How to Create a Word of the Year for 2023!

Resolutions are so .... 2022. Let's set an "intention" for 2023!

Where resolutions are rooted only in the dreaded results and often create more stress, an intention is set in positive words, themes and mantras. There are usually no deadlines to meet, just growth to occur over time. This allows for more compassion and less judgement. It's a better environment to learn and thrive towards your goals.

Setting an intention and choosing a word to meditate on and work towards for a year, takes a little time to cultivate. It shouldn't be chosen at random or with little forethought. I've found that taking a little time and adhering to a bit of a process can help me chose a word to challenge and guide me through the next year.

What, then, are the best steps to deciding your word for 2023?

First, slow down. This isn't a race and if you don't have word for the first few weeks, the world will not end. If you rush through, like with many things, you don't find the joy and accomplishment in the project or in the final results.

Next, create your own space to allow find your grounding and allow the creative juices to flow. This may be in the woods or at the beach. It could be reading in front of a fire

or soaking in a hot bath. Allow some time to

journal, meditate, listen to music, read, pray or journal. Move the body or perhaps sit in stillness. This is your process, so give yourself the freedom to create it however you'd like.

In this space you have time to contemplate where you are....who you are...where you want to go....who you want to become. What you want "less" and "more" of in your life. Maybe you want less drama and more peace. Maybe you want less indecisiveness and more confidence. Decide for yourself what it is for you.

Third, from this place of insight, begin to brainstorm words that you can embody ov

er the next year to get you to those goals. Find a list of personal characteristics, of feelings, or of emotions. Find inspiration from song lyrics, poems, mantras, quotes or bible verses.

Choose words that speak to you, and begin to reasearch these words. Check them out through a thesaurus or other texts. If you woud like to be "happy", maybe through research you find "cheerful" or "sparkling" to be a better fit. It is "happy", but with emotion, w

ith zing.

Next, try some of these words on and see how they fit. Is this word truly how you want to live, who you want to become, how you want to be known. Looking ahead, see how it fits into your upcoming year. In to your life over the next 12 monts. Is it too much? Is it enough?

Last, commit to the word for the year. Allow the word you choose to seep in and take hold. It may take time, but let the process over the year to grow, change you and build over time.

Don't worry about choosing the wrong word. If you have found a fit, if you have found a word that has spoken to you and gives you the boost or challenge that you need, allow it to works its way through the year. Allow your word of the year to contiue to influence

other aspects of your life if it has fulfilled its purpose where you had primarliy intended.

If you chose "confidence" for you divorce, let yourself become more confident at work or with budgeting or with decisions. If you chose "compassion", maybe for yourself, see how that word works for your interactions with your kids, your family, your ex and your c0-workers.

Work through these 5 steps to begin moving forward next year -- make it your best year, make it your most improved year, make it the year you grow and thrive. Allow an intention and word of teh year to set you on a positive course in 2023.