What’s Your Contextual Word?

One word. What is one word to describe your 2016?

 

Mine is attention. What’s yours?

 

A gazillion years ago, I heard Matt Church recommend a focus word for the year. I have been doing it ever since. He’s so smart.

 

A contextual word allows you to focus your time, attention and energy into the people and projects that matter most to you. Could you create one this year?

 

Is your new year’s resolution already broken? I don’t set them because it seems that if I couldn’t’ master the behavior last year, it’s not going to happen with some silly, over-tired, champagne-induced resolve!

 

This year my contextual word is attention (it is also the name of my new book and the keynote I share with clients as the opening keynote speaker at their events). My desire is to pay more attention at home, work, in my community.

 

Here are a few ideas to help you implement your word:

 

Choose Five:  We set goals in five areas: spiritual, relational, physical, financial and educational. Maybe you could use a similar framework? This year I intend to be more focused through regular mediation (spiritual), connected (relational), stronger and fitter (and definitely need to weigh less, boy oh boy when I stopped paying attention to my food and champagne choices I gained 15 lbs, yuck), diligent with money (financial), and study deeper (educational). What are your 5? Megan Kristel wrote a great blog on her 2016 goals for real people and I loved the terminology she used.

 

Choose ‘No’ – choosing to focus on your word might seem selfish to others (it’s not!) and it means you might have to say no to things more often and in awkward situations. It’s no secret I love champagne, this month I am avoiding it (stop judging), I am also avoiding chocolate, fries and anything else that seems to stay around my middle. I have also said no to people who want time that drain my energy (do you have anyone like that in your life), projects that sounded fun but weren’t profitable, and invitations that don’t make me happy. Selfish? Maybe? I prefer to say self-full. No is a complete sentence!

 

Choose now – make a decision. Determine your focus. Write it down. Share it with a friend, your partner, and/or your team. Share it online to accelerate accountability. Now go and implement it. Easy peasy (well not really, but it will become your new decision filtering system).

 

You don’t have time to everything, only time to do what matters.

 

Today choose people, projects and passions that are going to help you stay focused on your contextual word… and share with me your word, I’d love to hear it. Let’s do this together.

 

Many of you have shared you want to be more productive this year. Our new online Folding Time Mentoring Program has just been released, check it out and each month I will pop into your inbox (well not literally) with videos, blogs, white papers, interviews, templates and all kinds of goodies – sign up today!

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