MY ONE WORD

It's a new year! This year, as in years past, my first order of business in the new year is to choose MY ONE WORD. My one word "is an experiment designed to move you beyond the past and look ahead. The challenge is simple: lose the long list of changes you want to make this year and instead pick ONE WORD. This process provides clarity by taking all of your big plans for life change and narrowing them down into a single thing. One word focuses on your character and creates a vision for your future.  It helps me do something about one thing and instead of nothing about a lot of things." 

My words in past years included RESOLVE, MATURITY, REFLECTION, HONOR, FUEL and STORY. The experiment is primarily focused on spiritual formation - helping me to grow into the type of person you want to become. Of course, I've found that it seeps into everything I do - my physical life, my professional life, my personal relationships. For instance, in 2011 I chose FUEL. I chose it because I wanted to know what fuels my faith, but it obviously has ties to my fitness as well. I realized that wheat thins don't really fuel me. I learned what foods DO fuel me and what fires me up to stay fit. [Competition with myself]

So what is it this year? MY ONE WORD is POSTURE. I want to become someone who is firm in my faith. I want to be present and established in my trust in God. I want be careful that instead of bowing up to God's rules that I bow down to His presence. Personally, I've started to use it in conversations. I check out my body language - is it a posture of listening? Do I have a posture of being right or am I being open to what's being said?

Again, there are obvious ties to my fitness. I have already started to see my runs, rides and swims through a lens of POSTURE. Do I have slight lean forward when I run, are my shoulders low and loose, am I in a straight line in aero, are my arm extensions straight instead of crossing over my center line in the pool? I know from years past that I'll take this practice into my training and my races. Last year, my word was STORY. During those long miles on the bike in last year's B2B I would think of the fun stories of our summer rides. I would think of the stories from childhood or practice mentally writing the ideal scene for the next few miles.

What is your ONE WORD for 2013. If you need help choosing a word, I encourage you to check out the book MY ONE WORD by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen. Or, visit the website for ideas from other wordies HERE.