Healthy Body  >  It’s Time to Choose Your Word of The Year {Giveaway}

It’s Time to Choose Your Word of The Year {Giveaway}

What if planning for 2018 felt thrilling? Exciting? Fun and invigorating?

With the new year just a champagne toast away, most of us are busy thinking about our resolutions: get healthy, exercise more, eliminate sugar, quit carbs (for good!) But trying to make big changes all at once can be daunting. Not surprising, this rarely works. We burn out – or pull a muscle, or unhappily binge-eat a batch of chewy chocolate chip cookies over the sink.

For me, New Year’s promises became an exercise in shame and disappointment, rather than hope and vision; they highlighted all the ways my previous year didn’t quite measure up.

But at the end of 2013, I shifted the way I thought about my coming year, and instantly, everything felt different: lighter, easier, and sustainable.

What did I do? I chose a word of the year. 

In 2017, I picked the word ease. In 2016, it was spaciousness. 2015 was guided by trust. The year before that, I strived to simplify. And savor kicked the whole ritual off exactly six years ago.

My “word of the year” anchors my daily life. It guides the work that I do, the choices that I make, and the way that I navigate my days. When I feel adrift, I remember my word of the year and come back to myself – and my goals for coming months.

My word for 2018? Celebrate. (Sounds fun and exciting, doesn’t it?)

Celebrate means appreciating the little things. It means not obsessing over every detail – or over the ultimate goal. It means more time in gratitude, doing what makes me feel alive. It’s about getting there, not being there.

Choosing to celebrate is about making space for joy, fulfillment, and attention to the journey, not just the finish line. It puts me firmly in the present, rather than lost in an uncertain future.

  • When I record my podcast, “Once Upon a Food Story,” I will celebrate the incredible conversations I get to lead, rather than fretting about when it will launch. (So soon!)
  • When a client tells me about sitting down for breakfast instead of picking off her son's plate, we will celebrate her victory, not focus on the pounds she still would like to lose.
  • When I get a good night’s rest, I will celebrate turning my devices off an hour before bed, instead of fretting that I still haven’t cemented this into a habit.

To really celebrate life, I’ll write down one thing to celebrate each day in a journal. Like a gratitude practice, it helps me pause and remember something positive – something worth celebrating!

But my word of 2018 may not be your word. Perhaps you’d like the next year to feel calm or connected or creative. Maybe you seek ease, or to feel more playful.

Choosing a word of the year has grounded me and changed the course of my next trip around the sun—and I know it can do the same for you! Here are three steps to get you started.

Think …about how you want to feel. In order to keep traditional resolutions, we track numbers: calories, dollars, social media followers. But with a single word as your beacon, 2018 becomes easier and sweeter. A “successful” year becomes a year that feels the way you want it to feel.

Dig deep. Peer through the window of your Future Dream Life. Really imagine the specifics: how do you want your life to feel? Free? Supported? Confident? Imagine your heart and mind feeling that way, every single day, then choose your word accordingly.

Trust …your intuition. Choosing your word of the year is a lot easier than you might expect. You don’t necessarily have to labor over this decision; just reflect. In 2017, what worked? What didn’t? If you’re honest with yourself, you probably already know how you’d like next year to be different. When a word springs to mind and feels right in your gut, you’ve got it!

Apply …your word to your whole life. Supported at home means something different than supported in your professional life. And connected to your body is different than being connected to your partner.

How does your word apply at work? At home? In your thoughts? Does it affect the way you move your body, or the food choices you make? Will it change the way you use technology, or the ideas that fill your mind? When you apply your word to all the areas of your life, you’re ready to make it happen everywhere.

Now it’s your turn: To encourage you to find your word for 2018, I’ve partnered with my absolute favorite non-toxic beauty brand Inlight Beauty from UK, which is distributed in USA and Canada by Hug Your Skin. We're giving away a chocolate delight face mask kit to one lucky person! It will help you start the year feeling radiant – and will remind you to take care of yourself, too! To enter, share your word of 2018 in the comments, and I’ll pick a winner at random on December 27th. Good luck!

Wishing you a year filled with health and happiness... and just the right word to celebrate.

creating a balanced lifeEating Psychologyhealthy eating habitsNew Year's Resolutionsself-care strategiesStress Managementweight loss

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