Name Your Year – A Simple Tool To Help You Live Your Best Life

“Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

Norman Vincent Peale

Imagine how empowering it would be to proudly look back at the year just gone with a feeling of complete contentment. Enjoying a moment’s reflection as you notice just how much you have grown; appreciate the lessons you have learnt and celebrate the goals you have conquered.

Geez it’s a lot of pressure isn’t it? Almost a weight on your shoulders at the start of each and every year. Some feel a new year comes with a dreaded feeling of anticipation to do better or be better than the year before. But how does one measure ‘better’ anyway?

All these reasons are the ‘why’ behind my commitment to the annual tradition which is to ‘Name Your Year’. My personality is one that thrives on challenges, however, as I like to approach life by getting as much out of each year as I can, I was looking for a goal-setting tool that would help me simplify and balance my day-to-day, not complicate it.

Now just to be clear, I am not a trained motivational or business coach and you won’t find an endless supply of recourses on my website offering step-by-step tools and support. What you will find are stories which are the result of me living my best life and I owe so much of this to naming my year.

The reason I dedicate time to writing this annual blog post shows how confident I am that Naming Your Year will help you live your best life too!

Related Post: An African Safari in the Greater Masai Mara – With Kids

So why on earth am I only getting around to writing about Naming Your Year in February?

It was a rough start to 2020 in Australia and in January, when a post of this nature would normally hit your inboxes, we all watched in horror as bushfires ravaged the countryside. For rural Australians this was their worst nightmare come to fruition, especially after struggling through drought conditions like many hadn’t ever seen in their lifetime. It felt disrespectful to start a conversation about living your best life during this state of emergency and to be honest, I was completely distracted watching the horror unfold.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Green Heart 🌏 Wanderlust Spirit (@conversationswithmysister)

It is finally raining in Australia; positive stories of courage and resilience are flooding in and the rebuilding stage of recovery is underway. So turns out it is February when I feel inspired to share this annual tradition with you all.

This year will be the 12th time I have named my year (you can read all about previous themes here) and I wholeheartedly believe that I owe so much of my ability to move forward and kick goals to this simple commitment.

Some highlights are, #2012ProgressNotPerfection, when I started this blog, #2016OneDayIsToday, the year we packed up and moved the family to the Middle East and #2019YouveGotThis, when I enrolled in university as a mature age student.

I could continue singling out highlights from the last 12 years but, if you have made it this far down in the post, I will presume you are keen to learn HOW you get involved in this annual tradition rather than read about me – so let’s get started!

Related Post: Inspiration for Naming Your Year

How To Name Your Year

I have broken the process down into three easy steps:

1. Reflection

The Name Your Year process starts with reflection. It may be that you take a few minutes for some quiet time or something you put in the forefront of your mind during your regular exercise session. No, I’m not going to get all ‘Humey Goomey’ (think spiritual guru) on you but yes, you need to sit and have a think about:

• A dream or ambition you might have
• A particular ‘something’ you would love to achieve
• A personal challenge you need to work on
• A part of your ‘story’ that frustrates you
• Or all of the above

Basically, you are honing in on something you tend to struggle with. An area of your life you would like to focus more time on and personal improvements you would like to make.

You will find all my previous articles where I have shared my annual themes on my website if you are after some ideas.

2. Brainstorming (some people will need this step others won’t)

If you are a pen and paper type of person then now is the time to start writing down or collecting images which represent all those ideas which have come to you during your reflection time. You could organise your thoughts via:

• A mind map
• Categories them by maybe Business, Financial, Family, Friends, Fitness, Fun/Recreation etc
• Create a picture mood board

3. Conversation

By now you should be starting to get a clear idea of how you would like your year to look and this is when the third step is the most beneficial. Make time to chat about it with those people you turn to for advice. Maybe you are lucky enough to have come up with a theme on your own but even still, it is worth getting a fresh perspective.

Yes, you could start sending out electronic messages but the most effective way to finalise what you are going to Name Your Year is to have face-to-face conversations.

The goal here is to take a look at what you are wanting to achieve through-out the year and sum it up with one action word or positive phrase. You need to say it out loud and notice the effect it has on you. Take notice if the action word or positive phrase feels like something which will inspire and motivate you to stay on track throughout the year or of it falls flat.

HINT: You are looking for something which puts a bounce-in-your-step, a smile-on-your-dial and a kick-ass-attitude in the forefront of your mind!

Still pondering what to name your year?

Feel free to send me a message and I will be more than happy to help. You can use the comment section below or alternatively, you will find me over on Facebook or Instagram.

The last, but definitely not least, step to Name Your Year

For those of you who are done, committed and ready to spring into action then it is time to make yourself accountable by sharing your annual theme. Make a poster for the fridge, write your theme in bold lipstick across your bathroom mirror and make an announcement on social media (make sure you tag me so I can enjoy your 2020 theme with you!).

I make myself accountable by sharing my annual theme with all of you via a blog post and by creating a hashtag. That way I am making sure I refer to it when I post on social media which keeps my theme at the forefront of my mind throughout the year.

So without any further ado let’s name our year – I will go first:-

• 

#2020MakeItCount

This is my positive phrase which represents a year I intend to use as a consolidating year. See how ‘Make It Count’ is much more inspiring than ‘Consolidation’ ;-).

One of the primary things #2020MakeItCount means to me is to use all I have learnt during my time at university, combined with all the experience I have gathered over the years, add all the ‘green’ habits I have implemented in my every day and use them to re-enter the workforce.

For me #2020MakeItCount is about focusing on enjoying some end results rather than building towards something – I have done ‘building’ for the last few years and now want to make sure I enjoy the fruits-of-all-that-labour, so to speak.

There is a lot more behind this year’s theme which I will share along the way over on Instagram – pop over and say “hi” so we can inspire each other.

Just One More Thing…

Before I wrap this up there is one last valuable point I would like to make about Naming Your Year.

By picking an action word or positive phrase, rather than a traditional New Year’s Resolution, you are allowing yourself room for flexibility. Naming Your Year is a tool that can be used to foster a positive approach to moving forward and is something you can be proud to start a conversation about. I encourage you to document your annual theme so that each year you can reflect back which will help you feel empowered about your growth.

Pin For Later

So now we come to the part where it is your turn – are you ready to Name Your Year?

Please join the conversation because we rise by helping others!

By sharing your annual theme you will be inspiring those readers who are keen to live their best life too. Add your theme to the:

Comments Below || Facebook || Instagram || Pinterest

Let’s Do This 💪

X Shea