From: haydenducks
Because my life tends to be too much of one thing or too much of another instead of being a better daily match to what I desire.
Others Who Picked: balance
From: jrivera91103
i want to become a more balanced individual
From: Sheral
I need to find that place of perfect balance
From: Marisa Mathis
I need BALANCE in my life. I need balance physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
From: sjhansen
Create a balance between work, home, being a mom, wife, etc.
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I’ll be honest. New Year’s Resolutions have never worked for me. And I’ll bet they don’t work for you, either.
If you’re like most people, you spend the first few days of January evaluating your habits and behaviors and making heartfelt promises to yourself to change the ones you don’t like in the coming year.
Sadly, these promises are typically broken by February, leading you to resume the same habits and behaviors that you wanted to stop in the first place. Habits, especially old habits, are hard to break.
So, why not try something different?
Instead of making New Year’s resolutions, join the One Word Challenge.
Disclaimer: While this post is not directly related to family history, it can certainly be applied to how we research our family history. Setting goals and intentions is important in all aspects of life, even genealogy.
What is a One Word Challenge?
Simply put, a One Word Challenge involves choosing one specific word that will guide you throughout the year as you make decisions, pursue your goals, interact with others, and create a life you love.
Your word will be your compass. Let your word guide you as you:
- Assess where you are in life right now
- Create goals
- Make decisions that lead you toward your goals
- Reject decisions that lead you away from your goals
- Interact with friends, family, and coworkers
There are lots of “One Word Challenges” out there. In fact, if you Google the phrase “one word challenge,” you’ll get dozens of results. You can choose to participate in any of the active challenges that appeal to you.
Unfortunately, only a few of these websites are up-to-date, so this year I’ve decided not to follow any specific One Word Challenge. However, since I already follow him, I signed up for Jon Gordon’s free challenge that begins on 26 December. I haven’t decided yet if I will actively participate, but it looks interesting.
Selecting Your One Word
How do you pick your one word? Here are a few suggestions, based on my own process:
- Think about who and where you are at this moment. Picture who and where you want to be at the end of next year.
- What do you need to do in order to get from here to there?
- Write down your goals. If you’re a visual learner, draw a picture, create a mind map, or just do a brain dump. Be sure to consider ALL parts of your life – work, health, relationships – not just your family history.
- Make your goals achievable by choosing SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Here are a few examples of inspirational words to choose from. Make a list of the words that appeal to you, and “try them on” for a few days. Then select the word that is the best fit.
- abundance
- acceptance
- accountability
- acquire
- action
- appreciation
- authentic
- balance
- bloom
- bold
- brave
- breathe
- build
- calm
- centered
- change
- commitment
- completion
- confidence
- connection
- consistency
- courage
- create
- cultivate
- delight
- determined
- discipline
- dream
- emerge
- empower
- endure
- energy
- enlighten
- enough
- expand
- faith
- feel
- flourish
- flow
- focus (my 2020 word)
- freedom
- friendship
- grace
- gratitude
- growth
- happiness
- harmony
- health
- hope
- humility
- hustle
- improve
- inspire
- intention
- joy
- kindness
- lead
- less
- listen
- love
- manifest
- mindful
- motivation
- move
- nourish
- organize
- passion
- pause
- peace
- persistence
- possibility
- prayer
- present
- progress
- purpose
- reflect
- reinvent
- relax
- renew
- represent
- resilience
- rooted
- seek
- self-care
- self-worth
- service
- shine
- simplicity
- strength
- strive
- surrender
- teach
- thrive
- transform
- trust
- try
- vision
- wealth
- whole
- wisdom
- wonder
- work
- yes
Next Steps
Once you’ve selected your word, what should you do next? There is no right or wrong way to use your word, but here are a few suggestions to help it be more effective.
- Make your word your mantra. Say it to yourself first thing in the morning and throughout the day when you need a boost of inspiration or motivation.
- Display your word. Create a vision board or post your word where you will see it on a regular basis. Don’t let your word go “out of sight, out of mind.”
- Share your word. Sharing makes you accountable. If you don’t want to share on your blog or social media, tell a friend or family member. Find a “One Word Buddy” who will keep you accountable.
- Set goals and make plans that pertain to your word. For example, if your word is “brave,” then make goals that take you outside of your comfort zone. Maybe you’ve wanted to pursue certification or apply to be a speaker at a conference, but you haven’t thought yourself ready. Make a goal to be brave and give it a shot!
- Assess yourself. Revisit your word and your goals on a monthly or quarterly basis. Keep a One Word journal. Are you making progress? Are you stuck? Are you moving backward? Be honest with yourself. You may need to make a course correction in order to get back on track.
My Word for 2023
For the past two years, I haven’t made any resolutions or participated in a One Word Challenge. It’s not that I haven’t felt motivated; it’s more like the world has been in such chaos that it’s hard to set goals when you don’t know when the next shoe will drop.
For example, in 2020, I had big plans. I selected the word “focus” and was really ready to focus on what needed to be accomplished in my life. But I think we all know how 2020 turned out… and it was definitely not the sort of focus I had intended. Instead, I wound up focusing on sitting at home eating junk food and feeling sorry for myself. Ugh.
