I meant to sit down and write a personal update about how much everything has changed in my life lately, because I miss sharing those posts on this blog. But when it started to go a different direction, the writer voice inside my head couldn’t stand for spewing words into a document without asking, “What is the purpose? What’s the theme of this piece?”
Considering what I’ve been practicing this year, I’m proud of that little voice for asking just the right question.
Find Your Word
Have you ever chosen a word for your year? It’s a goal-orienting practice, similar to resolutions, only I’m convinced this one actually works. The idea is to choose a word that sums up all your goals, or your direction, for the year (or whatever time frame you’d like it to be). You can choose it at any time, but it fits nicely into the category of other year-beginning practices of reflection, goal-setting, and mindfulness that take place for many people around the New Year.
I first chose a word for the year on New Year’s Eve 2016, because at that moment in my life, I was desperate for anything that would help me move forward in a positive direction. My heart sinks at the thought that if I had a word for 2016, it would probably have been “Survive.” If I had a word for 2015, it would have been “Let Go.”
I’m so glad those years are over.
For 2017, I chose “Ramp Up.” These words come to me almost immediately. It seems that we already know what our current word should be. We just need to ask ourselves, and listen.
Tip: When you find your word, put it somewhere you’ll see it everyday. I don’t have a bathroom mirror, but I do have a laptop desktop background, so each year I create a new background with a beautiful image and my word, big and bold in the middle, to remind me what I’m striving for.
The Realignment
In 2017, I wanted to make moves to put my life back on a respectable track (by my own definition). I had been through quite a lot, and while the time I spent on myself was absolutely essential to my well-being, I was more than ready to focus on something other than my roller coaster of emotions. I decided to redirect that energy into my work.
I had let go, I had survived, and I was finally ready to ramp things up in every arena of my life. So, that’s what I did.
I wrote about my efforts last year as I was testing out living in Colorado: I created an online course, organized my second group trip to Patagonia, redesigned the BMT website, participated in masterminds, and realigned actions with priorities in my personal life as well, like eventually moving back to Montana, among other things.
I needed realignment, I needed to have higher energy, I needed to make more money, and I knew the rewards would come only if I made moves to set myself up for success.
Ramp up.
When I left the US again in the fall of 2017 for my third round of multi-month nomadism, I felt like a new person. I was a new person. I had left Old behind and was purposefully creating stepping stones for New that lay ahead. New that I wanted so badly. I was no longer aimless.
Damn, that felt good. As if everything I had been working for suddenly came to fruition and a switch had been flipped overnight.
That’s also when I knew what my word for 2018 would be: Design.
Living By Design
I have read Essentialism probably 27 times, and every time, something new stands out to me. Last summer, this new treasure was, “Make your decisions by design, not default.” It goes hand in hand with another Essentialism gem, “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”
This is my moment of re-creation. This is the life I am building. I worked hard for this chance to rebuild. What do I want this new life to look like? Do I want this or that habit, do I want this or that person, do I need this or that project on my plate? Yes, no, yes, no. #declutter
I knew the next steps on my path needed to be created by design, with purpose, not just thrown loosely in front of me because someone else dangled something shiny within my reach. I had been floundering for a couple of years, and I needed purpose. Those default decisions, even the positive ones, always left me grasping for meaning and direction.
I needed authentic design that came from no one else but me.
In 2018, this authentic design has looked like: kicking off the New Year in Patagonia, leading my first women’s retreat in Ecuador (magic. the highlight of my year), spending a month in France to learn French (on my bucket list for decades), becoming a brand ambassador for a company that has beautifully broadened my horizons, organizing and leading a bucket list group trip to Jordan, buying a new car, establishing more of a home base for myself, getting a new “backpack” with wheels, saying yes to people and opportunities that align with my goals, among other things. And my year is far from over.
I can’t even begin to express how different 2018 feels compared to previous years. I have finally found the lightness and peace I so deeply craved while I wandered a little too aimlessly around the world. I often think back to December of 2015 in that airy Italian apartment, when I first got vulnerable with you guys. I’m so beyond grateful to recognize how far I’ve come since then.
(You were all right with your comments, by the way. Even if it gets worse first, it does, eventually, get better.)
The Climb Continues
I have made immeasurable changes in my life in the past three years, but I’m not even close to finished, or off the hook. Once you take a leap, you never stop climbing. It continues to be up to me to carry myself forward, to design what my life should look like everyday.
What I know is that I want my decisions, my steps forward, my relationships, even my blog posts, to exist by purposeful, authentic design, not by default. I also already know what my word for 2019 will be, because I’ve paid attention to what isn’t working for me this year as much as what is working.
My next word will be “Balance,” which segues quite nicely into that update I didn’t write today.
Apparently this piece needed to come out first, and I sense several more themes awaiting fingers to keyboard as well. In the meantime, I’ll take this opportunity to thank those of you reading this for sticking with me through my changes, especially if you were there through the Dark in 2015 and 16. It takes a village, and I’m grateful for mine.
There are many beautiful things I am designing on the horizon… so about that update…
Do Something Now:
Have you ever chosen a word for your year? If you would be bold, share with me in the comments what that has looked like for you. If not, what would it be?
