Hi friends! I hope your 2017 is off to a great start.
This post is coming a lot later than I intended, but if you’ve been following me on social media then you know I spent the first couple weeks of 2017 sick, sick, sick. I picked up a nasty cold virus that even my essential oils couldn’t combat! I finally caved and went to my doctor for antibiotics, and even still, it took a REALLY LONG TIME to kick that bug. But I’m finally feeling better and I’m back in action, trying to catch up from spending a full week stuck in bed.
For the last few years, I’ve picked a Word of the Year which gives me a bit of direction and purpose as I plan out the year ahead. This is something a lot of bloggers and entrepreneurs do; I’ve listened to a ton of podcasts with people sharing their word over the last couple months. At the start of each year (or at the tail end of the previous year), you assess where you are at with your business, your goals, your life, etc., and what you want to accomplish during the following year. Maybe there is something you felt was missing in the previous year that you want more of, or maybe it’s a feeling you want to achieve, or a goal you finally want to reach. Setting a word to focus on, and come back to throughout the year, is especially important when you don’t have a boss telling you what needs to get done! The word helps keep you on track towards your ultimate goal, whatever it may be.
My word, or rather phrase, for 2014 was Letting It Go. I was newly laid off from my job, adjusting to life as a full time blogger, adjusting to being self employed and being my own boss. I had to let go of all my pre-conceived notations of what it mean to work for a living. For the first time, I was accountable only to me – which sounds awesome, I know. But it comes with a lot of emotions, confusion, and hardships.
My word for 2015 was focus. During my “experimental” year of 2014, I made a lot of mistakes and spread my attention and efforts over too many projects. It was a tough lesson to learn (one I am still learning) and in 2015 I scaled back while still adjusting to the normal curve balls life can throw at you sometime.
My word for 2016 was simplify. I felt overwhelmed with all of my blogs and all of the clutter in my life. I looked around at all my responsibilities and all of my “stuff” and I longed for a simpler routine and lifestyle. At the top of 2016 I combined all my blogs (2 active blogs and 2 archived blogs) into one site – This Fairy Tale Life. This one decision and action made my life SO MUCH EASIER. I also really started to focus on the type of content you guys want to see, and having this always top-of-mind made deciding what to write about and what to share on Instagram so much simpler.
It actually took me a long time to settle on a word for this year. I’ve been feeling a little lost lately and I’m struggling with growing my business. And I’ve just been depressed in general the last couple of months. During my nightly journaling I found the same themes coming up over and over again, which is basically that I feel like I’ve lost control of my life. Aside from the national troubles a lot of us are feeling right now, I’ve had some personal and mental struggles I’ve been quietly battling recently. The bottom line is, I just kind of hated the way I was feeling all the time, which was helpless and weak.
After all this soul searching I chose POWERFUL for my 2017 word of the year. I went through a couple versions of this …. power, empowered, etc. But powerful seemed to best encompass how I want to feel in 2017.
What does powerful mean to me, exactly?
– I want to reclaim my mind and body. I want to feel good about myself all the time.
– I want to stop losing myself in the endless stream of social media.
– I want to put all my energy into, and feel proud of, the businesses I’ve created.
– I want to go to bed with a feeling of accomplishment for the day.
– I want to wake up with a plan and a sense of purpose.
– I want to stop beating myself up for things (and people’s actions/behavior) I can’t control.
– I want to take action when I see injustice (and not just posting about it on Facebook).
– I want to help others live their best lives. I want to set a good example.
– I want to stop denigrating how I look/sound on Livestreams and Snapchat.
Towards the end of last year, I took a lot of action to help myself feel more powerful. I started physical therapy to heal my running injuries (with great success). I started going to counseling again to get my thoughts sorted out. I jumped back into daily meditation and my nightly gratitude journal. I unfriended a lot of people on Facebook (not election related and not because of anything they did – I just needed less clutter in my feed). I’m saying “no” to things and people who make me feel bad. I’m already feeling better about everything and I’m hoping this energy will continue throughout the year if I can just focus on feeling more powerful and in control.
I’m hoping this focus word will guide me through a uncertain year, and help get me on track to a more positive and happy life.
