Last January, a friend of mine posted that she was working on her Word of the Year (WOTY). When I first read this, I thought, “Oh, joy. Someone has created another pop psychology trend to sell special journals and stuff. It will take over social media for the next 30 days and then disappear overnight like a parking lot carnival.”
But, I have to admit, the idea lingered in my mind…
As I thought about it more, I realized that there was actually a theme to my goals for the year. I’ve always been a fan of New Year’s resolutions and like to use January as a time for my patients to evaluate their therapy progress and come up with revised or new goals for each new year. I started really taking to the idea of a one-word mantra that I could repeat whenever I was faced with a challenge that linked up with one of my goals for the year.
So…a few days passed, and I came up with my word for the year: Eliminate. I wanted to eliminate all sorts of things: fear, health challenges, clutter, time suckers, you name it. I started using my word and found it to be really helpful. And I’ve been doing it with patients ever since. Here’s how you do it:
- Take a look at various areas of your life: parenting, home, family, faith, work, health, love relationship, finances, friendships and so on.
- Assess areas for improvement in each category and create goals from them.
- Write down a word or short phrase that summarizes each goal.
- Funnel those words or phrases down to a theme that stands out across all or most of your goals.
- Turn that theme into an action word or adjective. Some examples include compassionate, brave, focus, assertive, confident, fearless, pursue, relax, breathe, love, change, simplify and strength.
And then I got busted…
One day, after I had announced my WOTY to my family, my daughter and I were going to pick up something that a neighbor was giving way. I had a very clear use for it in my head, and I was super excited. And then my daughter looked at me and said, “Uh, Mom, I thought your word for the year was ‘eliminate.’” Dang it! Nothing like a kid to hold you accountable!
So, my WOTY for 2020 is also eliminate…and that’s ok. I’m a work in progress! I know I made some strides in 2019, but I’ve really enjoyed the paring down, purging and eliminating of things I’ve been doing:
I’ve overcome some fears and put myself out there for some new things that have been awesome.
I’ve gotten rid of some things that had been sitting around for a while, doing nothing but collecting dust.
I’ve decreased my mindless social media time.
I’ve improved my gut health.
I’ve closed a door on one aspect of my life and opened one in another area.
“Eliminate” may be my word of the year for many years to come, actually, because it has served me well. I’m excited to see what I can get rid of in 2020! What’s your WOTY?
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