With January behind us, I’ve been thinking about how my start to this new year has gone so far. I didn’t make any New Year's resolutions. I stopped making them a long time ago. They felt more like a burden than a motivating force. Instead, this year I chose one word that resonated with me and would guide my actions throughout the year. That word is Consistent.
Although new to me, a quick online search shows that choosing a guiding word, sometimes referred to as a power word, is not a new concept. Many people do this in favour of making a New Year's resolution. And considering most of us fail to stick to our resolutions, a power word might be the way forward. Choosing a power word is about focusing on your aspiration for the year. For me, I aspire to be more consistent. This relates to areas of my life such as work habits, healthy living, parenting and keeping in touch with people. Less emphasis is placed on specific goals or a to-do list. Alternatively, the focus is on the attitude I bring to the goals I have. A power word allows for flexibility. When life changes things up, your goals might need to change too, but the attitude you bring can remain the same.
I took a few extra steps to make sure the word Consistent would be at the forefront of my mind on a daily basis. I setup an alert on my phone to remind me at the same time each day of my power word and I’ve set my power word on my desktop so I can see it each time I use my laptop. These reminders help me to frequently ask the question “Am I acting inline with my power word?” This practice has allowed me to be more mindful of my actions rather than operating on auto pilot.
After one month I can already see how focusing on one word as my guide is a more positive approach to achieving my goals than setting resolutions. It’s about creating a mindset shift.
Although January has come and gone it’s not too late to start thinking about your own power word to help guide you throughout the year.
So what will yours be?
By Rachel Barac