You can achieve what you want, with just one word

These stacks of wool are waiting to be made into a rug. It’s one of two major projects I want to accomplish this year. So my word for 2015 is Create! As you can see, Oliver is ready for me to start so he can play in the stands of wool. (I think his one word is Play, which is cool for him!)

Everyone is talking about setting goals for 2015. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s always smart to know what you want to do, otherwise, it’s unlikely that you’re going to make much progress.

Yet, we know that most New Year’s Resolutions are never realized. Life seems to get in the way and somehow, despite our best intentions, we push aside the important things. Randy Conley wrote a great blog post on this topic called “Ditch the New Year’s Resolution and Do This One Thing Instead.” His message stemmed from a workshop he attended with Jon Gordon, based on a book Gordon co-authored with Dan Britton and Jimmy Page called “One Word.” The idea is to come up with one word — yes, just one word — that will capture the essence of what you want your year to be about.

I found this concept to be very exciting. I like things simple and easy. And if I could come up with one word that boiled everything down to what I wanted to do, well, it seems to me that would be a straight-forward method to getting things done! So I decided to come up with a word for myself. Over the course of about 24 hours, I spent some time going through mental lists of things that were important to me for 2015. I wrote a few things down, but mostly these notions were running around in my head. I used a thesaurus in case it reminded me or nudged me to things I hadn’t considered. It was a fun exercise: I found it be reflective, but also inspiring and energizing.

I kept coming back to the word create.

There are several reasons why this one word system is compelling for me and why I chose that particular word, ‘create.’ For one thing, it’s clear what my priority is, allowing me to stay true to what I want, reducing distractions that take me off-course. It’s action-oriented, and makes me think of accomplishments. It makes me think of being creative, which I want to do more of. There are two major projects that I want to achieve this year, one professionally and one personally. Both have a creative aspect, both are tangible. I’ll be able to see and hold these creative products one day, which is motivating to me. I figure that my one word is a built-in (and easy to tap into) buddy-system, which can help me be accountable to my desires and avoid the failure of unfinished New Year’s resolutions. Now, in any moment on any day, I can ask myself, “Are you creating what you want?” My answer will help drive me to the place I want to be.

One of my projects is shown in the picture. And I’ll definitely be sharing with you the other project in the coming weeks, too. But that’s for another day. Stick around this year and see what I create!

Would you like to make goal-setting easier? And more effective? Try this for yourself and for those you manage. What word will you choose? 

Be sure to tell us all about it here. And don’t hesitate to help me stay on track this year. Chime and ask me about what I’m creating. I would love to have partners in my journey!

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