My Word of the Year for 2019

2019 will be the second year of my life I’ve decided to choose a single word to direct my thoughts, actions, reactions, goals, and direction. Last year, my word of the year was “Grace”. You can read that post here. That word came pretty easily to me while I was trying to pick my 2018 word. But this year, I have had a few words swirling around in my head and it was more challenging to decide on the right one. I’ll share the other ones I was considering, but ultimately I decided that my word of the year for 2019 would be “Value”. Not surprising, it was the first word that popped in my head, and the one on which I ended.

I definitely had to take advice from my 2018 word and give myself grace while making the selection. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needed to speak to me and resonate with me. It didn’t mean that I couldn’t still be or act on the other words I didn’t chose. To me, the word just serves as an anchor. A place that I knew I could come back to if I needed to center myself or refocus. Also, I decided I could also change my mind, if I wanted. No big deal 🙂 And if you’re looking to choose your own word, you should keep those things in mind! Also, you could always pick more than one!

Other words that were in the running were Simplify, Purpose, Forward, Courage, Mindful, & Cultivate. I love all of those and I think most of them resonate with me for the same reason that value does. I still plan to have those words in my heart as well.

Why Value?

So why Value? When I think back into 2018, I tried to think about things that I was really happy about how they turned out and things that I was not so happy about. I tried to think about the things that brought me joy and the things that did not, and I decided that I gave too much of my time & energy to things that I don’t value deeply. Those very same things were things I felt probably did not bring much value to your life as my reader & friend. I will be honest, I often get lost in the “style” portion of my bio in the online space. I wonder how much genuine value those types of posts are bringing to your life. I wonder if I’m making anyone feel “good” by those posts or if I’m just promoting overconsumption that again, brings no real value. I know that even I can see other bloggers out there posting certain things, wearing certain things, having this expensive handbag or having the longest hair extensions, and those things can make me feel less than because it’s nearly impossible not to compare. And I don’t ever want to make someone feel less than. Because to me what you wear or have does not impact the kind of person you are in your heart, and that’s what I really care about. That’s not to say I don’t see any value in the style posts, because I do think finding something you love and feel good in can make you feel really confident. I don’t know, I just often feel guilty about constantly throwing a new outfit in your face every day. I’m not sure I’m even making sense? Ha.

I have definitely struggled trying to find the right balance with that in 2018, and while I might not have it all figured out yet going into 2019, I promise to make an effort to be more genuine and more realistic about those types of posts rather than making every post be about an outfit. There is just so much more to life and so much more I want to share that I cannot and will not give as much time to that as I have in 2018. On the upside, I do believe I did much better about it in 2018 than I did in 2017, so…progress! I’d love to know if you have any thoughts on this or feedback, I would greatly appreciate it.

When I think about the word value, these are the thoughts that came to mind when I thought about it directing my new year:

Does this add value to my life?

Does this add value to the lives of the people I care about?

Why do I value x,y,z?

I promise myself to stop and think about the things I allow into my life in 2019…I vow to give more time to the things I do value and much less, or possibly no time at all, to the things that do not. I will mindfully weigh each decision based on the value something will give back either to me or to the people in my life. So yes, by definition, I will be using this word to judge what is important in my life and to prioritize those things. Also, since I will become a mom this year, I think that prioritization will be more important than ever!! Because obviously baby is going to be #1, but making sure I’m able to still work on things I believe in will be crucial. I’m fully expecting to just have to figure that part out once the baby comes, but again, will be showing myself plenty of grace!

I’ve already begun, unknowingly, to put the word into place before I decided on it being “my word of the year” and I’m excited to really focus & hone in on it, and to share with you the results of it! I have big hopes & dreams for this year and I think dedicating my time to them will hopefully really allow them to come to life.

As always, thank you for being along for the ride. Your support & friendship are invaluable to me 😉

What do you think about my word of the year? Do you like to select a word? If so, what did you choose?

xo,

Bess