2022: Selecting a word of the year

Celebrating our first birthday!

BlogFam, its been one year of BrightEyedSmiles, and what better way to celebrate to officially set the tone for 2022. The end of each year tends to be rather heavy for me and to be honest, I like it to pass quickly. Something I’d like to work on is enjoying the end of the year, especially the month of December more. However, this year I’m charging forward into next year.

A vision for the future

If you have been following along awhile, you may remember the exercises discussed to think ahead for the year 2021.  Hopefully some of your wishes came true! They included creating a vision board, brainstorming focus areas and creating specific and measurable goals for yourself. Similarly, this year I’ve followed the same thought-process, with a few additions. If you haven’t seen my post on creating a vision for your future, click the link here. Once you have a vision for how you want 2022 to look, it’s time to get specific! So, that brings us to today’s post.

Word of the year

First, simply selecting a word for the year helps to keep me on track, and guessing it would for most people. As a result, just having a word for your year can be a guiding light to bring you back to your goal. You can meditate on the word when things get tough. You can scribble it over and over in your notebook when you want to let your mind wander. It can be the launch pad to day dreaming, and goal achievement. For example, this blogger described it well in preparation for last year.

Picking a word may seem simple, however I’d encourage you to take a deeper perspective before you select. Perhaps revisit your vision, look at a 2022 calendar, and let yourself explore a few different words before deciding on one. For some inspiration, below are a few of those I’ve considered (bolded words were almost selected).

• Awe-inspiring
• Belong
• Comfort
• Delightful
• Energized
• Focused
• Grateful
• Healthy
• Immense
• Jolly
• Knowledge
• Loyal
• Magical
• Nice
• Oasis
• Peaceful
• Quiet
• Remarkable
• Silly
• Tangible
• Upbeat
• Vital
• Wonder
• Yes
• Zesty

Personal Meaning & Emotional Connection

Hopefully the above list gave you some inspiration and had you going to the thesaurus to select your own. Once I selected my word of the year, I went on to give it a purposeful meaning, specific to me. Next, I’d suggest you write out your own meaning to the word you’ve selected. And maybe even add in a few emotions you’d like it to evoke. Having this to go back to during the year will especially be important. It helps to bring you back to your center and remember what you were thinking when you selected the word.

Focus Areas

Focus Areas are meant to be the tie-in from your word to your goals. They are a way to group things together and establish larger buckets making up your life. For some, this may include studies, family, pets, sleep. For others, it may include creative pursuits, travel and hobbies. Make it personal to you, but remember they are meant to be bigger buckets.

Last year, my focus areas were inspired by a graphic I found on the internet. They actually worked well for me specifically, especially because they are broad. They were: Mindfulness, Career, Healthy Body and Hobbies. This year I’ve decided to add a 5th into the mix: Relationships. I’ve also added ‘personal growth’ into the bucket of mindfulness, as to be more careful of not just meditating and getting nothing out of it. I truly want to grow as a person in all of these areas and will be more deliberate about measuring progress versus just using a checklist.

Intentions & Measurable Goals

Once you have your focus areas, it is time to list out the specific intentions and goals you’d like accomplish within those buckets. This year, you will see I added ‘intentions’ into the goal creation. This goes back to actually wanting to see and measure growth, and not just checking something off the list.  Granted, there are days when I do my daily yoga just to get it done. But I truly want those days to be few. Rather, I’d like to remember my intentions and allow myself to feel into the actions and habits I’m taking. Life becomes much more meaningful when we do things with deliberate attention and with the awareness we are literally getting better in that moment.

For this part of the exercise you will want to list out your specific goals (such as a 4.0 GPA, minus 2 inches on your waist, clearer skin, greater flexibility). While listing also the intention and emotional drive behind it (prove I can be the best in class, feel better about myself and fit into my favorite jeans, feel more confident without makeup, gain mobility to feel more graceful).

Daily Habits

Lastly, and this is a new addition compared to last year’s post – list out the daily habits that will allow you to achieve your goals. I did this later in the year last year and found it to be extremely helpful once I started tracking my daily habits. Even if you don’t create yourself a checklist, listing the daily habits and posting them someplace where you look often will help to keep you on track. However, I use an actual checklist and adjust them as necessary throughout the year. In addition, this also makes it easier to see what could be causing a weird mood (typically when I don’t get enough sleep) or change in health (when I haven’t been exercising or drinking enough water)!

My 2022 Summary

My word of the year:

BOLD.

Meaning and emotional Tie-In:

This year, I selected the word “bold” to mean being confident and courageous. For me, it is meant to evoke a feeling of self-assurance and empowerment. Often, I don’t see myself as capable, worthy or ready for something. When, in fact I actually am. Therefore, my word of the year is meant to be a reminder that I am in fact capable, worthy and typically ready for the next step in life. In general, I’d like to see myself in a better light, and give myself credit where credit is due. It’s time I start stepping into the version of myself I know I can be. And who that is, is bold, confident, courageous, articulate, inspiring and creative.

Focus Areas:

1. Mindfulness & Personal Growth
2. Career & Side Hustle
3. Healthy Body
4. Activities & Hobbies
5. Relationships

Intentions w/ Measurable Goals:

• Live a balanced life
• Be present in every moment
• Continuously work on myself
• Give myself grace
• Enjoy life everyday
• Learning new things

Daily Habits:

• Meditation
• Journaling
• 8 hours of sleep
• Intermittent Fasting
• Moving the body (yoga, walking, lifting)
• Enjoying life
• Activity or Hobby (1/day)
• Connection