My One Word for 2018

Years ago—I mean so long ago I was literally still a child—I made the decision not to make New Year’s resolutions. I can’t remember exactly how old I was, but I had been around long enough to develop an opinion that resolutions were these lofty declarations that people made on January 1st that had no resemblance to their actual lives by the time February rolled around.

Up to that point, when it came to breaking resolutions, I was just as guilty as the next person. Maybe I thought that resolutions were meant to be broken.  Maybe no one taught me what a resolution even was, and how to properly set them. Whatever it was, I decided that resolutions weren’t for me.

Then a few years later, I started giving my years a one-word theme. A single thought or concept or value that I would work to incorporate into my life. A single motivation behind everything I did. A single guiding principle for making decisions.

I haven’t done it every year, but because I’m living my life with more intention these days, I knew I needed to pick a word for 2018. And that word is (drum roll, please)…

ALIGNMENT.

What an Aligned 2018 looks like

On the one hand, alignment is about counteracting the chaos—physical, mental, and spiritual. It means matching my outer environment to my inner environment, and striving to keep them both clean and free of clutter. Alignment is essential for gaining and maintaining clarity because it creates space around the things that matter. It’s both practical and aspirational.

On the other hand, alignment is also about living one’s truth. As a lifestyle, alignment is about matching the practice to the preaching. Aligning thoughts with words. Words with action. Action with strategy. Strategy with goals. Goals with desires. Desires with thoughts…and so on. It’s a virtuous cycle and a lie anywhere in the cycle will take you off course. 

What would your life be like if you designed it to better align with your values and desires? (Hint: If you can’t answer this right away, use this question as a journal prompt to gain better insight into yourself.)

Have you chosen your one word for 2018? Did you made any other kinds of commitments or resolutions for 2018? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!