A Word for 2024

I do not take choosing a word of the year lightly. It’s something that I will think about all year, so I want to make sure it’s not a word that will only pertain to part of the year or a certain season of life.

as of late, I have felt like there are several areas of my life that I have just been coasting by in. Not necessarily being inactive, but not working as hard as I could to change something, or do better in something. I have been so “busy,” that I have just been doing the bare minimum in a lot of areas. It’s not that I am not working hard, but am I working hard on the right things? If I was working hard on something else, maybe the result of that effort would free up my time to do other things.

I know that part of my problem is that I need a new perspective. A shift. To think of things in a different way, and to solve problems in  different way. The problem is, as I read more books, I realize that as Americans, the way we were taught to “think” in school an what we were told “success” looks like is not necessarily true or helpful. I was taught I needed to make good grades, get a good education, go to college, and then get a good job where I could stay at a company for 40+ years.

However, times have changed, and that is not a great piece of advice in my opinion! But too many people are taught wrong, and therefore don’t KNOW how to think outside of the box. It requires a mental shift to think differently to get different results.

This doesn’t just apply to business though, needed a mental shift is beneficial in other avenues of life, including relationships. If you change your way of thinking, and shift your perspective from what YOU think is right, easy, enjoyable, or how to love, it opens up a world of possibilities and seeing things from another point of view. It could be the point of view that you need to have empathy, be open to love or change, and having a more well rounded life.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, my word for the year is

SHIFT.

I know, I know, it isn’t your typical word of the year. But to me, it makes sense and that’s all that matters. Anytime I hear it, it reminds me that the next step to breaking through in my life will require me to look at things a little differently and do something outside of the box, or shift.

So this year, I plan to work on shifting my thinking for my business, relationships, how I manage my home, my time, and everything else. I don’t have to do or say something just because everyone else is. Let’s all think of ways we can SHIFT this year, we may just find out a better way to live!