimated how busy.) Either way, I thought I should make it “the year of fun.”
Hahahaha. Well, I completely forgot about it, and suffice to say, it was not the Year of Fun. I did have some good times! But as I’ve written about before, it was mostly the Year of Working Long Hours and Worrying.
I wish I’d kept my focus word in mind…and I have an easy suggestion for how to do that. Buy a 2018 calendar (I have more suggestions for this calendar later), and write it across the top of every month. Like I’ve done here:
Easy! Every time you flip to a new month, you’ll get a reminder to re-set your focus, if it’s happened to slip. I’m doing the same thing with my planner pages for every month of the new year.
Do you have ideas for a ‘focus word’? Do you like the idea of choosing one, or not so much? Let us know in the comments, if you like.
And so that you don’t miss a post about better living, follow the blog, if you aren’t already — there’s a place to sign up below. Thanks so much for reading!
Part four in this series is about making resolutions. Check it out here!
I like this idea and, as I sit here and stare at my planner, I intend to make it the year of writing. 2017 was such a wash. I got a few things I planned done but I lost focus on the writing so many times while following the latest political antics of the President, Congress, people running for office, etc. Thanks for this.
That is awesome, Anne. And I feel you. It is so easy to be distracted by current events. I’ve gotten off Facebook almost entirely, other than keeping up my author page, because I feel like it’s a conduit for so much bad news and strife. I hope it’s a fantastic writing year for you!
The Year of Restoration:
For the last 30 years my husband has held a very needed but incredibly stressful job. This year he has been awarded a 3 month sabbatical – a time of study, planning, and rest. We are doing some traveling during this time away (to Alaska!). My goal this year is to help him in any way I can to rest and restore his joy. I’m going to take your calendar suggestion and schedule some specific items to ensure this. Thanks for the motivation, Bryn!
Hi, Diana! Ahh, that sounds like such a well-deserved break for your husband. Alaska! that sounds amazing! What a great word you’ve chosen. It can be taken in so many ways.
Hi Bryn! Loved this post. I’m sitting at Barnes & Noble right now. On my way in, I spotted a 2018 desk calendar, and now I think I’m going to have to buy it before I leave lol.
I think my 2018 will be: The Year of Change
~Change my health-focused habits (be more active), change my eating habits back to clean again, change my writing habits (to more frequently!), etc. Right now I have to get caught up on NaNo so I can finish on time (had to work the opening of Christmas Town all weekend at Busch Gardens). :p
Hey, Star! (<-- is that okay if I call you that? 🙂 ) B&N is such a great place to buy calendars. (Once of my favorite places, period.) Change sounds like such an exciting theme for 2018!
lol yep it’s fine. Starlately is a bit of a play on my middle name (Starleigh). One day when I actually get around to publishing one of the books I’ve been working on, it’ll be under “Nicole Starleigh” instead of my actual last name. One day. 😉
Bryn – Brilliant as ever. I love the idea of writing targets on the calendar. Usually I put them on post-it notes and after a while the notes, mottoes, and pep-talk soundbites fade into the background. Seeing it freshly written every month will be such a kick in the um, well, um…such an inspiration to stay on track and focus on what is important. Thank you so much for an idea that I will surely use – and I promise to report back next year.
Best wishes for your success.
Aww, thanks, PJ! Yeah, I am the kind of person who needs really blatant reminders, which is why I thought of the calendar thing. I imagine that sometimes when I flip to a new month, it’ll kick me right in the um, motivation, as well. Sending good wishes right back at you!
I love this idea, I’ll do the calendar thing as well I think.
2018: The Year of Regeneration
This sounds so awesome and a bit scifi. ~ I miss you!
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Hi ! I know this isn’t related to this article but could you do a ‘Christmas plots’ please ? I am running out of ideas and since Christmas is coming I would like write something about it.
Thanks for replying it 🙂
Hi, Olivia! This is a great idea, and right up my alley! Give me a week and I’ll have it up! Thank you!
I love this! I think this might be “the year of exploration” for me:)
Okay, that sounds so cool. It’s perfect!
I like this suggestion. I may just put this on the wall in my office, really huge with one word on each A4 (like letter paper size in the USA) page: “2018: The Year of Completion”
I want this next year to be the year I finish the things I set in motion, whether it’s my writing or a gardening project or anything. The second-biggest thing in my life at the moment is completing the process of applying for Australian citizenship, and yesterday I completed the interview and the written test…one step closer to finishing what I should have done ten years ago. So I’m going to make next year about finishing all the things I’ve started.
“Completion” is such a powerful one! I love it. Good luck on the citizenship — and everything else you want to finish!
As I evaluate me which is often, it seems to me that I continually have my eyes to the sky and my nose to the ground. My eyes desire the dreams of my sky but my nose often keeps pulling me to the ground with family, health and a hunger to be the fixer. The guilt of my eyes to my sky often make my heart question my dreams. This year I hope to find a common ground with balance and focus to realize not only my dreams but a certain peace for those I love.
Jan, I love the way you’ve expressed this. I think many of us struggle between our dreams and our sense of obligation. I hope you do find that balance. Thanks for commenting!
2018 will be a year of writing and networking.
Oh, my. What a conundrum you have created for me. There are so many words I could use. I could have a calendar in every room with a different word, but that’s not the goal here, is it? I thought of motivation, to keep me focused on moving forward with my projects; completion, to keep me focused on getting the first novel in a four-part series polished, edited and submitted and the second one well on its way; light, to keep me focused on spreading light wherever I find darkness; routine, to focus on a daily routine and sticking to it as much as possible. I have a bunch more I could use, but I bet you have already thought about what is obvious here. Am I right?
I think I will make 2018, the year of FOCUS. I’ve used it in every explanation of the word choices above. If I can stay focused every month of 2018, even if it’s a new focus every month, I should be able to achieve all of the above.
Thanks for the suggestion, Bryn. I love it!
Hi, Bonnie! I think focus sounds like such a great idea for a theme…it affects everything else! I love it!
Thank you, Bryn. I think it will keep me on track a little better. Here’s hoping.
My focus word for 2018 is “gratitude.” A lot of times I get so busy focusing on what all I have to do to reach goals or fulfill obligations that I forget to pause and take stock of how blessed I am to have what I do.
I totally love this series by the way. It is really making me look at things differently.