How to make the most of your Word of the Year – YWGtv Episode #7
Yesterday, I shared my 2017 word of the year. Last year was my first year REALLY investing in my word and focusing on it all year. And it was awesome!!
We are only a few days into the new year at this point and my word has already had a big impact and is helping me get focused and set goals for the next 11 months. Have you set a word for your year yet? If not, it’s never too late (even if it’s April)!
RELATED: How to pick your word for the year.
Today I want to share some fun and creative ways to focus on your word this year. All of these are of course optional, but it can be fun to add a little pizzazz in focusing on your word.
Fun Ways to Focus on Your Word
Watch the video below or keep scrolling for all my fun ideas. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you never miss an episode!
So one question I get asked a lot is what do you do with your word once you select it? How can you make sure to make the most out of it? So here are a few fun ideas and I bet if you hop onto Pinterest, you can find even more ideas!
1) Create a poster
My first suggestion is to create a poster of some sort of your word. This can include just your word, your word and definition. Or like I made, it has my word and my verse for the year which is Ephesians 2:10.
I made this poster in about 10 minutes using the free website Canva. Once you sign up for a free account, you can go in and select different templates. This was a premade one they already had. So all I had to do was change the words, tweak the colors a little and add a background image.
It took all of 10 minutes and I love it! You can print it out and put it in a frame, use it as the background on your computer or your phone, print it out and stick it on your fridge, etc.
2) Scrapbook your word
This can look totally different for you and how you love to craft. But especially since my word for this year is create, doing something creative like this was perfect and a great way to incorporate something creative into my day.
I got my scrapbooking supplies out one night when Jason and I were watching TV and had fun making these pages. They are far from perfect and the layouts are very simple because I don’t have a ton of time to devout to something like this right now, but taking a little bit of focused time to create these pages got me so excited for 2017 and my word for the year.
If you watch my video above, you can see all the pages I made.
3) Pick a Bible verse
Pick a verse that goes along with your word or supports it in some way. My word is create and I chose Ephesians 2:1-10 (which is a longer passage) as my passage for the year but I’ve also distilled it down into Ephesians 2:10 to focus even more.
4) Create a list of books to read this year
Come up with some books that will help support your word and your main categories for the year. My word for 2016 was Joy and I did this a lot. I did a lot of studying on finding joy in the Lord, finding joy amidst difficult circumstances and so on. I plan on doing that again this year but more specifically for the different categories I came up with.
So again my four main categories are:
- Create a Gospel-centered atmosphere in my home – A lot of my reading on this will be christian living and theology books on making sure that my heart and attitude is correct before the Lord and that I’m daily growing in my faith.
- Create lasting memories for my 5 kids – I’m excited to dig into some books on creating memories for my kids, motherhood, etc.
- Focus on creating a new book on finding joy – I have some writing books to help me hone my writing craft and the process of writing a book that I want to go through.
- Develop more areas and space to create in my life – I’ve been doing some fun research on how creativity comes from God and how great and creative our God is, which you can really see throughout the book of Psalms. So I’ve been doing some research on books about that subject that I’m excited to get into.
5) One Little Word
This is the website that kind of made picking a word for the year famous. I’ve been picking a word for several years but I only just discovered her website. She has some fun products you can buy for helping you scrapbook and document your word all year long.
If you go to AliEdwards.com you can find more about One Little Word and all the fun things she has to help support your word of the year. She has some really fun ideas. I don’t have the time or the mental space to document my word like she has, but I do love the idea of it. (You can also order your word as a wooden cut out from her website.)
6) Other fun ideas
There are a lot of other fun ideas for focusing on your word, displaying it throughout your house, etc.
A mug
I love this idea because I love big, pretty mugs! Getting one with “create” on it would be so fun. If you have a really common word like “joy” or “blessed” you can probably find a mug for a few dollars at your local store. But there are also a ton of really fun Etsy stores that sell custom mugs. I really want to order one!
This one is $15.00 and you can use whatever word you want and it and you can also include a Scripture reference on it! And check out her store, she has a ton of other cute mugs and things.
A necklace
I LOVE this idea. I have a mug that says joy for my word last year but a necklace is a such a fun idea! And there are some beautiful ideas on Etsy. This would be a great idea to add to your birthday or mother’s day gift list this year 😉
This seller has some really cute ideas AND you get to choose a charm to go with it. I’m adding this to my mother’s day list!
I started looking through her shop and she has some really cute bracelets and cuffs as well. I would love a cuff like this that had my verse of the year. So much fun!!
Custom art print
Some of these are a little pricier, but if you are looking for some beautiful art work for your home anyway, then getting your word of the year might be an amazing addition to your home. Especially if you add your verse of the year (or JUST your verse).
This is one of my favorites – but it’s not cheap!
And something like this would be SO MUCH FUN for my office. It’s so fun and whimsical, it would go perfect with my word CREATE.
Word of the year tote bag
What a fun idea for taking your word with you! Plus, I bet it will strike up a lot of conversations 😀
Search on Etsy for other ideas
There are some really ideas out there. There are a ton of other great sellers making necklaces, mugs, artwork, and so many other fun things. So search for “word of the year” on Etsy and see what else you can come up with!
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter how you display your word of the year, it’s all about remembering to focus on it. I’ve found that picking a word for my year ends up being so helpful because instead of making these big huge resolutions that feel impossible to remember and stick with, I’m able to easily remember my word.
And so when I start thinking about my word CREATE, it’s easier to remember my four main objectives for this year and that then naturally helps spur on my goals, objectives, and priorities each month, week, and day.
Remember, if you need any help picking a word for this year, go listen to episode #54 of my podcast or read through my post.
5 Keys to Planning a Successful Day
And I also would love to invite you to go through my FREE guide and video called 5 Keys to Planning a Successful Day. You can watch the video on the 5 keys or download the audio version of it and then work your way through the PDF guide. It’s a quick and simple guide for helping you jump start your year with success! It’s totally free and you can jump right into it at any time.
And in next weeks video, I am going to be sharing all my favorite planners for getting on track in 2017! I can’t wait to dig into all the different planning options out there and give you some great suggestions for what might work the best for you.