Is it possible to ditch the idea of making resolutions, but still make changes in your life? YES! Learn how to choose one word and see the impact it can make.

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I’ve always loved beginnings. Whether it is the beginning of the calendar year or a school year, the idea of a fresh start has always appealed to me. It’s a time to think about the things in my life I want to change or improve.  To look back and look forward.

For many years I would try to make New Year’s resolutions. I say try, because even though I made them, I rarely followed through. I didn’t really have a plan, depending instead on that illusive thing called willpower. I guess you could say that I was more in love with the idea of making changes than actually making the changes.

Being more intentional…

But I’m drawn to the idea of being more intentional with my life. And as I get older one particular verse seems more urgent to me than ever before.

So teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

The average life-span of a woman in the United States is 81. So let’s do the math:

365 days a year x 81 = 29,565 days. I’m 50 years old and have used up 18,250 of those days, so that leaves me with 11,315 days. Obviously it could be more, or a lot less. Only God knows the days written for us (Psalm 139:16).

Does it put it in perspective, though? To number our days like that? But the idea here isn’t simply to count how many days we may have left, but to make those days count.

And that requires intentionality. It requires discipline.

…by choosing one word.

So I traded in my short-lived resolutions several years ago. Now, I choose one word and set goals filtered through the lens of that word. The idea comes from the book My One Word: Change Your Life with Just One Word by Mike Ashcraft. Instead of being about resolutions, Ashcraft explains that choosing a word

…provides us with a lens, with a new way of seeing. It’s a tool to train our eyes. It helps us frame the way we process the world around us and what happens to us.

He says,

In looking through the lens of a single chosen word, I found a new approach to personal change and spiritual formation—one that is doable, memorable, effective, and sticky.

Choosing My One Word Through the Years

One Word for 2017

2017 was the first time I chose one word. That year I chose the word cultivate. It was an easy decision. The word seemed to confront me wherever I looked—in what I was reading, seeing, and thinking about. At the beginning of that year I didn’t know I was going to start this blog, but God did. And even before I started it, He was planting the seed and ideas that it would grow from.

One Word for 2018

At the end of 2017, I began reading a book by Elisabeth Elliot, Discipline: The Glad Surrender. And once again a word confronted me. Discipline. I’ve always struggled with it. But I love the way Elliot frames it a bit differently. Discipline isn’t about willpower; it is about obedience. She says,

Discipline is the wholehearted yes to the call of God. When I know myself called, summoned, addressed, taken possession of, known, acted upon, I have heard the Master. I put myself gladly, fully, and forever at His disposal, and to whatever He says my answer is yes.

So in 2018 I wanted to say a wholehearted yes to the call of God. To make choices. Choices to obey or disobey. To get up and do the work or to choose comfort. To do the easy things or the hard things. To be intentional with my time or allow distractions to derail my days.

And I saw a lot of growth in that area. But I’m still a work in progress and so…

One Word for 2019

Over the past year I’ve realized that to be disciplined, it helps a lot to get rid of things. My word from 2018 has naturally progressed to another word. So this year I’ve chosen the word declutter. Whether in my heart, home, or life, I’m finding in order to be disciplined it a lot easier when I have less.

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Related: How to Be a More Productive Homeschool Mom

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How to Choose Your One Word

Would you like to join me? To choose one word for 2019? If you don’t know where to begin, let me encourage you to do the following:

1. Start in prayer.

Ask God what he desires for you to focus on. Seek Him first. And take your time. You don’t have to have all of this figured out on January 1st. Spend the first few weeks of your year in preparation—in looking forward—not in feeling like you are behind.

2. Ask yourself a few questions.

• What do I get excited about doing? How has God designed me? Am I living in that?
• How can I glorify Him right where I am? In the areas He has already placed me in?
• Is there a weakness in my life that is keeping me from doing what He has called me to? Is there a strength that I’m not working within?
• Is God impressing something on my heart and mind?
• Is there something I’ve been reading or studying that inspires me to change or grow?
• What do I want the coming year to look like?

And then after you’ve asked yourself those questions…

3. Dream a little.

Yes, dream. It doesn’t matter how old you are or what your life looks like right now. And it doesn’t have to be anything “big”. This isn’t someone else’s dream, it is yours.

Let me give you an example. Are you tired of feeling like your house is always chaotic and you can’t find what you want? Do you shy away from asking people over, but long to have a home filled with family, friendship and laughter? Then dream a little. Picture what you want your home to look like without even buying anything new. And allow yourself to imagine what it would be like to be organized. To be out with friends and not hesitate to say, “Hey, why don’t y’all come on over to my house for a cup of coffee?”

Some people use the term “visualization” for this idea. But for some reason, I don’t really like that word. Maybe because it feels like some mystical way to make things happen. As if seeing something as different and believing it will happen somehow makes it happen. 

That isn’t what I’m talking about here. Instead, whatever area of life you are struggling in, take the time to picture what it would look like if you did the hard work to change that reality under God’s direction and through His strength.

Then brainstorm some words that go along with the dream. For our example, the words might be declutter, simplify, or hospitality.

4. Make your choice.

Know there isn’t one “right” word to choose from which you will grow. This isn’t some magical formula. It is simply a tool for transformation. And ultimately that transformation is done by the Holy Spirit.

Pray, be in the Word, and let the Spirit lead you. You will never go wrong with a life focused on Him.

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Related: Having Mary’s Heart in Martha’s Homeschool World

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An Intentional Year

Yes, this is a new year with new opportunities. I want to invite you to walk alongside me, to decide to be intentional with your new year. But there is more to being intentional than just choosing one word. There are two other tools for this transformation process: setting goals and prayerful planning.

Have you chosen a word for 2019? Share it in the comments below!

I’ve created a FREE printable to help you with every step in the  An Intentional Year series—for both you personally and your homeschool.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.