What’s Your Word for 2020?

I had such a great time leading a workshop recently for the members of my book club helping them craft their vision for 2020. It was empowering for us to spend this time together focusing on what’s important.

We discussed the big differences between the more traditional style of “making a resolution” versus the recent philosophy of intentions. Simply put, resolutions are fixed absolutes, somewhat inflexible demands we put on ourselves to commit to a change in our behavior. It’s the goal we want to achieve but does not outline the steps to get there.  Here is an article on the “Top Five Resolutions” and I have made all of them over the years.  Did you know 80% of us will fail at the follow-through of our resolution by mid-February?  This is due largely to our lack of self-discipline (link here for a great article).  A resolution doesn’t focus on “the why.”

In contrast, an intention is “the why.”  It’s the steps we need to take to reach our goal.  Intentions can be adjusted and are more forgiving and allow us to stay on course even while changing direction.  Here’s an article on how to take those top five resolutions and change them into intentions.

Ready to find your word?  Still need more ideas?  Here’s a link to brainstorm ideas for your Word for 2020.  My word for 2019 was #movetobloom and in 2018 it was #celebrateeveryday – which turned into my mantra for my blog that I still use today. For 2020 I chose “Nourish”. I am focusing on three key areas in my life – Body, Mind and Soul and how I can practice nourishing each of these.

At the end of the workshop, we created our own My Intent bracelets stamping by-hand the word we chose. Each woman selected something different and unique to the season of their life – Bloom, Create, Worthy, Courage, Grace, Balance, Forward, Trust, Bold, Strength, Present, Be Still, Connect, Boundary, and Simplify.

Finding your WORD is a simple, fun, and empowering exercise.
In a world inundated with distractions, it’s powerful to have a daily reminder of what you want to actively focus on, or manifest, every day. The WORD you choose will evolve over time, it’s what you want to remind yourself for this chapter of your life, it may be a few weeks or months.

To cap the day off, we shared our takeaways from our January book club selection – The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates.  Here’s an article outlining “Seven Lessons” from Gates’s first book in which she discusses the complexities of feminism and the phenomenon that communities can only flourish when women are lifted alongside men. It’s an enlightening book and made me realize I have formed prejudices that I need to reframe.  I highly recommend all women (and men, for that matter) read this book.

For 2020, forget setting a resolution. Instead, ring in the New Year with an intention. This slight change to how you set your goal can actually improve your success in achieving whatever it is that you desire.