A careless word may kindle strife,
A cruel word may wreck a life,A bitter word may hate instill,
A brutal word may smite and kill,A gracious word may smooth the way,
A joyous word may light the day,A timely word may lessen stress,
A loving word may heal and bless.
~ T. J. Bach
Hey, Lovelies!
Can you feel the opportunity and potential transformation that 2023 brings?
One of my favourite things to do for the new year is to choose my guiding word for the year ahead – a word that will help me focus, and make the most of 2023’s energy.
Why a guiding word?
I long ago gave away the practice of multiple New Years Resolutions. Just the thought of it is overwhelming. You know; all the things you are going to do, all the things you are no longer going to do – and then dividing those up into areas for finances, family, health, spirituality, matters of the heart, interests and hobbies, professional and personal development, global domination and so on.
For the past few years I’ve gone with a far simpler system. I’ve narrowed my resolutions down to one word. My guiding word for the year.
Every time I think of that word I will be reminded of my intentions for 2023. I can hold that word up and use it to evaluate my thoughts and my actions, so that I can determine if I am moving towards or away from the energy of this word, this quality I want more of in my life.
For 2023 my power word is SPACE. I love the many possibilities that the word conjures in my imagination – space in my life for me, space for quiet, space for writing and art and not having a crammed schedule, space on my plate, space in how my clothes fit, space in my overcrowded brain, and mindful awareness of my ‘space’ so that my space is supportive, nurturing and uplifting.
I’m thrilled with my guiding word. I know it’s going to help keep me focused and on track this year.
Now let’s work out what your word is.
JOURNAL ACTIVITY:
Finding your guiding word for 2023 is simply a matter of exploring what’s important to you. Is there a recurrent theme in your life you’d like to put more attention to, an area you’d like to shine in, or a dream that never gets air time? Or is it an energy, a philosophy, a verb that calls you to action?
Use the following questions to help you arrive at your own Guiding Word or Guiding Phrase ( a Guiding Phrase has more than one word!)
- What’s the one key area of your life, that if you put purpose, passion and action to, would move you to a better place by the year’s end? Only choose one area. If you actually make all the change and improvement you need before the year is finished you can give yourself a well-deserved break, or choose another word!
- What’s an energy or philosophy that inspires and motivates you?
- If you had this change or this energy in your life, what would your life look like?
- Write a list of positive words and phrases that embody for you the quality, activities, knowledge and actions of this key area.
- Choose one simple word or phrase that sums up this energy for you.
Once you have your Guiding Word, commit it to memory. Write it in your planner. Place it on post-it-notes around your house, make it your screen saver – in short immerse yourself in this word, and the meaning of this word for you.
Let this one word remind you about what’s important to you this coming year. Let this one word help you define and transform your life!
PS. Have you grabbed a copy of my 2023 Planner yet? I now have the first Quarter of 2023 (January, February and March) and the Foundations part of the Journeymaker’s Planner available as a digital download and editable PDF for just $7USD.
You can get that here in my ETSY store.
The full Planner in digital download is here. You can print it off at home, but it’s also completely editable as a PDF on your favourite device so you can write straight onto the screen!
Want a physical copy of the Planner? You can get that at your local Amazon site as a print-on-demand book. Just put this in the search bar: Journeymakers Planner 2023 by Nicole Cody.
If you can’t find it at your local site then use Amazon USA but try local first!
Aligned. That’s the word to guide me to a better place this year🙏💪🏼✨
My word is de-clutter. Not just things, but negative thoughts, habits that are not benefitting anyone, especially me, and toxic anything. That leads to your word space.
If I had a word it would be compassion
Kimberly Bell!!!!!….That’s my word, too!!!!! FLOW. All of the above reasons and to keep my crown open and flowing with energy. I am also writing down phrases and quotes with the word in them.
Oh I like that idea!!
Hi Nicole, my guiding word for 2023 is DELIGHT
Delight in life, in the world around me, in the day to day, in the little things, and delight in me. 🌻
Hi Nicole. My guide word is FLOW. It reminds me to go with the flow of events outside of my control, be open to the flow of information from the universe and my intuition, find more opportunities to access activities that out me in a state of flow, move my body so that it is lithe, flexible and healthy and finally to not let myself get boxed in by bad habits, unhelpful thought patterns and unproductive situations and people. I’m pretty thrilled with my word too 😻