My Word of the Year for 2019

How many of you have ever chosen a word of the year?

A lot of people make New Year’s resolutions, and that’s all fine and dandy. But I find that resolutions kind of fall flat. People resolve to lose weight, but that fizzles out around February. 

I tend to make tangible goals instead of resolutions, and I do like to look back and see how far I’ve come since the beginning of the year. For example, my goal this year was to run 4 half marathons but I only managed 3. However, they were my first 3 EVER, so I still count that as a win!

And then there’s the Word of the Year. Some people like to choose one word that they try to live by for the year. Every decision they make is determined by that word. Balance, Peace, Joy, Intentional, and Patience are examples.

If Balance is your word, you’ll find yourself deciding whether adding an extra activity in the week is worth giving up another night with your family.

I have big ideas and dreams for 2019, and I knew that this year I wanted to pick a word that laid the foundation for all of my decisions. After sitting for a few minutes and thinking about it, the word “Prosper” jumped into my head. I kind of rolled that around in my head and then went on with my day.

Later, I tried again to come up with a word, and again “Prosper” came to the front. I finally started typing into Google, “How to pick your word of the year”. I found a list of popular words that had like 5 columns, and I thought to myself, “Okay, if Prosper is on this list, I know this is definitely it.”

What a way to choose, right?

Well, it was a long list and I went through the first 4 columns with no luck. As I neared the top of column 5, I thought to myself, “Well, looks like Prosper isn’t my word-”

And there it was.

When I saw the word Prosper just sitting there, Jeremiah 29:11 suddenly popped into my head:

“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -NIV

And that’s when I knew Prosper was my Word of the Year for 2019.

So what does that look like in my life? I divided it into four categories that will be the foundation under all of my decisions for the next year.

Prospering in my Business

When I think of the word “Prosper”, I automatically think of money. How about you? And it was the first thing that popped into my head. I want my blog to prosper.

Every decision I make for my blog has to help it prosper in some way. I don’t want to waste my precious time fiddling with things that won’t have a big Return On Investment. These decisions need to benefit you, my readers, and help you live a better life as well.

I made a hefty financial goal for 2019 (Perhaps I’ll go into more detail later), so now I’m in the process of breaking down the steps needed to get there. All of it with the word Prosper behind it.

Prospering in my Family

Prosper doesn’t always have to mean money. Family is SO important and can easily be left behind when you try to pursue your dreams. Sometimes I feel like I put my family on the back burner and it’s not fair to them, so I’ve come up with ways to prosper in my family life:

• Monthly date nights with John
• Daily Bible reading with Allison
• Put the phone down

Cell phones are a major problem in my house. Can you relate? I plan to keep my phone in the bedroom while I’m around Allison because phones are just way too distracting. I feel like the “bad mom” that ignores her kids, and this will stop in 2019.

Prospering in my Spiritual Life

I tend to have problems in this area because I don’t have a lot of discipline. Praying doesn’t come naturally, and I tend to take matters into my own hands instead of relying on God (I know I’m not the only one!).

This year I’m taking steps to help me grow closer to God, including starting a year-through-the-Bible reading plan starting January 1st and reading more devotions. The YouVersion app is awesome for keeping track of reading plans and finding new ones.

Our church is also doing a 3-week Daniel Fast in January, so that will help kickstart my faith in the new year too. It’s hard focusing on anything other than the food aspect, and this time I’m making a better effort to keep my eyes on God’s plan for me rather than what I’m allowed to eat.

Prospering in my Health

Ever since I lost all my baby weight in 2015, I’ve been a huge advocate for exercise and healthier eating. I have so much more energy and my day actually gets out of whack when I don’t exercise. Here are some ways I’m taking more control of my health next year:

• Complete new Beachbody programs: I signed up for Beachbody on Demand earlier this month and love it! I’m an early morning workout person, and this works really well for me. January starts a new early release of Transform20, which is a 6-week program. After that I’ll probably start 80-Day Obsession. I just want some new things that challenge me and help me grow.
• Try new foods: This year I said I’d try 4 new foods… and I only tried one: Brussels sprouts. They’re actually really good, especially roasted! I tend to get stuck in a rut of eating what I know, and I’d love to be able to branch out.

I’m SO excited to see what 2019 brings for us. “Prosper” is a huge and promising word and I can’t wait to grow in the areas above. Have you picked a word for 2019? I want to hear about it! Leave a comment and tell me your plan for the new year.