My One Word

Have you heard anyone chattering about One Word? Maybe you’ve seen it on Facebook? Here’s the idea: instead of writing a resolution for the year, you select one word and drill all the ideas behind your resolution into a single goal, a single focus. Here’s an introduction from http://www.myoneword.org:

Our resolutions seldom work because they focus on the type of person we want to become rather than who God wants us to be. Many people do not see God at work in their lives simply because they don’t know what to look for. So, what if our hopes for the year centered on who God wanted us to become instead?

It’s okay to want to be a better you—and the New Year is a natural time to start. The question is, how? My One Word replaces broken promises with a vision for real change. When you choose a single word, you have a single focus. You are moving toward the future rather than swearing off the past.

With My One Word, you’re right where God wants you: in His hands. And it’s not an extreme makeover we’re talking about. This year, the goal is to see His work in one area of your life.

Here are the steps behind the idea of choosing your word:

1. Think about what kind of person you want to become: For me, this is a bit too broad for goal setting. I normally like my goals in bite-sized chunks. But, it’s some else’s idea, so here we go.

2. Identify the characteristics of that person

3. Simply pick a word: boil down the broad concept of your ideal image of yourself into a one-word focus

So then you can go to My One Word and join and post you word, as I did. There are also links on Facebook. For me, Mrs. Kate L. Valiente, my word for 2010 is PROACTIVE. I feel like I need to write that in all caps to make it really stand out.

I’ve written many blogs and essays and journal entries about the idea of excellence in my life-a concept that’s eluded me, sadly. I’ve pursued health, expertise, and religion in various ways with the end-goal of excellence in mind. It’s a pretty high target that a person can never really hit in life but one that I’m still pursuing. One piece of the puzzle that I’m constantly lacking and bemoaning is motivation to actually get moving and reach my goals. I don’t exactly know how one manufactures motivation in his/her life but for me, I find that some days I just have to make myself get moving, whether I feel like it or not. That, in my opinion, is proactive. Proactive means heading a problem off at the pass, attacking it before it attacks you, finishing a project before the due date—in essence, it means to GET MOVING and to stay in motion. Whether I feel like it or not, whether I want a nap or a cup of coffee, even if the only think I want to do is snuggle on the couch under a blanket and read all day, PRACTIVE in my life means I just DO IT.

So that’s my one word. Published for all to see. And by “all” I mean the handful of people who read my blog J