My One Word New Year’s Theme for 2017

Happy New Year! Don’t you love the opportunity to start fresh? It’s a chance to put the past behind you and move forward with new goals, envision new levels of accomplishment and maybe eliminate some habits that have held you back. I’ve always loved setting goals for the year. And I typically have a laundry list of things I want to accomplish in the upcoming year. After all, I have 12 months – 52 weeks – 365 days to make changes, grow, learn, accomplish! But boy, does the year go fast! I typically do achieve several of my goals, but there are many that seem to keep getting carried over year after year. In 2014 I adopted a New Year’s practice that continues to make a huge difference for me each year – I Get One Word. The premise is that New Year’s resolutions don’t last. They fade quickly due to a combination of having to compete for your focus against all of the other resolutions and insufficient persistence to keep them all in existence. One by one, they’re forgotten … until next year. But having one word makes it easy to remember and easier to tackle. I’ve found that, even though it’s just one word, it typically has a significant impact on multiple areas of my life. Of course, it helps if it’s a word that God guides you to through prayer and reading Scripture. My word for 2016 was Strength – and I learned that I really need to lean on God for true strength and power to achieve anything worthwhile. When I felt weak or didn’t think I had the strength to do what I had to do, I leaned on God and He carried me through. It was especially impactful because I went back to school – a very big goal I had put off for far too long. I really needed God for those days when coming home from work was followed by a quick dinner, and then hours of reading and discussion posts. This year, my word is Discipline. The scripture I chose to support this word is Philippians 3:13-14: “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” As I prayed about my one word and looked back over the past year, discipline was the one thing that stood out. I believe it will help me grow and accomplish more meaningful goals this year. Discipline for me covers my health (being sure to get enough sleep and exercise), my finances (sticking to a budget), my priorities (maximizing my time on what’s important and avoiding distractions) and my relationships (making time to invest in the most important relationships in my life). Oh, I have a long list of goals and plans I want to accomplish in 2017. And I’m excited that this one word focus will support my efforts. I invite you to try it out for yourself. Pray about it. Get one word that resonates with where you are and where you want to go. Then post it where you can see it. Tell your close friends about it. Pray about it and read scriptures that help you go deeper based on your word. Then watch and see what a difference it can make in your life.