Why Choose a Word for The Year
Do you have a word that you choose to embody the year you want to have?
This is something I’ve adopted over the last few years. Around halfway through 2018 I adopted the phrase “say yes, be brave” (read more here) and carried this through 2019. It wasn’t until December 2018 I came across the concept of a word or mantra for the year in Mel Wells Self Love Advent Challenge. Adopting that phrase as a mantra really worked for me. It would pop into my head when presented with opportunities and helped transform my default answer from ”no” to “yes”. During 2018/19 I did things and took part in things I never thought I would and this has carried on this year – if in a slightly different way due to the obvious restrictions we have been living under.
Last year I chose “surrender and trust”! Never did I think that attitude would be needed in quite the way it was last year – I like to try and claim my intuition was just on point😂
Choosing my words for 2021
So we come to my word(s) of the year for 2021.
I’ll admit I have struggled to narrow it down to 1 – the words that I played with were growth, expansion, abundance and flow and I have shared all four, but I wanted something more succinct.
What came to mind was an image of a tree overflowing with fruit – to me that represents growth and abundance. A tree doesn’t “hustle” to grow the fruit it is a natural way of producing – it is in flow so I have settled on “grow in flow” as my phrase for the year.
Grow and flow epitomises the way I want my life to be – on a personal and business level. Personally, I want to continue to grow – to learn, to expand my knowledge – to grow my connexions and for this to feel easeful and in flow. As a business owner I want the growth for myself and for my clients. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing the progress and growth my clients achieve through their coaching series and my desire is that they grow, yes by taking action, but in an easeful and flow state way. I’m not for the hustle and grind.
Having a word of the year helps to define what we want to focus on for the coming year. Just because I turned 50 last year doesn’t mean I no longer want to grow or learn. In fact, I often feel like I’ve just got started. Reaching the time of life where there is more space for me feels expansive in itself. Thinking of the tree, currently the tree is bare but soon the leaves will start appearing, it will spring forth with blossom leading to an abundant harvest. So much of the growth happens out of sight and beneath the surface much like when we are working on things ourselves.
The other miraculous thing about trees is the fact they come back to life even after the harshest winters. After the tumultuous year of 2020 (and yes I realise it is ongoing) I feel spring is coming - a time of growth and new life.
“Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force.”
— LAO TZU
We often don’t appreciate how much we’ve grown, developed or progressed until we look back and can see the fruit (see what I did there? 😂) of the work we’ve put in.