There is something about a sense of newness that seems to set free the human spirit. An opportunity to reverse momentum, start fresh, or just begin anew altogether. Yet, when it comes to New Year’s Eve, I have come across increasing amounts of individuals who’s relationship with the holiday becomes (similar to Christmas) more stress-inducing than liberating.
The reason for this is the (necessary, but) nagging desire to change. Weight loss, honoring commitments, and being better than you were the year prior are all great aspirations…but did you know that the VAST majority of New Years Resolutions fail by mid-February?
Roughly a decade ago, my mother started a tradition in our family that has been a GAMECHANGER! We can definitely move into specificities of it’s application after this first part is established, but it’s more simple than you could imagine. For 2021, you pick…one word. That’s it! Let me explain…
In order to approach this properly, I think that it is of the utmost importance to take stock/inventory on where we find ourselves vs. our ideal self. I do this during the last week of December, right after Christmas. I identify areas that I’ve done alright in as well as ones that could use vast improvement. The key is to then meditate on a one characteristic that your areas of weakness all have in common.
When I was reminiscing on my 2019 year, I was still in the first year of chiropractic college, living on my own, competing in CrossFit, working a part-time job, and trying to pour into my long-distance relationship with Becca. I recognized that I was stretched pretty thin, but for that reason had justified, “just showing up,” from time to time. After consulting the Lord in prayer, I came upon my word for 2020: TENACIOUS. Whenever I would come to a new task at literally any point during any day in the year; I would fall back on my word, thus recognizing the heart and drive that needed to come from within in order to approach the objective the way that I desired.
Now, never could I have imagined what 2020 would’ve looked like, and had I made solely external goals, I think that I would have been pretty discouraged. But, if anything, 2020 gave me even MORE opportunity to practice tenacity in the mundane activities of daily living! For example, did anyone else do a deep clean of their entire home during quarantine? I don’t think you’ve ever seen anyone scrub their floor and wash their windows so intentionally and ferociously as your boy lol. I was no longer just “getting by.”
Don’t get me wrong, I am not speaking against external goals. If you desire to lose weight, or invest into relationships, still write those things down. But, instead of merely crossing these goals off the list as the days progress, instead, focus on and CHOOSE the posture of your heart in those exact instances!
Does this sound a little overwhelming to you? How, after all, do you settle on just one word? Here are a couple ideas:
-Lacking in connectedness with family? Consider INVEST…
-You’ve desired to live a healthier lifestyle, but have yet to do so? How about COMMIT?…
-Does COVID-19 have you hesitant to go out or just feeling incredibly anxious? FEARLESS would be a great choice…
-Maybe you have bounced around from job to job and just lack staying power: Choose STAY (my 2018 word)…
-Do you find yourself looking at your phone more often than you’d like and you’re missing the truly important things around you? Here’s one: Intentional…
Now, I haven’t undergone my personal reflection time yet, but I’m definitely leaning towards PRESENT. As an incredibly goal-oriented individual who’s aspiring to get out of school ASAP, win CrossFit competitions, become a D.C., etc. to the best of my abilities…it’s easy for me to look past what is right in front of me. That’s one part of my character that I want to wage war against this next year.
Whatever word you choose, we want to hear about it! After you pick your word, you can begin to start planning out how this will apply; but I dare say that I believe that this practice alone will change your life. Having one word to fall back on alleviates so much stress for me, every year, and when the going gets tough (or merely just changes…#2020) I refer to one mindset shift, nay, one mere utterance throughout any hour of any day. So what will it be for you?
Until next time,
– Brock Baumgarn, CA, Nutrition Consultant, Health 1st Chiropractic
P.S. My mother is not the author of this idea. She merely adopted it. For more ideas and further insight, please visit: http://myoneword.org