And the winners are...

For the last 12 months this LibbyDoodle has been hanging in our kitchen. It represents the three words I selected as my focus for 2014. The words were: courage (to try something new), commitment (to checking a few important things off my to do list) and adventure (go have them!). This was the first year I went the words list rather than making a new "to-do" this year list. Now don't get me wrong, I still made to do lists because that is who I am, but these words meant so much more to me than just checking a box. They really helped guide me in some of the decisions I made this year. The idea to select words came from the #GetGutsy community founder, Jessica Lawlor. I am so grateful to have come across the idea along with the #GetGutsy community and am excited to repeat it again this year. 

The task of choosing three words to help set course for your year is not an easy one. The words have to feel right and really speak to you. What a word means to you may not be the same as it does to someone else so careful consideration is important. Last year the words just came to me as I was talking with the hubby and a few friends about my new plans. They just fit right off the bat. This year was a bit more of a struggle to find the right ones. I made a brainstorming list (ok more like 3 or 4), scratched them up, rewrote them, and just looked at them for about a month now. A lot of brain power went in to this decision. I think that is part of the reason I enjoy this activity as much as I do. I feel very invested in the time it took me to come up with just three words to reflect on for the next 365 days.

Without any further delay, the words that I spent so much time coming up with are: Strength, Simplify, and Focus. The last few years I have felt not as emotionally or mentally strong as I would like. I have been just dealing with it as those days happen when I am feeling week but this year I am ready to conquer that head on. I am not sure yet just how that will happen but I have some ideas and I think just telling myself I am ready for it is a huge step in the right direction. Simplify is my second word. Oh my goodness I am so excited about this word. Everything around me feels like chaos lately. My stuff, my work, my work and life balance and the list goes on. I am ready to simplify and just keep what really matters around me and get rid of the rest. I have days of anxiousness that comes from the chaos and I can't wait for the calm that will come with this word. Lastly I chose focus. For a while I was struggling to decide between simplify and focus, however I finally realized the reason it was so hard for me to choose between them is that this year I really need them both. So I embraced them both. Focus for me this year is going to be about checking some boxes but I need to focus on those boxes that are important to me and that I have put on my own list rather than allowing distractions to take my time and energy away from them. It is an ambitious list I have under this word so it is going to take strength and a simplified life to stay focused on the goals ahead of me this year. See what I did there? I sure do love it when it all comes together like it was meant to be!

So, what are your New Year's traditions? Do you make a to-do list,  set goals, or make resolutions? If you had to pick three words to define your year, what would they be?  

Happy New Year friends and family!