Have you ever tried naming your year? It may seem a little odd but there is good logic behind this practice. Setting an intention for how you want to approach life, work, adventures or really any other aspect of living can help you to stay focused and keep you tuned in to a particular mindset or way of being. If a year seems like a stretch, then try naming a season or scale it back even more to a month at a time. For example, perhaps 2023 is the year that you plan to take risks, choose more extreme adventures in life and/or business and get out of your comfort zone whenever the opportunity arises.
You could name your year “fire.”
Every time you are presented with the choice to play it safe or challenge yourself, you can think about the word “fire” – how you intend to burn bright, take some twists and turns that perhaps are not expected of you and just like fire, for as long as you have oxygen and fuel, you can keep on growing.
Part of optimal health and wellness is making sure that you are being challenged in a way that sparks curiosity and drive to learn and develop in all aspects of life. Therefore, it is important to check in with yourself and ask honestly if you are spending time doing things that enable you to grow? Do you feel both mentally and physically challenged? We are all different and so it goes without saying that we all require different degrees of stimulus to elicit a response – too much and the challenge equals unnecessary stress, not enough and we start to become idle.
Try setting aside some time to really think about where you are at now? Where you would like to be in 6 months to a year or maybe even 5 years? What you would really like to achieve (even if it seems like a stretch!)? What does that version of you look like i.e., what daily habits will you have? Who is around you? Where are you living? Once you have built a clear picture of this optimal version of your future, you will hopefully start to get a sense for what might be a good name for our year. This buzz word is going to bring you back to this destination postcard you have created for yourself and remind you to focus on the things that you need to do in order to feel fulfilled.
It is a good practice to write the name of your year somewhere that you will see it frequently. Maybe you put a note by your bed, so you start each day by seeing your chosen word. Perhaps it makes sense to set it as a screen saver on your laptop or write a note and stick it to the fridge. Wherever you will get frequent reminders to check in with that intention is a good place.
So, whether you start small and try naming the next week, or you dive straight in and name the whole year, use this as a tool to guide you to being successful at whatever it is you want to challenge yourself with.
