Tuesday 5 January 2021

Bearings


Bearings - Def. To find out where one is or to find out what one should do next.

On the 1st of January 2018, I didn't write out my usual list of resolutions. That year I decided to have a one-word theme instead. The end of 2017 had been difficult for me and my family so I decided to go easy on myself when New Year's Day rolled around. This was not a year for writing out long lists of improvements. Things like 'I will eat fish at least three times a week' or 'Vegetables will take up a third of my plate' just didn't seem appropriate.

On the morning of the 15th of January 2018, I tweeted my word along with the Collins dictionary definition. I chose Optimism. 

Optimism - is the feeling of being hopeful about the future or about the success of something in particular. 

I had something in particular in mind when I tweeted that word, but what happened that night changed my year, my word, and my life completely.

On the 27th of January, I tweeted my new word - Resilience. The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. The rest of my year was spent focusing on that.

I'm a long-standing listener of the Happier podcast by Gretchen Rubin. This was where I got the inspiration for my one-word theme. She explains choosing a word for the year by saying "identifying one idea, summed up in one word, as an over arching theme for the entire year". Your word can be anything. This year for 2021, her word is open. Her sister Liz, who joins her on her podcast every week chose butterfly.

This is my fourth year having a one-word theme. I plan to always have one alongside an annual plan (resolutions have never worked for me, I need goals instead).

Last year my word was growth, an unfortunate choice in hindsight for the year it turned out to be. The year before, having just started a business and also an intense business development program that required frequent pitching to panels, my word was brave. I needed all the determination and bravery I could muster that year.

This year my word is Bearings.

After a unique year and a bad fall in 2020 I've decided the best thing for me to do this year is to rein everything in. I can do anything, but I can't do everything. I need to pare things back down to basics and start building them up again with much stronger foundations. I need to stop, get my bearings, and set out a definitive plan. 

Seth Godin on his blog on New Year's eve said that 2021 is the product of the prime numbers 43 and 47. He writes, If you were looking for a reason to be optimistic, that's as good as any. 

I've got a good feeling about 2021.

As my good friend Julie so nicely put it - May 2021 bring peace, health, happiness, and lots of HUGS.

Happy New Year.

xx



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