The One Word Challenge Accepted: Aspiring to a Year of Balance (2023)

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 I was 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 “tried out” 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 wanted 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 contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you choose to make a purchase, but it does not add anything extra to the price you pay. For more, please read my full Disclosure Statement. I appreciate your support! 

If you liked this post, please share it!