Choose your words wisely
What is your word of the year?
The idea with “the word of the year” is to find a word that will serve as a mantra for you throughout the year. It is not a goal, more a guiding pillar. Who do you want to be this year, what behaviour or personality trait do you want to foster, how do you want to feel? This word can be present in everything you do, how you prioritise, what you say yes to, what you say no to, how you take care of yourself and others, and so on.
This idea is often applied on a personal level, but I think it makes sense to apply the method in a business as well. It will not replace your business values or strategy of any sort, but rather, it can support those.
To come up with your word of the year it helps to reflect on how your previous year has been. Use the questions below to get started. If you prefer, You can listen as I guide you through this process on the Insight timer.
What was good? Why?
What was less good? Why?
What did you want to do more of but didn’t? (Why?).
Was it a behaviour that stopped you?
What does your business needs right now?
Now that you have started the reflection, you probably have a clue of what you don’t want your year to be like. The next step could be to create a word dump. Jot down all the words and/or phrases you can come up with that represents your thinking and desires.
The hardest part will be to pick one word. To easier narrow it down you can start by attaching prioritised numbers beside the words.
Once you have decided on a word, look up its synonyms and opposites. Synonyms will serve as a support to your word and yourself, and the opposites are the absolutely no goes.
Words mean different things to different people so it's important that you define your word and what it means to you. You can write a short background story on why you picked this word. That will help you feel the connection and tie actions to it as well.
Finalise by writing down the word on a paper, as well as the definition. Some people prefer to make a sentence with the word. Add the synonyms and the opposites for some extra power. Make it as pretty as you feel, but the most important thing is that you keep this word close to you so it can serve as a reminder throughout the year.