“Focus.” That’s the word that’s now printed in large letters on the bulletin board behind my desk, and it’s the word I’m going to try to incorporate into my thoughts and actions during the coming year.

The idea for this came from a video I received last week from some friends who publish a blog called “Sharing Life’s Lessons.” In the video, they talked about New Year’s Resolutions, and ways to make them more successful. They also talked about the book, One Word That Will Change Your Life, which they used last year in guiding their New Year’s Resolutions. One of them chose the word, “Stretch,” and the other chose the word, “Bold.” These words helped both of them to push themselves out of their comfort zone and take on new challenges throughout the year.

I spent a few minutes thinking about this after I watched the video, and the word “Focus” popped into my head. I immediately realized what a good word this would be for me to, well, focus on. Like many people, I’m often juggling a lot of balls at the same time – multi-tasking and getting pulled in many different directions. And since I can get distracted quite easily, it can be hard to concentrate on something long enough and fully enough to do it justice.

Although it sounds counter-intuitive, I know that if I can remember – or train myself – to focus on just one thing at a time, and give it my full attention, I’m actually likely to get more done in less time. And to do a better, more thorough job as well. So that’s what I plan to do.

Another friend of mine, who also saw the video, said that her word for the year is “Organize.” That would also be a good one for me, and I’m sure if I thought about it I could come up with many more that would be relevant and useful.

Maybe I’ll make a point with each new year to come up with a new word to use as my guide and inspiration. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself and lose focus. So I’ll stop right there, other than to ask: What one word would you choose to guide you through the year?

January 10, 2020
©Betty Liedtke, 2020

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