I love new starts. Whether it’s a new day, new week, new month, or new year, there is something refreshing and encouraging about a new start. Now, give me a new year, that starts on a Sunday? *swoon*
The last year or so, I have preferred to decide on a word for the year rather than a resolution. I took some time the last week or so to put to paper the goals and hopes for the new year, and the tried to narrow down to a word that encompasses all of it. I could not get it done to one word, but rather ended up with four!
Intentional. This is the word that if I had to take it down to one, this would be it. Steve and I have both tossed this one around in conversation leading up to the new year. I want to be intentional with my time. I want to spend it focusing on relationships with people I love. I want to have quality rest when it’s time to rest. I have a bad habit of always needing to be doing something. I’m realizing that I need to fishies our how to truly rest. I want to end my days feeling like I spent my time well, whether that means I accomplished my to list and more or spent it playing all day with my son.
Margin. This is a big one for me. I find myself packing my to do list to the brim and not leaving any room for error. This just makes things way more stressful than they need to be. I want to give myself grace. I want to underpromise and over deliver.
Offense. This one is one I am stealing from @katiemartinstudios on Instagram. I want to be proactive versus reactive. I want to have a plan, which by nature will help me with being intentional and for creating margin in my days.
Reliable. This one took me a while to figure out how I wanted to encompass the goals that I had; it may not make sense to you reading this, but it works for me. I am a procrastinator and avoider by nature. I want to get better about facing what I need to when I need to. I need to “eat the frog” and move on. I want to feel like I can rely on myself and not let myself down.
Another practice that I did as a put my thoughts to paper was to write down what worked in 2018 and what didn’t. It was helpful to have the negative list to reference when planning what I wanted 2019 look like. I reflected on 2018 and made lists of highlights and things I was proud of from the year. I highly recommend taking some time if you have not already to take a pen and paper and physically write this stuff down. Its wonderful to look back and remember and turn around and look forward to all that 2019 will being.
One last thing that has me so excited! I am following the Simplicity Challenge from Emily Ley. It starts today, and gives you a simple and quick task to follow each day in January. You can follow it along both on Facebook and Instagram. If you are like me and want to see the whole plan at once, you can sign up for Emily’s email list and you will get the list in its entirety in your email in seconds!
Do you have a word or resolution for 2019? I would love to hear what it is in the comments below!