I’ve decided that I want to get back on track in 2023, come what may. The world is still in chaos, and that may not change. But I need to move forward.
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve tried on several words until I finally found the right one. I started with “completion,” because I have several unfinished projects that I’m starting to think I will never complete. It’s a good word, but it didn’t feel right.
I also went through “growth,” “persistence,” “happiness,” and “flourish.” Though I aspire to each of them, none was the right fit for me.
As I envisioned what I want my life to look like going forward into next year, the word I kept coming back to was “balance.” It’s something that I desperately need right now.
Since the pandemic started, my life has gotten terribly out of balance.
- My health has suffered due to a lack of exercise and eating the wrong foods. Plus, the overarching doom and gloom of the past two years haven’t helped my mood any.
- My work life has suffered because I’ve become a workaholic who sits in front of the computer for hours and hours on end. I forget to take breaks and eat, grabbing quick, unhealthy snacks instead of preparing a meal. (I know that many of us do this now and then when researching our family history, but I’ve managed to take it to an unhealthy extreme.)
- Even my personal relationships have suffered. Pandemic isolation has led to the fear of getting sick and a reluctance to go out and be with people. It just seems easier to stay home in my comfort zone and “not risk it.”
I’m still working out the details of how I’ll achieve balance next year. I’ve already made plans to get out of my home comfort zone and attend the RootsTech Conference in person, so I’m jumping into the deep end on that one!
Based on what I know about myself, I suspect that finding true balance in my life will be a work in progress for several years to come. But we don’t get anywhere unless we START, right?
Wrap Up
What about you? Will you accept the One Word Challenge?
Feel free to share your word in the comments or send me an email if you’d prefer to keep your word private.
Let’s keep each other accountable and reach our goals in 2023!
Cite this post as: Elizabeth Swanay O’Neal, «The One Word Challenge Accepted: Aspiring to a Year of Balance (2023),» Heart of the Family™ (https://www.thefamilyheart.com/one-word-challenge-balance/ : accessed April 13, 2023). Please see our Copyright & Reuse page for information about republishing and/or sharing this content.
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Elizabeth Swanay O’Neal is a professional genealogist, writer, educator, and national genealogical speaker. Her specialties include methodology, technology, and online research resources. You can read more about Elizabeth’s family history journey here. To send Elizabeth a quick message, click here.
Happy New Year!
2023 is here, and I am in a hotel in Massachusetts. I had a Belgian waffle for breakfast with butter and syrup, so there’s that. So much for starting a diet on New Year’s Day. I am trying to eat healthier, but how often do you wake up to that kind of carb sweetness? Tomorrow is a new day, and maybe I will skip the waffle. But it is also my last day of having access to this waffle machine, which brings me to my word for 2022: BALANCE.
VERSE OF 2022: (Balance)
Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 AMP
Last year, I chose my one word and verse for 2022 and made some resolutions and goals. I learned a lot, but I only kept some of them and hit a few goals. Still, I made progress.
Progress is a game changer.
Why? Because this is an example of how it usually goes. My goal is to lose weight by dieting, eating healthier, and exercising. Then about four days in, I eat a cupcake, and it is game over. I failed and will never lose weight. I may as well eat pizza.
Sound familiar?
Balance whispers, “Yes, you ate the cupcake. It was a celebration, and a cupcake does not equal failure. Go for a walk. It is not the end of the world. Don’t wait to start over tomorrow or next Monday.”
Side note: (Waiting until Monday means eating a lot of what you shouldn’t and getting it out of your system). Food issues much?
Balance says it is okay to mess up. Just get back on track quickly.
My struggle was bigger than food. Balance also taught me that when it comes to writing (and other things), I get stuck in analysis paralysis. Especially if I think I am doing it “wrong” or “not good enough.” Instead of writing, I spend too much time learning about writing to ensure I am doing it correctly.
News Flash: The writing I am bringing to you now is what made me fall in love with writing. I want to share my journey, hoping it will be helpful to someone. That’s it.
That is what I love, and that is where I plan to head in 2023. It may not be perfect or structured appropriately, but again: balance.
Focusing on “balance” also revealed patterns of comparing myself to others, feeling inadequate, and giving up.
It also made me see the ripple effects of trauma and how “freeze” is my go-to response. 2022 was a study of triggers, mindset, and stress mixed with deeply rooted trust and control issues.
I am still learning and processing it all, and God is faithful. His grace is excellent, especially when you want to give up.
His grace says, “I am here. Let’s try again. You can do this.”
So here we go. I hope you will join me.
Did you choose one word or verse for 2022? I would love to hear how God used your word to grow you and show you a better way. I’d love to hear from you.
Also, please be sure to check out my free resource: Was it really sexual abuse? 10 Myths that make us doubt the reality.
Happy New Year to you! Thank you for being here.
January 20, 2018 General Interest
During my teen and college years, I was a bit obsessed with resolution setting.
