What Will Guide You to Success This New Year?

For many, it wouldn't feel like the start of a new year without setting resolutions, which are formal expressions of intentions made or declarations of what actions will be taken. The most common resolutions as we start a new year include get healthy, get organized, live life to the fullest, learn something new, find a better job, do more good deeds for others, be more fiscally responsible, work out more often and spend more time with loved ones. However, the success rate for resolutions tends to be abysmal. If you choose to set new year's resolutions, follow the advice of Valorie Burton, life coach and author of "Brave Enough to Succeed: 40 Strategies for Getting Unstuck", which outline how to choose the correct resolutions and more likely conquer those goals: be super specific, set a timeframe of strategic deadlines with a realistic timeline of milestones throughout, make sure your resolutions are achievable so you commit or quit, and recalibrate through failures as needed.

I, on the other hand, have found that resolutions don't fit the way I think. To me, they feel like yet another something for my to-do list. Instead, I sought a clear, meaningful path to guide my year, allowing me to live with intention and purpose, fulfilling one of my favorite mantras that "From those to whom much has been given much is expected." Rather than listing out new year's resolutions, I have started picking a "word of the year". Sometimes, it's simply a word for the upcoming season or it might change from month to month; it must be a word that really speaks to me and pulls together what I'd like to make happen in the foreseeable future.

When I first started choosing a word to guide my year, it seemed like a rarity; today, though, it is a much more widespread practice. A quick Google search for "what is your word of the year" pulls up a plethora of articles, blog posts and websites to help you choose what word works best for your specific needs and where you are in life. Delve deeper into the process with Blessing Manifesting, Create & Connect, Cultivate What Matters, kale & chocolate, My One Word, One Word 365 and Susannah Conway.

Going into 2018, I have chosen fulfillment as my word of the year. Searching Google for "define fulfillment" shows that this word means "the achievement of something desired, promised or predicted". This can cover so many things that matter a great deal to me in the new year, like fulfill dreams, fulfill goals, fulfill commitments, fulfill work-life integration, fulfill Greensboro LUNGe Forward's budget requirement, fulfill blog-writing consistency, fulfill RSVPs by showing up, fulfill outsourcing and fulfill business growth. For me, it's about follow-through, particularly as I remind myself that perfection is not required and, sometimes, done is better than perfect when getting things accomplished.

Maybe a word of the year is not enough for you, and that's quite alright. Maybe you'd prefer a phrase or mantra to guide your actions toward what results you'd like to achieve in 2018. There is no right or wrong option for what you choose; it's simply important to pick something that resonates with you, reflects what you desire and provides the direction necessary for getting from where you are to where you want to arrive.

With that word, phrase, mantra or resolution in mind to guide you to success, you are ready to embark upon the journey of 2018, writing the story you desire upon the blank pages of this year and taking with you the resources to best fuel what results you aspire to achieve. Let's launch this new year with "Get Organized Month", where I'll share a daily tidbit that's easy to implement for boosting your productivity, helping you more efficiently accomplish your goals and encouraging greater happiness.

For the new year, will you choose a guiding word, phrase, mantra or resolution? Please share what you've chosen in the comments so we can follow the advice of Alex Sheen, Founder of "because I said I would", who reiterates holding ourselves accountable for important commitments made amidst the over 15,942 words each American says daily.