Question of the Week

What’s your word for 2023?

Hey all!

Happy first Friday of the year! I hope you had a restful and rejuvenating break. I know I did. And now, I’m ready and excited to get back down to building impactful and profitable businesses.

We’re at that time of year when we talk about goals and what we want for the upcoming year. I’ve written before about the importance of the mission, vision, and values of building a business and how focusing on daily habits will help you stick closer to your goals.

This year, I want to put those together. I’ve started a new practice of having a word for the year. This trend has also resonated with others, like Oprah or Meghan Markle. You pick a word and use that as your lens for your decisions.

So today, I’ll walk you through the process of setting your word and how specifically you use that word in helping you build your business and your life.

 

Picking Your Word

You have to start by picking a word. The word can be anything you want. But pick a word that resonates with how you want to feel and what you want to accomplish this year.

For example, my word is Home. I recently purchased a new place, and as I continue to make it my own, I realized I want it to feel comfortable, safe, peaceful, serene, and stable, especially having gone through a lot of changes in the past few years. Having that intention guides the paint color, type of furniture, and how I set up my rooms for my place.

Additionally, I want these feelings with myself, my relationships, and my business. Accordingly, I use the word and associated feelings to guide my decisions when working on myself, my relationships, and BTF. I try to make decisions and take actions (more on that below) that lead to comfort, safety, peace, and serenity.

We want the same for you and your business. When you think about the year ahead, what do you want to focus on most and why? It could be increase revenue, leading to more stability and freedom. It could be cutting down your client list to provide more control and consistency. Or it could be outsourcing administrative tasks, so you have more time and energy for yourself and your family. Whatever it is, choose a word that encompasses those feelings and desires.

 

Reflecting on your word

Now that you’ve picked your word reflect on what that means to you. Take 30 minutes or so to write down or type out why you choose that word. What feelings does that word evoke? Why is that word important to you right now? What difference do you suppose those changes will make, and why would that be important to you? What would success look like a year from now?

Here is a piece of my reflections: “My new Home is a work in progress. And when building a home from the bare bones, I need to understand that change takes time. Some things I will have to test out. Some things I’ll like right away. Some things I’ll need to send back. Either way, each step gets me closer to the Home I want and will enjoy.”

Let your mind wander. The nice thing about having these thoughts written down is that you can always come back, edit and adjust. This reflection is a starting point to help you put those words into action.

 

Putting your word into action

Lastly, we want to create some action steps. Awareness and intention can only get you so far. So, what specific steps can you take to help bring those feelings and actions to fruition?

I separated each category I wanted to create the feeling of Home: my place, myself, my relationships, and my business. Then under each category, I listed specific actions I could take to create Home.

Some action steps from my business list include the following:

• “Prune the garden” – focus on what I do well and delegate what I don’t
• Write more
• Keep up with compliance (declutter and clean)

And once you have some action steps, think of specific tasks that will help you achieve those steps:

• Create a list of things I do well and like doing, things I do well and don’t like doing, something I don’t do well and like doing, and things I don’t do well and don’t like doing.
• Create a content calendar
• Send a monthly email to my compliance person with what I accomplished

Again, the list doesn’t need to be perfect or complete. Just give yourself something to start with and come back to when you feel stuck and need direction. If you need more guidance on creating habits in the new year, check out this series I did in 2020.

Focusing on intention, motivation, and specific actions will help you stick to your goals this year rather than leave them by the wayside come February.

One last tip is to focus on one day at a time. What specific actions can you take today to help you achieve your goal? You don’t need to do it every day, for the next week or month. What can you do today to help you get closer?

 

Quote of the Week

“You create a good future by creating a good present.” — Eckhart Tolle

 

Task of the Week

Get started creating your word for 2023, reflecting on its importance to you, and creating some action steps to accomplish what you want. I’d love to hear what you come up with! Send me a note on the links below.