The start of a new year can bring a lot of emotions and feelings. What are yours as you move through this first week of 2024?
I used to be a big believer in New Year’s Resolutions, but they always ended up with me feeling frustrated and disappointed in myself. New Year’s resolutions began to feel very harsh to me, and frankly it got pretty old. But I also feel less overwhelmed when I have some structure and a plan, so here is what I do now…
A word of the year:
It gives you a framework for decision making instead of just tasks and to-dos. Since your word encompasses a bigger picture of how you want to feel, you use it as your compass to guide decisions. There is no failing with a word of the year. And I 100% believe that shame has no place in adding wellness to your life.
2018 was the first year I picked a word of the year and have had one ever sense.
My past words of the year:
- 2018: Peace
- 2019: Joy
- 2020: Intentional
- 2021: Celebrate
- 2022: Love
- 2023: Simplify
The most effective way I have found to pick the word is to ask these questions:
- How do I want to feel this year?
- What do I want to create?
- What do I want this new year to bring?
What a word of the year isn’t:
- What you think you “should” be doing
- A one-dimensional item like losing weight or working out.
- What other people think you “should” be doing
My word of the year for 2024 is: Alignment.
Alignment = harmony, balance, and connection within all aspects of my life.
I got to this word by being in tune with the lessons that I learned in 2023 and then asking myself the questions that I recommended earlier in this post. By doing this process for the last 6 years I have learned to be aware of my thoughts and emotions. When I am not aligned with what I am doing, it feels so out of balance to me now. So, the word alignment feels 100% right for me in 2024.
This word, alignment will be my guide for decision making, what I say yes to, habit and goal setting.
What I have found is that it is a work in progress and one of the most important pieces is intentional evaluation. The way I will do this is by checking in with myself on a weekly basis in the key areas of my life to see how everything is working. I always get requests on how I use my word of the year to set goals. Before I share how I am using my word, let preface that what I am doing this year is very different than previous years, especially different from the first couple of years I did this process. I have grown in more detail as each year has gone by, so don’t let my year 6 overwhelm you. The absolute biggest part of using a word of the year is allowing the word to guide your decisions, to be your compass, to shift what does not feel true to you to what does.
If this is new to you I would say, keep it simple. I offer 1-hour long consultations and they are completely personal; we could cover this in-depth for you in your consultation. Schedule here
Here are my 24 goals for 2024.
Physical Health
- Movement: Daily walk and 8000 steps a day minimum of 5 days a week.
- Workouts: Plan weekly workout on Sunday for the next week. Goal- 2 yoga classes a week and 3 workouts a week.
- Food: Focus on whole food plant-based foods, check-in with myself before having a treat. Weekly meal plan. Try out my simple weekly meal plan method!
- Water: Drink 60 ounces of water daily (fill my water bottle 3 times a day)
- Sleep: Increase the number of hours of sleep I am getting each night. Commit to going to bed by 10:30pm each night at least 5 nights a week. Continue to evaluate and make it earlier to adjust.
Emotional/Mental Health
- Meditating and journaling before anything else in the morning. (I had slowly allowed checking social media/email and doing work tasks before my meditation and journaling. I 100% know that I feel out of alignment when I am doing that.)
- Creativity: monthly creative project. I have an ongoing list of different projects/activities that I want to be doing. And I will be picking from that each month.
- Read 3 books a month (1 book on a topic I want to learn about, 1 book for fun, 1 book for growth).
Social Health
- With my husband: evening check in, weekly date nights (ABC), plan/review the upcoming week, travel together quarterly.
- With our kids: intentional connecting on a regular basis. As they are now all grown-ups and living their own lives, this involves some creativity and intentionality.
- Friends: monthly supper club, monthly game night, monthly girls gathering, hiking outings and book club.
- Family: regular planned gatherings and celebrations.
Environmental Health
- Decluttering for 15 minutes daily focusing on 1 space/area at time.
- Selling our home and downsizing.
- Creating and maintaining a home cleaning schedule- check it out here.
- Having a shutdown process at the end of the day: start the dishwasher, counters wiped down, everything in its home and coffee is ready to go.
Financial Health
- Set specific financial goals relating to debt pay off, retirement planning, vacation funding, and future projects.
- Intentional budget setting and regular evaluation.
- Daily financial tracking for personal and business accounts.
Intellectual Health
- Completing the Nutrition Coaching Institute Certification.
- Read 1 book a month about a topic that I am interested in learning more about.
- New York Times puzzles daily (wordle, connections and tiles are my favorite).
Spiritual Health
- Volunteering in meaningful ways.
- Journaling each morning on how I am leading with love in different areas of my life.
Occupational Health
- Expanding my 1:1 clients and membership.
- Developing 5 e-courses this year.
- Organizing and offering my printables in wellness bundles and selling them.
- Offering a monthly workshop regarding holistic wellness topic
The big key is scheduling regular evaluation for checking in on how it’s working. I am going to be doing a vision board for my word of the year and goals. I will be reviewing and checking in weekly.
How I can help you take charge of your health and wellness!
1:1 Wellness Coaching
- Working 1:1 together to build routines, confidence and a life that you love!
- Schedule your complimentary consultation!!
Join my monthly membership: Register here
As a member you get:
1) Daily wellness challenges that are practical and doable even with a busy schedule! These are emailed right to your inbox each morning.
2) Access to a private Facebook group to be connected to other people who want to improve their health!
3) Healthy recipes created for meal planning/prepping for your week.
4) Weekly meditation & wellness deep dive via zoom or FB live, recorded versions will be available.
5) Monthly community walks- let’s meet up and walk together.
6) Office hours once a month- this is not a coaching space but a collaborative space to share what’s working, what’s not in your own wellness journey, recipes, ideas and other solutions.
7) Book club- let’s read a different personal development book together and then we can get together and discuss. A personalized guide will be provided by me.
And get ready for this…. you get everything I mentioned above included for only $29 a month!!! That is less than $1 a day!
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Be well,
Faith
***Some of the links in my posts contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. I pinky promise I will always give my honest opinion of any product and would never recommend something if I did not use and love it!!
D I S C L A I M E R Anything that I discuss about making any lifestyle changes is from my own experience and/or other clients personal experiences and may not be suited for you. It is strongly recommended that you consult with your health professional before making changes in your own life. By engaging in anything that I talk about, you agree that you do so at your own risk.
