As I reflect on the past year, I think back to all of the goals, resolutions, and ideas that were set. I also think about the twists and turns during the year and how quickly I forgot about all of those goals. I believe having a word of the year is a great way to be intentional with your goals or plans for the new year.
New year resolutions are great, but they never seem to stick. Life seems to get in the way, or so we think. The problem might be that we focus more on the end goals than the intention and process.
What is a Word of the Year
Most of us are familiar with setting new year resolutions or creating quarterly goals. But, if you’re like me, it is hard to stick to those concrete and fixed goals.
A word of the year is a single word that guides your actions throughout the year. I like this concept because when life happens and your goals change, the intention remains the same. The word of the year (the intention) will guide how you pivot and move in forwarding motion and thought. You can adapt to stay aligned with your word of the year.
Proverbs 16 talks about motives being weighed by the Lord (verse 2). How though we make plans, the Lord establishes our steps (verse 9). So, what’s the point you ask? Well, that’s simple, we are called to act with wisdom and intention. To make plans knowing that God will take control of misdirected plans. There is peace in this understanding.
Why Choose a Word of the Year
If you felt overwhelmed or like you couldn’t get to everything on your to-do list, then choosing one word (or a few) to guide you might help.
As I reflect on this past year, the first thing that comes to mind is how quickly it went by. And yet, I’m not quite sure what progress was made with personal and spiritual growth for myself, marriage, family, and homeschooling. While we experienced many big blessings (the grace of God), I don’t think I was very intentional.
My greatest amount of personal growth came from book club with two of my closest friends. This year I learned the value and importance of being intentional, grounded, and prioritizing my relationship with God. Being intentional is WHY you should choose a word of the year.
Plans Change But Intentions Remain the Same
When our plans change, as they do naturally, we have control over one thing… how we move forward. Like I mentioned previously, our intentions guide our actions no matter the changes we encounter. It’s like the scripture says, train a child in the way they should go so when they are old they will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).
If we apply this to our behavior, then when we set intentions, even when our plan shifts (because it’s not truly our plan we want, it’s God’s will our soul desires), our intentions stay the same. We do not depart from them. What do I mean by this? I’ll explain in part two.
This is part 1 of 3 in a mini-series on choosing a word of the year.
COMMENT
Do you have a word of the year? If so, share it in the comments.
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