As I vow to increase my level of commitment to what matters most to me, I made sure to choose my top 5 priorities to set myself up for success and avoid overwhelm:

 

1. My faith ~ my covenants with my Lord and Savior
2. Myself ~ my pledge to nurture my own needs
3. My marriage ~ my vows to be a faithful, loving, and supportive partner
4. My children ~ my responsibility to teach, protect, and nurture my children
5. My calling ~ my sacred duty to bless others with my God-given gifts

Yes, I realize these are ambitious aspirations. I believe in thinking, dreaming, and living big, yet I also believe in grace. I know I won’t have a perfect score at any of this and that’s why I decided in advance that it is okay to scrape my knees in the process. It’s the getting back up and forgiving myself that matters… and that, in fact, it may just be the best part of the plan!

If you want to choose a word of the year, you can:

1. Examine your core values to get clear on what is truly and deeply most important to you. A quick to get an idea of your values is to think of what you admire in others, what you wish to become, or what you wish on the people you love. 
2. Pray, meditate, and ponder which word on the list aligns with what God intends for you this year. You’ll just know ~ don’t second guess your intuition, even when your word may not “sound like you” or be so obvious. Honestly, the word chooses you more than you choose the word.
3. Define exactly what your word of the year means to you in the current season of life you’re in and for each area of the life you are designing. You don’t want to choose someone else’s word or one that was suggested to you, and you get to choose what your word means to you, too, on your own terms.

Declare how you will apply it to your life experience. In my case, I’m declaring that I’ll will be fully committed in all areas of my life.

Some of the words my mom mentees have chosen this year are: trust, fearless, rise, present, compassion, brave, expand, conquer, relief, freedom, simplify, nourish, listen, impact, empowered, joy, progress, vigilant, supported, prosper, love, peace, patience, confident, consistency, influence, delight, release, build, energy, liberation, bold, transcend, thrive, calm, goals, heard, enough, action, discipline, surrender, tenfold, vulnerability, momentum, order, legacy, balance, learn, motivated, purpose, transformation, time, circle, abundance, connected, grace, positivity, hope, intentional, soar, do, vibrant, mindfulness, focus, ponder, determined, do, worth, grit, illuminate, endure, seen, fierce, clarity, breathe, surrender, authenticity, execute, drive, growth, believe, grateful, nurture, explore, be… 

You may notice that some of these are nouns, some are adjectives or quality words, while some of these are action words (verbs), and some are in past tense. There is no set rule for what your word will look like, as long as it feels right to you and it is a high frequency word that invites positive vibration. Here are some examples on applying these in real life choices:

• Asking “Will I feel supported if I go in this direction?” 
• Reflecting “How can I be more intentional in my conversations today?”
• Repeating a personal mantra “Choose to believe!” 
• Deciding “this is contributing to my growth.”
• Adopting the identity of the word “I am worth it”

Your one word or word of the year will guide, focus, and anchor your thoughts and influence your choices. It will help you become the mom, woman, and being God created you to be, and therefore, this alignment with your purpose will bring you fulfillment.

I always choose a verse from the Scriptures that adds clarity to my word of the year. Some people prefer to reverse the process. Do what works for you!

This year, my verse is Psalm 37:5:

“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.” ~ KJV

I just love how one simple word and one short verse can give you access to so much direction for each of my steps toward the life I want.

Make sure you find a way to have reminders of what your word is, whether it is a visual print out or a daily phone reminder. You may also share it with the people in your life who support the path you’re on, so they can provide accountability.