One Word Goals - Find Inspiration, Focus and Motivation With Just One Word

What one word sums up how you’d like to live, love and work in 2023?

A word that could act as a compass, a motivator, and a mirror on the decisions you are making throughout the year? What would your one-word goal be?

Resolutions for some are motivating and empowering, enabling consistent choices and action in reaching a goal to be made. For others, their relationship with resolutions is more challenging, the shadows of past failures diminishing confidence to set them, and dampening belief in the ability and capacity to make changes to ourselves. Instead of a SMART goal, how would it be if you chose a single word to act as a guiding light for the year ahead?

Power of Words - Words have immense power over us. Words have the ability to support, to heal and to hurt. Words cannot change reality, but they can change how we perceive our reality. Even a single word alone can have great meaning in focusing our attention throughout the year. What specific word springs to mind for you, that could steer you throughout 2023 to develop and grow and become the human you would like to be?

Although we don’t need the New Year to make changes in our lives, it does provide a natural space to reflect and it’s here we can start to understand what your word could be.?

• Consider your accomplishments: The moments you felt pride and great satisfaction, what allowed and empowered you to make this happen in 2022??For me personally, determination and direction enabled me to gain accreditation and become a qualified Systemic Team Coach Practitioner in 2022. Determination is both my strength and my weakness; it provides energy for consistency, but has a shadow side; my determination is an ever-beating drum that keeps me striving for more and doesn’t let me rest. Why? Because my inner critic says I am not as good as others. Direction is something I consistently have, it's almost innate. Therefore, I am looking for words that could support determination and direction. Initially, words that emerged centred around “less trying” and “less hustling”. As I explored what these words meant I was drawn to words such as ‘natural rhythm’, ‘well-grounded’ and ‘compassion’.
• Reflect on what you would like to be different: A further consideration is what you’d change about 2022? I encourage compassion here because it’s easy to judge ourselves with unkindness, be critical and generally punish ourselves for not being something we assumed we ‘should’ be.

‘Urgency’ was how a client described 2022 a disconnectedness at times from the drive that makes them pack more and more into each day, resulting in depleted energy. ‘Patience’ was the word initially considered, but then evolved to words such as ‘slow-flow’, ‘fluency’, ‘ease’, and ‘gliding’. These all describe a state of being that they like to experience, where patience would naturally be an outcome.

• Desire for the future: Here, consider words that reflect the spirit of what you’re looking forward to in the New Year. ‘Liberation’ was a strong word used by a client recently; it was a desire to disconnect from the unnecessary, and connect with what was important to them. ‘Liberation’ was an intention to become more aware of the choices they make, how they prioritise their time and energy, and reinvest personal energy into other areas of life; “I am like a second Mum to my team since COVID…they now need to fly the nest”.
• Find the One: What words are now emerging for you? You may discover you have multiple words. Here are a few ways to strike some off the list;

1. What words have similar meanings or overlap?
2. What words are more functional and less emotive… will functional really motivate you on a dark morning in February?
3. Write the words down - which write well and which are more clunky?
4. What words encourage you in your list?
5. What words create a pathway for you, and provide a natural direction??
6. What words do you connect with?
7. Now, just sit with the words you have left, which does your instinct say is the one?

• Reminders: What can you do to bring this word into your daily conciseness throughout the year? Reminder next to your bed; it’s what you see each morning. Post-it notes on the bathroom mirror; reflect on the word whilst brushing your teeth. Phone / laptop screen saver - a reminder throughout the day

Gaining clarity about the year ahead is healthy and by choosing that one word to help you stay focused, it will support your journey throughout 2023.

My word for 2022 was ‘yes’, and I have thrown myself into things throughout the year. For 2023, I intend to pull back and connect to: ‘effortlessly, here's what this means and why I need to rethink my approach to how I face each day.?Below are some inspirational words to use as a personal guide.

• Accept
• Authentic
• Balance
• Be
• Brave
• Commit
• Connection
• Dream
• Drive
• Emerge
• Empower
• Expand
• Flow
• Focus
• Freedom
• Gratitude
• Growth
• Harmony
• Humility
• Hustle
• Improve
• Inspire
• Imagine
• Less
• Listen
• Love
• Mindful
• No
• Nourish
• Possibility
• Present
• Purpose
• Reflect
• Renew
• Represent
• Resilience
• Seek
• Self-Care
• Self-Worth
• Service-of
• Simplify
• Strive
• Thrive
• Transform
• Trust
• Try
• Visible
• Whole
• Wonder
• Yes