heartledjournalcoach.weebly.com/word-of-the-year.htmlHave you picked a “WOTY” before? Chances are that if you hang around with me that you have! However, if you are scratching your head wondering what the heck is a “WOTY” let me explain. “WOTY” stands for “Word Of The Year”. This for many years now I have used a "WOTY" to replace New Year’s Resolutions. It is a single word that will be your focus and anchor for the year ahead.
You can use that word to set your goals and intentions for the following year. My “WOTY” for 2020 was Kaizen. It's a Japanese noun meaning "good change" it encompasses making small consistent changes. I came across it initially in the Moment magazine. It then showed up in the Wellbeing Book Club book we were reading in November, "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari". I did not rate the book, but they had did have a chapter on Kaizen. My “WOTY” was gradually revealing itself to me. I hoped that by embracing this word for 2020 that I could release my "boom or bust" thinking. I had hoped to use it to break down bigger goals into smaller steps and make small, regular progress towards them. Not huge gestures but consistent, incremental changes. In practice this looked like setting aside an hour a day for self-maintenance. I did not have to be an hour all in one go. It might have been 15 minutes of yoga in the morning, 20 minutes of self-development or spiritual reading, 10 minutes of meditation and 15 minutes of creative writing and updating my gratitude list. During lockdown I also evolved a daily haiku writing habit as a way of recording my experiences of Covid. Part of my “boom or bust” thinking had been that every year for 6 years I have been participating in National Poetry Writing Month and created a poem a day, every day for the month of April. I have succeeded in that but then find myself writing no other poetry for the rest of the year. My “Isolation Haikus” as I called them, have encouraged me to write a small poem daily and to date I am on a 266 streak of showing up to my creativity. I am also sharing those poems to my Instagram account and meeting a whole community of haiku writers. As a “Word Of The Year”, “Kaizen” has served me well. It has not totally inoculated me against the challenges that 2020 has brought, but it has helped me to think what small, positive action I can take now. I cannot control Covid, but I can acknowledge how I feel and choose how I will react. This year saw me develop a weekly Covid Check-In group, Confab-ulous and take all of my groups online (Folkestone Red Tent, Kent Goddess Group, Folkestone Moon Journaling & Vision Boards Group, Literary Ladies Wellbeing Book Club). I am also collaborating with Sue Allworth of Authentic Smile and MBS Summits Online and participated in a number of virtual wellbeing events and am an in-house presenter in the shiny new Get In The Habit Studio. A virtual community centre where you can find a community and activities such as meditation, yoga, and chakra dancing. This year I am still percolating on my “Word Of The Year” but I think it might be “IMPECCABLE”. One of the most influential books that I have read in recent years is the “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz. The Four agreements are: 1) Use your words impeccably. 2) Don’t take anything personally. 3) Don’t make assumptions. 4) Always do your best. These agreements are a way of living differently and finding greater peace and happiness. This year I want to go deep with exploring that first agreement and being more impeccable with my word. Don Miguel Ruiz says: "Be Impeccable with your word: speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love." I like to think of myself as a non-judgemental person, but as the challenges of Covid have gone on I have noticed that I am becoming a little bit Miss Jenny Judgemental Judge Pants. When I hear myself speak sometimes, both about myself and others I do not always like what I am hearing. When I sit and compassionately observe that I think I hear tiredness and frustration and that judgement and gossip are helping me to feel more in control, but later comes the guilt and recrimination. I hope this invitation to be impeccable will help me to bring a little more kindness and compassion back. Having a “WOTY” helps me to focus my goals, it is that anchor for my intentions. To help you with that process of anchoring make sure you keep your word in places were you will regularly see it, make it the screen saver for your phone or PC, a post-it on the kettle and write it big in the front of your journal. To help you formulate your “Word Of The Year” pop on over to https://heartledjournalcoach.weebly.com/word-of-the-year.html to get a FREE digital PDF WOTY planner. Would love to hear about your journey with your WOTY so connect with me on Facebook www.facebook.com/allheartled
1 Comment
Skye
12/28/2020 06:40:44 am
Thank you so much for this your word for last year sounds like it helped you achieve a lot.
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AuthorJenny Luddington, Journal Coach & Mentor Archives
December 2020
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