What's Your Word?

"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards." - Soren Kierkegaard

My mastermind group had our annual Review-Preview last week. Mary asked, "Okay, what's your word for the new year?"

Silence for a moment. "Word?"

"Yeah, a word that encompasses how you want to show up for 2023."

"Hmmm, I guess I don't have one. What's yours?"

"Learn."

Denise chimed in, "Mine's open."

Those two words resonated. I asked, "Can we have two words?"

Mary said, "You can do anything you want. The goal is to choose a word that will keep you aligned, centered, and on a purposeful path - no matter what is going on in your life."

I had a Eureka. "Then my word is EXPLORE. To me, that means remembering that the world is just waiting for us to notice it, immerse ourselves in it, and appreciate it.

I told our group, "The irony is, I just wrote a post about how repeating a mantra can help us be the quality of person we want to be - even when other people aren't.

However I didn't think about having a mantra for an entire year.

I'm so glad Mary brought this up, because I'm clear that having a "North Star" word can guide our actions and keep us from being side-tracked by behaviors that don't serve us.

What mantra will you keep top of mind and top of heart this year?

What is a word that resonates with you that you will post where you see it every morning that will help you stay true to who and how you want to be?

I decided to turn E.X.P.L.O.R.E. into an acronym and flesh it out with examples of how I'll hold myself accountable for my good intentions. Perhaps you'll want to do the same?

E = Evolve. In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy asked Charlie Brown. "Have you changed this year?' He assures her, "Oh yes, I've changed a lot." She comes back with, "I mean, for the better." At the end of this year, I want to look and feel better than I do now. I want to be wiser. Healthier. Even more clear about what matters. More connected with friends and family.

X = X marks the spot. Author Agathe Christie said, "Is there ever any particular spot where one can put one's finger and say, 'It all began that day, at such a time and such a place, with such an incident?'" I want to put today, Jan. 3 as the day it all began, a more attentive, appreciative life where I am more intentional, conscious, present of the gift of each day.

P = Purpose. It's hard to stay on purpose if we don't know what our purpose is. I am grateful to my college philosophy professor who told us the first day of class, "We're going to study Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, but your first assignment is to create your own philosophy." I worked on mine for a week, came up with this, and haven't changed a word since. "My purpose is to make a positive difference for as many people as possible, while maintaining a happy, healthy, lifestyle with friends and family." What's your purpose?

L = Learning. When Michelangelo was 87, he said, "Ancora imparo” which translates to “Still, I am learning”?Me too. It's why I treat myself every weekend to a reading the Sunday New York Times and watching CBS Sunday Morning. I never read that paper or watch that show without learning something that renews my faith in humankind. And it's time to learn a new skill and hobby. Perhaps taking singing lessons. Any suggestions?

O = Open. Mary said, to her, open means "laying down our resistance." At first, I didn't think I had any resistance. (And yes, I see the irony in that.) Then, I read Steven Pressfield's brilliant The War of Art. He makes the point that Resistance often shows up as procrastination, "The more important a call to action is to our soul's evolution,?the more Resistance we will feel about answering it. But to yield to Resistance deforms our spirit, stunts us, makes us less than we are and were born to be." Whew. Here's to choosing to be open to calls to action that might lead to my soul's evolution.

R = Resourceful. One of my favorite words. My sister and I each had our own horse by age 8 and 9. When we went riding, our parents wouldn't warn us of the dangers. They trusted that if something went wrong, we'd figure it out. Horse run away with you (as my never-walk-when-you-can trot Palomino often did)? Figure it out. The thing is, I've gotten lazy, especially when it comes to tech. For example, I have a printer that's been broken for months. I'm going to get resourceful and figure out how to fix it, or at least call Geek Squad and hire them to fix it, and teach me what to do if it breaks again.

E = Energy. Research shows that four out of five New Year's resolutions are about losing weight and working out. Yet only 9% of people keep their resolution over the long haul. So, I will focus on energy - which is a better barometer of physical and mental health. As Nikola Tesla said, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy.” I will pay attention to what gives energy - food, certain people and activities, social media - and then act accordingly.

Norman Vincent Peale said, “The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.”

What will you lose yourself in this year that will give you energy?

What word do you choose as your North Star?

Please share it with us?

We can jump on your clarity bandwagon and learn new ways to stay aligned with what matters so we are even more of who we want to be in 2023.