The other day, someone on Instagram mentioned January being a practice round for resolutions. That way, you have until February to get things in gear. Ha! I love that. Especially this year because all my 2019 reflecting and new year visions were a bit delayed. Now January is flying by and I realize I better get on with it because 2020 is going to be the fastest yet, I just know.
Before I talk about my word for 2020, I wanted to reflect on 2019. The biggest thing I wanted to accomplish was being more intentional with my time. That’s why I chose intention as my word for 2019. Last year was my first year skipping resolutions and instead choosing a word. A word to set the tone or “theme”, revisit throughout the year and have in place as a check-in point. I had such a good experience with choosing a single word versus multiple resolutions I eventually forget about. That’s why I’m choosing another for 2020.
Intention lead me to achieving more at work, growing this space & creating more unique posts than ever before. It made me show up for my relationships by spending higher quality time with the ones I love. Plus, it lead me to meeting new people by saying yes to new things & intentionally getting out of my comfort zone. Although it made me feel a bit bound down by my planner, I think living intentionally taught me a lot about my capacity. That’s why I want to continue building on intention in 2020.
Wouldn’t it be cool if our yearly words built on top of one another? That’s a rainy day discussion.
Drumroll, please. My word for 2020? Invest.
I went back and forth and spent a lot of hours during Emmett’s midnight feedings thinking through this. As a new mom and going through one of the craziest experiences of my life, I had a lot of ideas about different words. 2020 will definitely be full of challenges, more new experiences, great joy and random turbulence. But instead of choosing something like patience or grace – two top contenders – I chose invest. Here’s why.
Invest formally means “provide or endow someone or something with”. Typically, we apply this idea to money & financials. However, I’m attracted to the way to can be applied to us as humans as well. Not only are T and I going to have to invest our money in different ways this year (college savings fund, here we come), but we will need to invest in our time, in Emmett, in ourselves and in our relationship. Not that we didn’t do this before, but this year will be a whole new adventure.
To clearly map out what I want “invest” to result in, I wrote a few vision phrases (not sure what else to call them) to summarize my focus in 2020.
My 2020 Vision
Invest in time
in time with Emmett, in time with each other, in time with family; use your time wisely, be present, forget the to-do list once in a while
Invest in yourself
give yourself grace, be patient with your body, get moving again, stay creative, find time for yourself, know it’s ok to say no to things, be grateful
Invest in the new
in the new experiences, the newness of becoming parents, your relationship with T, the new “us”; don’t be afraid of new opportunities
Invest literally
don’t buy stupid stuff, invest creatively with our money; save, build, grow
So, what do you think? Have you set a vision or any resolutions for 2020?
I think this is so fantastic, and I love your idea/vision statements for 2020. Intentions are so much more meaningful when you can really think through it all and narrow it down to a word that encompasses everything you’re hoping to achieve. I’m sure you’re in for a fantastic year!
Karly
https://www.whatkarlysaid.com
Thank you so much Karly! I’ve really enjoyed narrowing it down to a word versus keeping track of multiple things. Looking forward to a great year – sending good vibes your way, too!