Progress!

Progress, that's my word for 2019. Every year I choose one word to inspire my year. I put it at the top of my Google task list so I see it everyday. I use it to guide what I'm doing everyday, it informs my decisions and shapes my day to day experience. 

I've lost track of how long I've being choosing a word but it may have started soon after I stopped working full time for other people. Some years the word is a reaction to the previous year's word. The year after Productivity was the year of Fun. A little self correction was happening that year!

It usually takes part of the month of December to choose my word. I add it to my task list with the current word and then try it out. I see where it takes my thinking and mull it over for a while since I'm committing to it for a year and I want to be sure I'll have room to grow with the word.

Last year's word was Enough. The words often shift slightly in focus during the year. Enough was originally about gratitude for everything I have, but as the year developed it added a second component which helped me to be a little easier on myself and the high standards I set. It morphed from about being about things and experiences to being kinder about my self.

This quote was what pushed me to rethink the interpretation.

 “Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better.” From the Letters of Flannery O'Connor

Give it a try, one word and the focus it provides can make some interesting shifts in your life.