If you worked through the Create Your Vision Challenge, one of the last exercises was choosing your word for the year. Your word of the year helps remind you of your vision for the year and what you hope to accomplish. But now that you have your word, what are you going to do with it? 

There are three ways I’ve found that are really effective for using your word for the year. 

1 - Remind you of who you are trying to become

You can do this in any season of motherhood, but it is especially powerful in the hard seasons when you don’t have much control over your circumstances. Write your word on the bathroom mirror, put a reminder in your phone, or end the day reflecting on how you lived up to your word throughout the day.

2 - Help you at a decision point

Use your word to guide the choices you make each day. For example, if your word was “generous,” it could help you decide to share your lunch with friends or be generous with your time and attention at bedtime.

3 - Guide your thoughts

Use your word to help boss your brain around. For example, “life-giving” encourages me to refrain from my victim thoughts around cooking or cleaning to ones where I see myself as doing nurturing, life-giving activities for our family.

When you use your word of the year to guide you in these areas (and any more that you think of that are helpful to you), you can stay in alignment with your yearly vision and the person you want to be. It’s an easy way to better stay on track to reach your goals.

If you need help figuring out your word, head to thrivinginmotherhood.com/vision for the 5-Day Create Your Vision Challenge.