"but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14
I was introduced to the One Word idea in 2008, during a Joseph Company Leadership Internship. However, we used the terminology “BE Goal”. We had others in the group write one or two words about who we were. Then we prayerfully took those words and developed one word that described who we wanted to BECOME. We had to consider what other words we would want on that list and highlight one important word that we wanted to add to the list of descriptive words about us.
That first year, my word was BE Deliberate. I was in an extremely busy season of life, working a full-time job in ministry (which we know means working beyond full-time), working to homeschool my kids, developing a non-profit for single mothers, a new home-owner, not to mention just the daily events of life. I felt like I was losing sight of what was important and unless I deliberately focused on those relationships, priorities, and events that were the most important, I would end up lost in a world of chaos, poor relationships, and poor health. DELIBERATE became my lens for structuring my life and relationships. It brought focus to my year.
As we enter 2022, we are once again in the season where personal change is on our minds. The way we tend to handle our desire for change is by making resolutions - sweeping promises to never do what we’ve always done. Unfortunately, sweeping promises do not work! In fact, those big promises we make to ourselves, often represent last year’s confessions.
· I want to lose 20 pounds in 2022 = I am confessing that I gained weight during COVID
· I will become more organized = I am confessing that I am typically unorganized
It is expected that 90 million Americans make New Year’s Resolutions and that 75% of these people abandon them by February. I don’t know about you, but I do NOT like failure…and why should we set ourselves up for failure when we are trying to succeed? SO….
Instead of doing NOTHING about everything…
We can choose to do SOMETHING about one thing.
LEAVING A LEGACY
A personal legacy can be defined as “the mark an individual leaves on the world. It is about the richness of the individual's life, including what that person accomplished and the impact he or she had on people and places.” A legacy is the desire to be remembered for what you have contributed to the world.
Like it or not, others are watching. We are women of influence, LEAD-HERS. We are leaving a legacy (for good or bad). A ONE WORD Goal can help us determine what kind of legacy we leave.
ONE WORD becomes the vision we move toward.
ONE WORD determines the influence and impression we will make on others.
ONE WORD removes the obligatory list of to-dos’.
ONE WORD becomes a lens that we use to evaluate life, reactions, interactions and what we will give our time and energy to, not a promise you must keep.
ONE WORD is about becoming who I want to be.
ONE WORD allows me to determine the character traits that I want to develop or strengthen.
ONE WORD provides a tangible way to arrange life.
ONE WORD is about being TRANSFORMED.
DISCOVER your One Word
Choosing ONE WORD can be as easy as taking time to notice.
What word are you seeing or hearing…Perhaps this is the direction you are already heading.
ONE WORD can find you.
For many people, ONE WORD seems to jump out and they just know, “THIS is my word for the year.”
Crafting our ONE WORD is being more intentional about the legacy we choose to leave.
Imagine you are at the end of 2022. Write a paragraph about what others say about you.
List 6-8 words or phrases of the traits that describe this kind of person.
Write out what kind of person you want to be in present tense. Start with “I am…”
Narrow the list. From the list of characteristics, what 1-3 words would you use to describe those characteristics?
What impact will each ‘word’ have on the way you see your life?
CHOOSE the legacy you want to leave on the important people in your life. What is ONE WORD that you want to be known for at the end of 2022?
DEFINE strategies
Determine where you are NOW in the various areas of life,
(this can include: financially, relationships with family, relationships with others, living situation, emotional and spiritual well-being, health, career, etc.). Download this free Wheel of Life exercise.
Define the area you would like to experience personal growth in during 2022.
Define some practical steps to move you toward your “I AM” statement.
Add those steps to your calendar, planner, vision board.
Define how you can be accountable to developing a lifestyle of your ONE WORD.
DEVELOP a plan to move forward
ONE WORD takes commitment and discipline.
There have been years when I have faithfully chosen the One Word, then somewhere in the midst of life, I put it on the shelf and forgot about it. Those are the years that I wander aimlessly, much like the children of Israel in the desert for 40 years.
We get stuck in the same rut if we become passive with our ONE WORD.
Display – find ways to keep your ONE WORD in front of you. Write it on your bathroom mirror, use sticky notes, create a vision board, come up with a graphic. There are countless ways to keep your eyes fixed on who you are BE-coming.
Meditate/Journal – think about your word, find scripture that focuses on your word and meditate on those passages, come up with a journal prompt and write about your word and opportunities you are having throughout the week to incorporate your word
Check-In – Find an accountability partner to check in with weekly. Do a Quarterly Review (schedule it NOW), use your word as a part of your conversations, join our private Facebook group to share your ONE WORD and stories about it.
If you need help working through any of these steps, I’M HERE.
Schedule a 30-minute connect call and I’ll help you find your way through this process.