It’s that time of year again. We’re all begrudging our shortcomings and resolving to change the world, or just our pant size, in the next 12 months. The lists are long, but the plans to achieve them are astonishingly short. Many of us spend more time creating the list than planning how to achieve those life-altering lines. As a result, we lose focus faster than a tequila shot. What if we focus on the how and not the what? What if we narrow it down? What if we resolve to truly make a change and not just participate in the chant?
In early 2010, I stumbled across a movement that truly changed the game for me. It is a phenomenon known as My One Word. Forget the numbered list. For an entire year, you simply focus on one word. One little action verb that drives your life for the next 365 days. How refreshing is that?! For 2010, I chose the word “listen”. There is so much chatter in and around my head. It’s deafening. So, I chose to shut my yapper. I listened to God. To other people. My children. My husband. Myself. I didn’t always do it well…or at all. But, at the end of the day or week or month I was able to refocus and ask myself if I had been listening. No long list. Just one thing. What I learned is that by listening I discovered a lot. About God. About other people. About my children. About my husband. About myself.
For 2011, my focus word is “thankful”. I caught myself numerous times last year wishing for the "if onlys" and forgetting to be thankful for the "alreadys". We are all incredibly selfish, and I hope by focusing on the many blessings in my life I'll be a little less so. And maybe I’ll discover some things I would’ve missed if I’d been worried about going to the gym and being punctual and eating better…and…and.
What will you choose for 2011? Run the rat race that so few win? Or focus on the simplicity of it all and choose just one word? Please share with me your chosen word either here on the blog or on my Facebook page. Happy 2011.
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