The Year of Clarity and Positivity

What are your plans and goals this year? Lately, my daughters and some of my friends have been talking about plans for 2020, the year of clarity. 2020 vision equals clarity. Get it?

I really like that metaphor for the new year and the new decade. Perhaps, this decade will be one of clarity.

One daughter has a goal to drink more water and frankly that’s clearly a goal I am all about. I think that’s a great ongoing goal for me, but I am already doing well there, so it’s not really my resolution. That same daughter, who has anxiety disorder, has a goal to be less hard on herself. I love that she’s given this some serious thought.

My Year of Clarity Was Slow to Start

January is inevitably a time for fresh starts, new beginnings and more. This year, the weather has been a hot mess, so my goal of skiing ALL THE DAYS, has been put on hold. Of course, that is just a hopeful sort of goal that I can work towards, but not control because of weather and other obligations and even health. It’s more like a dream than a goal and I will work on making it happen, because I love to ski.

By the time you read this, we will all be used to a new year and a new decade. Hopefully, all of the Christmas decorations and presents are put away by now. I confess it took us until this past weekend to get everything away. So much for being super organized and clean slates. 

But, if I am taking a page out of my daughter’s book this year, then I need to also go a bit easier on myself and simply accept that we got busy. Better late than never is my family philosophy often.  

Clarity Has Been Slow in Coming This Year

Some years it takes me longer than others to arrive at a word of the year. In fact, I kind of wait for a word to make sense for me and this year it didn’t until this past week. This year, the clarity has been slow.

Maybe New Year’s resolutions are more your cup of tea. Maybe, like me, you choose a ‘Word of the Year’ to guide your vision or philosophical approach to the months ahead. Last year my ‘Word of the Year’ was Reach as in Stretch and work towards building new business relationships and streams of income.

My 2019 Goals

In 2019, I set a goal of getting more bylines in traditional magazines again, in addition to the online content and social media consulting business plus content marketing business, because diversifying was part of my vision and it was how I interpreted Reach.

So, I did. That was a SMART goal for me that worked. You know SMART goals, right? Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Bylines and pitching outlets seems time consuming, but it is necessary in my business. This is an area where I do have clarity and positivity.

My Past Words of the Year

 Grow and Travel are words I have chosen in other years. A couple of years ago MOVE was the word and I committed to that, going to the gym 5 days a week and skiing or swimming all the days possible. This has worked for me every single year, except for that one year when I chose Mindfulness. Turns out being mindful on a daily basis IS extremely challenging. I might need to revisit that one at some point, but definitely not this year.

In 2020, my word of the year is Positivity and Clarity. Clarity is focus despite the other events and details that threaten to cloud your vision. I choose clarity and positivity.

Will 2020 be Your Year of Clarity?

Being positive when the world around you is negative is a strength and an art. I struggle at times, but I am a silver lining kind of person. There has to be a reason, or something positive, about every situation. That’s not being Pollyanna at all. It’s more about strength and survival and being able to carry on when the world seems to be uncaring, or indifferent, or hard.

So, this year I am actively choosing positivity, even when health care and schools are failing my special needs child, when my email inbox is filled with terrible belligerent offers asking me to write for free I will work to stay positive while telling them what they are doing wrong. When my teens are being a big pain in the butt with their teenage mood swings and occasional inability to see other people’s viewpoints, I will also be positive, because it is a phase. And most especially, when I feel overwhelmed by bills that can’t be paid fast enough. Positivity.

What do you believe in or measure every year? Is there a moment at the start of the year where you say to yourself: This year I resolve to read more? Or This Year I Will Drink More Water?

Word of the Year or Resolution?

Whatever your thing – Word of the Year, Vision Board, Resolution – when the intention is about self improvement and even sometimes making the world a better place, then I am all about that. I wish you success and clarity this year and this decade ahead.