Time To Think About Your Powerful Focus Word For 2021!

I think we are past that time when wishing a “Happy New Year” is still “appropriate”. I do however still wish you a great, happy and healthy 2021. Let’s fill it with lots of love and laughter. Yes, you would usually use the passive “filled with lots of love and laughter” but that won’t do it for me. After 2020, feeling in charge has become even more important to me. And my first step of being in control is deciding on a powerful focus word for 2021.

You are still busy with your New Year’s resolutions and do not have the headspace for yet another, mainly mental, exercise? Maybe my take on New Year’s resolutions can help make room? Check it out here.

If 2020 has taught us one thing, it’s that self-care is more important than ever. And of course 2020 has taught us many more things. Certainly not all of them are positive or worth repeating, that’s for sure. I did not have a focus word in 2020 and I must say in retrospective I do regret I didn’t. But I am also pretty sure it would have changed throughout the year, as things got from not great to outright crazy.

Change is not going to happen, unless we make it happen. And once we do it for ourselves, society might follow. I feel in 2020 I have at times been rather passive. Voluntarily and involuntarily, of course. Good thing is, a new year gives us a new opportunity. I will use mine, by not waiting for things to happen, that I really, really want to see happen. Will I always succeed? Most likely not because failure is part of the process. But whether I succeed or fail, both will lead to growths and development. So definitely worth trying.

So I did not have a focus word for 2020 and was not thinking much about focus words. While skipping through LinkedIn, I came across a lot of “my word for 2021” posts. Check-out one of them here.

And while I was still wondering if I was a fan or not, a word popped up in my mind and has not left since. That word is “create”. It seems to align perfectly with my desire of more “activity” vs. “reactivity” or even “passivity”. It popped up in my head and I felt a little bit of excitement. 2021 so far has not given me a lot of reason for excitement, that’s for sure. Until this happened. With that word sneaking into my mind like an unannounced visitor, I naturally had to give having a focus word some thoughts. What would be the benefits? Would there be any risks?

I strongly believe there are a couple of benefits with having a focus word. And as always and with everything – if you overdo it, there will also be risks. You could get too focused on just this word and what it means for you and your year. Or your situation might change and you will be unable to change your focus word thus getting stuck. So stay flexible! Words can change even if they are your focus word.

Being able to focus is important. Especially when it feels like things are “getting out of control” or are too overwhelming to digest. I have always had techniques to help me focus and as an outcome feel a lot less overwhelmed. For example listing all the things I can control. All the positive things that are happening or that I am surrounded with. Or all my routines that help me be more flexible.

However those techniques are usually applied reactively. With the exceptions of routines, maybe. Having a focus word seems to be a much more pro-active approach. An attempt to filter out the things we can control and then focus on those instead of everything at once. For me a focus word needs to meet certain criteria, to make sense for my life:

• Positive
• Active
• Clear
• Diverse

The human brain does not do well with negations. Don’t think about a brown bear. Right…I rest my case. So if you want your focus word to do it’s job, it should be positive. And clear. For me and my desire to be more in control it had to be active and an activity vs. just being a noun. I could have chosen creativity but that’s a state rather than an activity and it would not drive me as much. However that’s really a very personal choice. You have to do you and that means choosing what works for you.

Diverse is a little bit tricky but for me it means it’s inclusive of the people around me and can apply to my work life as much as my personal life.

There is different approaches to your focus word. You can think about how you would like to feel in 2021 and take it from there. Or you can think about what you would like to have accomplished by the end of the year and try to sum this or the efforts leading there up in one word. Or you can think about a state you want to be in – in my case in control / in charge and that thought might just let the fitting word pop up in your mind, as it happened to me.

For me, create is a very positive and fitting word. And one that will even work, if things are difficult. For example with lemons you can create lemonade and with stones thrown in your way, you can build a bridge. As I said in the beginning, I had a sense of excitement when this word sneaked up on me. And since then, a lot of ideas have flooded my mind of things that I will create this year. From delicious meals for my husband and I, over a safe and positive work environment for my team, to positive change in our community.

I am very vision oriented. I have an almost photographical memory, which literally works by taking “photographs” of things I have seen, experienced, done, heard etc. and storing them in an infinite album. So I am going to use my focus word 2021 to visualize my focus and focus areas. And to help me stay in charge, when things are overwhelming. It will keep me accountable, too.

Do you usually have a word for the year? What’s your word for 2021 and how are you using it in your day to day life? It might be time to think about one!

Take care, be safe & thrive in 2021!