How To Keep Your One Word Resolution

Resolutions are for suckers!

Right? When I say resolutions, I mean more than one. Do we really stick to all of those plans that build up in our head as the new year approaches?

I don’t. I have good intentions, but the reality is that all of these things I try to do once the new year rolls around simply don’t happen.

My list went like this:

Pray more.
Spend more time with my kids.
Spend more time with my wife.
Lose my gut so I can see my feet.
Drink More Water.
Eat slower.
Wear more hats.
Clean the living room without sweating.

Here is what actually happened:

I prayed more on January 1st and 2nd.
Spent more time around my kids while on my phone.
Spent more time with my wife as a team to keep our kids from making the house a jungle.
Lost my remote, found it with my feet.
I drank more pop.
I ate slower after my jaw became sore.
I wore more hats.
The living room was never cleaned. Never. And I still broke a sweat.

The real truth is that we try to commit to too much. If you are like me, there is just so much going on, that nobody has time for a list of resolutions. All it does is make us feel good that we have a list and then we feel terrible when we don’t accomplish what’s on the list.

But no matter how busy you are, if you could choose one thing and stick to it, that’s doable. Right?

It would even be better if it was one word that encompasses many other ideas or goals.  But by being aware of this one word and living by it, in an ironic way you accomplish many other related goals.  Sign me up!

Well, move over New Year’s Resolutions and make way for the one word resolution!

My wife and I chose a word to live by this year.  But more on that later.

Here are some examples of one word resolutions:

Focus
Balance
Joy
Gratitude
Grow
Simplify

Let’s take the word “Focus” for example.  By living by this word, a byproduct would also be simplifying things and removing distractions in your life to allow for more focus.

Balance could have you spending more time in one area of your life and decreasing time in another area to bring you the balance that you need. 

You get the idea.

We have three young children, so for us, the word of the year is “present”….as in being present with our kids and other members of our family.  Here is another post I wrote relating to that.  

So many times we sit with each other in the living room and each of us is on our phones or doing something that doesn’t allow us to be present with the person right next to us.  That word has resounded in our minds over the last few months, so it was our obvious word for the year.

Here are a few tips on how to keep your one word resolution and build off of it year after year. 

The one thing you can do each morning is say your word in your head several times and keep it in the front of your mind throughout the day.

When you find a moment or a day where you have totally let that word slip from your mind, just put that word back in front of your mind and start again.

Now when next year rolls around, we aren’t going to drop the word “present” and try a new word.  We’re going to build off of that word and add a new one.  This is a great way to accomplish something without feeling overwhelmed.

Here is a great site for more info.

What’s your one word resolution?

We are having so much fun on our YouTube Channel!  Check the video out below.