ONE WORD for 2018

My awesome wife introduced me to this idea, which I know I will be grateful for, as will she because it will assuredly have significant and positive impact on our relationship. The idea is to throw away the concept of making a New Year's Resolution, such as:

Join the gym
Run every day
Lift weights 3 days a week
Diet
No refined sugars or processed foods
Maintain bodyweight of 175 lbs
Read the Bible and pray 30 minutes a day
Read 24 books in the year
Write 50 blogs in the year
Compliment at least one person a day
Etc and etc...

Those are all good resolutions, and admittedly, examples of some that I have made in recent years. The problem with making those kinds of resolutions is that they are based on "rolling up our sleeves and working harder" in order to check off the goal. According to polls, 87% of people in the U.S. make New Year's resolutions. Do you suppose the same percentage of people follow through with those resolutions?

We know the answer. A failed New Year's resolution has likely happened to everyone reading this blog, causing many of us to give up on the practice completely, and perhaps even poke fun at those who keep trying it.

The idea of making resolutions isn't bad. It's just flawed. Success is too often measured by WHAT we accomplish rather than WHO we become. Who we become... that's the more valuable goal! It's a goal that realizes that the only way any person in the world has ever made any significant and lasting life change is by changing the most significant part of our being... the HEART.

Before we flippantly make any kind of resolution we need to look inside our soul, the deepest part of our being, and ask the question: What do I want more than anything else? What do I NEED more than anything else? The answer to those questions can be summed up in ONE WORD, and that's the goal!

The practice that my wife introduced to me this year is the practice of making a ONE WORD promise as my resolution for the year. This is something she learned from the book, "One Word That Will Change Your Life" by Jon Gordon, Jimmy Page and Dan Britton. I'll provide a basic summary of the practice for the remainder of this blog post, and then I will have a follow-up blog to tell you what my ONE WORD for 2018 is and why I believe it is the word God selected for me.

One of the authors, Dan Britton, told of a conversation he had with a friend several years ago in which the friend asked him what his "theme" would be for the upcoming year. He thought about it for a moment and then responded with a list of goals and aspirations and things he wanted to do in the coming year. His friend said, "That's great, Dan, but I asked for one word, not a sermon." So, Dan contemplated for a moment longer and finally replied with, "Live it out! That will be my theme." His friend smiled and said, "Dan, that is still not one word." Dan realized that it would take a little longer to ponder and meditate on this, because paring down all his goals to describe them in just ONE WORD was going to cause him to have to look a little deeper inside himself to determine what his greatest present need was. After a few days Dan called his friend back and said, "Intimacy." He decided that the word "intimacy" defined everything he wanted and needed to accomplish in the coming year.

ONE WORD can make a real and powerful difference in your life. I hope you will give this a try, and then share (comment under the post) your word with the social media world and all your family and friends!

ONE WORD will give you clarity and focus for all the challenges you will face in the coming year. It will be the word you need in those moments, helping you to pause and be intentional about how you will handle the challenging situation.

ONE WORD will keep you on track throughout the year. It is easier to remember, especially when you plaster it everywhere, keeping it front and center at all times, as a reminder of the person you want to be.

ONE WORD will become a powerful force in your life that cuts through the default behaviors that you know provide no real benefit to your life. It will help you to change your routines and take more control of your time.

ONE WORD is very simple, but very powerful. Often, it is simplicity that brings the greatest impact in our lives.

ONE WORD will also have a great influence in your relationships, your coaching, your parenting, your work... it will make all of those aspects of your life so much more meaningful. When the people who are closest to you know your ONE WORD, then you can count on them sharpening, challenging, and stretching you. We all need accountability. Though it is something we tend to shy away from, it is one of the greatest factors in personal growth.

So... what is the process for making a ONE WORD promise? It's actually quite simple, but it does require a few important steps that you should not overlook.

The ONE WORD process:

Prepare your heart... by looking in.
Discover your word... by looking up.
Live your word... by looking out.