Every January, I would set aside time to create a list of resolutions organized by category, sub-category, and sometimes even due dates…
Flash forward many years and I no longer make resolutions. I’m curious – do you make resolutions at the start of the calendar year? I don’t have anything against resolutions. Making space for self-reflection, connecting to values, and re-prioritizing limited resources to live your fullest life is a really beautiful thing. I guess I’ve just loosened up a bit and I think that’s a-ok.
A couple of years ago I learned about the concept of identifying a single word to guide you through your year. Essentially, it’s a word to help you create intentional life choices and to check in with periodically. For me, this concept has been really inspiring.
So for 2018, I have chosen the word: BALANCE.
Balance often feels elusive, given the natural demands of life. Additionally, what feels like balance one month might not be balanced at all the next, so it requires this continual checking in and recalibrating. Given how miserable I feel when I’m seriously out of balance, I’ve become more and more willing to make sacrifices and hard to choices to try to remain as centered as possible – or as dictionary.com says, “remaining upright and steady.”
I find that my self-care is always a mirror to other things in my life. Balance is vital to healthy relationships but also vital to how I approach sleep habits, grocery shopping and food prep, as well as exercise. The balance of all of these self-care pieces shifts and changes a bit and striking the right balance at any given time is more like an art than a science.
So here’s to “remaining upright and steady” in 2018! I’d love to know, if you had to choose your one word for the year, what would it be and why? How would that word influence your health and self-care choices? I can’t wait to hear about it.
Click here and add your word and how it will influence you in 2018.
Me/ Thoughts
January 2, 2016
Last year, for 2015, my One Word was GRACE. I know that I was able to do this with myself more than I ever have, and in many ways was able to do this with others. While I still think there is work to be done (we are all a work in progress), I think GRACE was gained this year. So what about this year? What is my one word for 2016?
In 2015 I sought to show myself and others more Grace: More regard, more courtesy, more acceptance, more respect and more decency. For 2016 I am looking to find BALANCE.
One Word – Balance – For 2016
I have struggled greatly this year with getting everything done!
- I never finish the books I start, or even get to start the books I really want to read!
- While I changed up how I am grading and logging the kids work for this school year, I am still not getting it done! In fact I am MONTHS behind!
- I have learned to be able to walk away and not stress so much about producing content for Starts At Eight, but then I seem to find NOTHING getting done!
- Weight loss needs to happen. I struggle with finding the time to exercise, and the control to not put food in my mouth.
- I need 48 hours in each day to be able to have enough me time, work time, exercise time, reading time, tv time, quality time with kids and hubby, school time, housework time, etc.
What would I like to accomplish this year?
- I would like to find a daily routine that allows for more balance and less extremes. For example instead of not writing for 3-4 days and then suddenly crunching to write 3 or 4 articles, I would like to schedule in a little each day or most days.
- I would like to start each day with 30 minutes of exercise and end each day with at least 30 minutes of reading.
- I would like to choose skinny over food, and focus over procrastination. I can get so much done when I am focused and not mindlessly scrolling through Facebook!
- I would like to date my husband and play more with my children.
- I plan to accomplish all of this by being more intentional with my time. Less wandering aimless through Facebook, and more picking a task and accomplishing it. I am so much happier and more productive when I am busy. I need to be busy but in a balanced sort of way.
What is your One Word for 2016? What will you focus on and strive for this year?
I am not one to make resolutions. For me it is a quick set up for failure. I almost never keep or meet a resolution and become more discouraged in the process. Then I heard about this idea a few years ago where you choose one word that you want to permeate your life in the new year. It isn’t a resolution, but a word to focus on in all areas of your life.
Over the past few months it has become painfully clear to me that the area I most struggle with in my life is balance.
Finding balance between home and work, mom responsibilities, my creative time and quiet time with God….the list goes on and on for me. I haven’t been balancing everything well and tend to find myself tired and stressed out.
I am an early riser in the mornings. I like to have some time to myself before everyone else gets up. But even in that area, I don’t always use my time well. Should I read the Bible, exercise, get an extra load of laundry done or read a chapter in the book I am doing for a book club?
Should I stay at the office and work late so that I am not stressed at work? But then I am sacrificing quality time with my kids during the few awake hours that they have with me. I can not do it all. I just can’t. But I can work at finding a better balance so that I am not feeling guilty or regretful all the time.
I don’t yet have the answer to how I will find this balance. But I felt strongly that this is something that God wants me to work on this new year.
And as in all things, I look to Him first to help guide me in this new way of thinking.
From time to time I will be sharing how things are going – what new things I am trying, those things I might have to give up to help create more balance and I will even share with you the ways that I have continued to fail! 🙂 Because change doesn’t happen overnight, I don’t expect to wake up on January 2nd having it all figured out.
And if history is an indicator – I have to work at something and fail multiple times before I am finally ready to try something new. My stubbornness is not my best quality! 😉
So there we go – my start to a new year of seeking and finding Balance.
Do you have a One Word for 2014? If you do I would love to hear it!! And join us over in the One Word 365 community where you can find encouragement from other people that are trying to live purposefully as well!