I was first introduced to the concept of One Little Word in 2006 by Ali Edwards. One Little Word focuses on choosing a word to focus on for the year – it can have many different meanings and uses, but I use it as an easier and more broad way to set goals.
In the past, I’ve used words such as simplify, balance, and enjoy.
This year, I’ve chosen the word work as my One Little Word.
As with many of you, the last two years have been very difficult for our family. We’ve experienced loss, trauma, major illnesses, enormous life changes, growth (so much), and spent much of our time focusing on grieving, healing, recovery, and learning to be so grateful for what we have and who we spend our time with. Without a doubt, family and relationships have been our primary focus.
But I feel refreshed, energized, and ready for more challenges now, so here’s how I plan on focusing on work this next year:
- My job – This year, we have two kids in college and my job is what allows us to pay for that. (Our oldest is also in grad school but she’s on a full scholarship.) Our goal has always been to get our kids through undergraduate school without any debt. And it’s hard with two in college at the same time. To say the least! So I’ll be focusing on my job and working as hard as I can this year. I have soooooo many ideas and am really excited about it!
- My customers – Because I’ve focused so much on family for the past two years, I worry that I’ve become a bit removed from my day-to-day relationships with other people and my customers. So I’ll be working on relationships and hoping to find other ways to serve them better.
- My family – Obviously, family relationships triumph over anything, so I’ll be making sure that I continue to work on communicating and prioritizing time for family. It’s a bit easier to focus on my job, though, now that the kids are all in college and not home.
- My physical health – I made some major changes to my diet and exercise regimen last year and I need to work on consistency with those this year.
- My mental health – I was very recently diagnosed with ADHD. It totally blew my mind that I’ve reached 53 years old and didn’t have a clue that I was dealing with that. I’ve started medication and can’t believe the difference. But I need to work on learning more about how I can focus on the positive aspects of it!
- My creativity – I love, love being creative! It’s one of the best ADHD traits that I have and I want to work on using those skills to my advantage – finding creative ways to serve my customers, being more creative in my down time, and creating cozy online and physical spaces!
So, that’s my focus for 2022! Have you ever chosen One Little Word? Tell me about it in the comments! And join me this year in finding a word to focus on!
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