Here is how you can find your word for the year. It begins by LOOKING IN... prepare your heart. Legendary Coach John Wooden coined the phrase, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." Don't skip this step. Abraham Lincoln once said, "If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend 6 hours sharpening my ax."

This is where most of us fail... in the preparation, not in the task itself. We desperately need to PAUSE and use time for this. It has been said that "busyness" is the silent killer. So many of us are so "busy" that we think we often feel like we are doing something significant, accomplishing much, but instead we are just BUSY.

Activity does not equal achievement. Do not confuse speed with progress, and be careful to not confuse activity with meaningful action. Busyness has a way of making us stop caring about the things we care about. Busyness has a way of convincing us that we need to keep doing the things we're doing. But 95% of the time that is just not true. Don't listen to busyness! Some of us are possibly addicted to busyness.

If you really want to find your ONE WORD for the year, you must make this first and most important step of escaping the busyness and take time to prepare your heart by looking deep inside yourself.

Here's how you do this (taking some time to):

UNPLUG

No TV, no music, no Netflix, no computer, no video games, no phone, no people, no to-do lists...
Yes, this is possible. Your mind will lie to you and tell you that you "need" your phone for this or that. Don't listen. It's not true.
Find a place with NO distractions. Silence. Even if just for 15 minutes.

ASK (3 questions)

What do I need? Not want, but what do I need the most.
What's in my way? These are obstacles preventing you from what you need.
What needs to go? These are what you need to eliminate immediately – past mistakes or failures, pain, unforgiveness, bitterness, or perhaps something more tangible that is keeping you from what you truly need.

In this first step, don't focus so much on getting your word that you miss the real power in this step, which is the WHY behind word. The why is always more important than the what.

The second step is to LOOK UP... discover your word. Once you have prepared your heart, you are now ready to receive your word. That is the key! It is something you "receive." This is a word that is meant for you. It is based on where you are in your life, and where God wants to guide you in the coming year.

This part of the process (looking up) is meant to be peaceful, not stressful. It is meant to fill you with hope, not despair. It is fueled by faith, not by fear. So, "look up" confidently after preparing your heart and ask for God to reveal your ONE WORD to you. Even if prayer is not something that is familiar to you or if it is not something you regularly practice, give this step a try.

After you have asked, be sure to listen up. God may use any number of ways to communicate a word to you. Don't overcomplicate it. I promise you that if you take the time to do step 1 (prepare your heart), then step 2 will come to you rather clearly. In fact, when I did this I knew what my ONE WORD was going to be as soon as I began step 2, because it was something I had written in my notes from the exercise in step 1.

Finally, the 3rd step in the process is to LOOK OUT... live your word. When your word comes to you, it may be in the form of a character trait, a discipline, a person, a spiritual focus, an attribute, a value, or any number of kinds of words. Regardless of what it is, share it with others.

This is what will help you to live it out. Keep your word in front of you at all times. Write it down and post it in your kitchen, in your car, in your planner, on your desk or locker. Create a screen saver for your computer. Paint your word on a sign or in an artistic way and hang it somewhere. Make a graphic design with your word included. Take a picture of your word and save it as your phone's wallpaper. Keep a journal and write down insights and lessons about your word. Start a ONE WORD dinner discussion with family or friends. Look for sayings or quotes that relate to your word. Pick a song that reminds you of your word. Write your own poem or prayer about your word and recite it every day.

There are so many ways in which your word is going to be used to shape you into a better person this year!

In conclusion, I'll say this. The key to living out your ONE WORD promise is... Don't check the box as though this is a task that you have created for yourself. Instead, experience your word as a journey!

Too many New Year's resolutions are seen as something to be checked off... it either gets accomplished or it doesn't; you either stick with it or you don't. And once you fail, you just eventually give up.

But that's not how ONE WORD works. You will experience your word as a journey of ups and downs throughout the year. It will be something that, little by little (as one friend puts it, 1% better every day), it shapes you into the person you are meant to be.

Are you ready?

Why not start your ONE WORD journey today!