HOW ONE WORD IS CHANGING MY YEAR (AND CAN CHANGE YOURS TOO)

Determination is my word for the year. I must admit, I’ve never participated in choosing a “word of the year” before, but this one simple trick is increasing my productivity and changing my outlook on, not only my life but also myself. It’s helping me to conquer my goals in ways I never dreamed possible!

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I’ve had plenty of dreams over the years. Things that I start every year swearing that “this is going to be the year that I finally accomplish my goals.”

I want to start living a healthier life, go on a tropical vacation, pay off our debt, pay cash for the boys’ college, save more money for retirement….I want, I want, I want. But every single one of those dreams has had one thing in common – they were all stuck in my head and went, pretty much, nowhere.

Life is so busy, isn’t it? Working outside of the home, running the kids where they need to go, hustling from game to game, getting dinner on the table, keeping the house picked up, laundry….oh my goodness, it exhausts me just thinking about it. It’s so easy to get caught up in everything else and then by the end of the day, I’m absolutely exhausted! There’s just no time for me after all this.

Can you relate?

This year, however, is going to be different. I’m tired of dreaming about it and ready to start living it!

I will meet my goals this year. I will succeed. You know how? By determination!

At the beginning of the year, I sat down, wrote my goals on paper and then spent some time looking at them. Yep, I read them over and over and over again. I asked myself, “What am I going to do differently this year to change my life? What needs to be done to accomplish these goals.” Throughout this entire process, one word kept standing out to me….Determination.

It’s not what I would typically consider a “big word,” but the more I thought about it, the more I realized this one word can be so incredibly powerful. Determination! Just think about it a moment – determination! Say it out loud – DETERMINATION! It can really pack a punch, don’t ya think?

So this year, I’ve made “determination” the most important word in my vocabulary.

You see, I’ve spent years dreaming about how I want my life to be. To be able to take off and travel whenever and wherever I want. To have a successful business where I can work from home without having to worry about whether or not I’m going to run into someone wearing perfume and have it ruin an entire day or two with a migraine. To stop living from paycheck to paycheck and having my money control me.

Here’s the problem with all of this….they’ve always been just dreams! And at the first sign of trouble, I’d give up because “it’s just too difficult” and “I’m so busy with everything else in life. I’ll have to get back to it later.” And then…..later never comes.

It’s time to stop that cycle, my friend! We need to hold ourselves accountable, stay determined and go out and get what we want in life. Will it be easy? Nope! Will we stumble from time to time? Yep! The best things in life don’t come easy, but it sure makes that victory at the top so much sweeter!

So how are we going to get there?

Determination…..

I’m determined to exercise 3 times/week
I’m determined to get my house deep cleaned and, for my sanity, keep it that way (a difficult task with two shedding dogs and a cat)
I’m determined to reach 100,000 page views on my blog by the end of the year
I’m determined to make a full-time income on my blog by the end of the year
I’m determined to pay off 1/3 of our debt by the end of the year

Every time something comes up at home and I’m taken away from working on my blog, I remember my word – Determination.

For instance, I’ve had huge chunks of my days taken up by sitting on the phone with insurance companies, leaving me very little time to work. (Guess how many times I’ve had to deal with that nonsense!) Rather than giving up for the day, I set my timer and Time Block something productive – a task that will produce something big. (If you aren’t familiar with this way of working, you can check out my post, Time Management Made Easy – Time Blocking.)

Even if I only have 30 minutes available, I set my timer and get right to work. I can accomplish a lot in that short period of time – staying focused on the one task that will give me the biggest ROI (return on my investment). I’m determined. I don’t spend that time doing “busy work” – cleaning out my inbox, responding to social media – I spend it completely determined to accomplish something that is going to bring me closer to my year-end goal. Determination!

When the day has been hectic and I’m too tired to exercise, I throw in a workout DVD and get in 30 minutes…or even 15 minutes. I’m determined. Now I’ve done something productive rather than sitting in my chair in front of the TV or on the phone scrolling through social media. I’m working toward my year-end goal of getting healthier. Determination!

I despise paying bills, but I love working on my blog. I get so excited when I wake up in the morning and know I get to head to my computer and connect with all of you! (How cool is it that I have a job that makes me want to jump out of bed in the morning?!) But because I’m determined to pay off 1/3 of our debt by the end of the year, I have to stay completely on top of our bills, therefore, I start two days out of the week by Eating My Frog First. (If you haven’t read Eat That Frog, I highly recommend it.) In other words, I begin those days by doing the thing I like the least – reviewing my checkbook balance, seeing what’s cleared, and paying any bills that need to be paid. It keeps me in control of our money and, it’s done within a matter of minutes so I can move on to what I enjoy doing – blogging! By doing this, it’s getting me closer to my year-end goal of paying down our debt. Determination!

I’m so tired of all the pet hair taking over the house. It’s just disgusting and it makes it difficult for me to concentrate. So this year, I’m determined to take back my house. Every week I spend 2 hours deep cleaning one room in the house. Wiping down walls, (I love using a dry Swiffer for this – just spritz a little water on the dry pad and run it along the walls) woodwork, cleaning windows, pulling out furniture so I can vacuum behind it….you get the idea. A complete deep cleaning and it feels so good when it’s done! Determination!

So I challenge you, my friend. Pick a word for this year. Something that is going to help you reach those goals once and for all. In fact, use determination if it work’s best for you! Think of how incredible it’s going to be when you get to the end of the year and see those goals – the goals that you wrote down on paper – actually marked off! Seeing that house clean and clutter-free. Seeing 1/3 of your debt paid off. Checking Google Analytics and seeing that you’ve hit 100,000 pageviews! Finally getting to the end of a year and accomplishing the goals you set out to do! Ahhmaaazzzing!!!

The first step to attaining your dreams is to get them down on paper! Need a little help? Check out my post, Time Management Made Easy – Setting Goals. Then begin taking baby steps to knock those goals out.

Think of your word all day, every day. Write it down at the top of your day planner. If you have a cutting machine, turn it into vinyl to put on the wall above your desk. Do whatever it takes to make that word front and center.

Id’ love to hear what your word of the year is! Hit reply and send me an email or comment below to share it with me!

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Until next time, my friend…..

P.S. Need a step by step strategy for turning your dreams into attainable goals? Enroll in my free e-course, Conquering Your Goals – Turning your dreams into actionable steps and get started today!

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