My One-Word Theme for 2011: Now

26 CommentsMonday • January 10, 2011 • by michelle

During my 2010 Year End meme, I mentioned I don’t do resolutions, but I am doing something different regarding goal-setting this year. I’ve been setting goals for a while now, and although I’ve been fairly successful at reaching them, I feel like I need to kick things up a notch in 2011 to really make some progress on several items that have been hanging around on the to-do list.

And wouldn’t you know it, the Universe, as it is wont to do, sent me in the direction of a concept that is all over the place but that I have somehow missed up to this point in my life.

Reverb 10 calls it the “One-Word” prompt, asking readers to think of one word that described 2010 and then to imagine what they’d like that one word to be for the upcoming year. Chris Guillebeau calls it his “theme” for the year, while Christine Kane labels it the “Word of the Year,” and even offers a free worksheet to help you figure out yours.

I love this idea, and the first word that popped in my mind was “NOW.”

now by Genista on Flickr

And then I immediately tried to analyze it away, telling myself it was too ordinary, too vague, too plain — and that it came too damn easy. But I just kept coming back to it because it speaks to me on so many levels.

*NOW* : stop procrastination when there are tasks that need to be done.

*NOW* : move forward on personal projects that have been sitting on the backburner for far too long.

*NOW* : live in the moment, practice mindfulness – one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in the past couple years and am still learning.

Then, just as all this was turning around in my head, my friend Pam posted this on Facebook on January 1:

“Inner peace comes with staying in the NOW!”

Yes. Yes. Yes.

And in the words of Van Halen:

(Right now) Hey! It’s your tomorrow
(Right now) Come on, it’s everything
(Right now) Catch your magic moment
Do it right here and now
It means everything.

So now I feel a little like Ally McBeal with a theme song in my head. You might not believe me, but I promise you that just having this word in my head has already pushed me to do several things that I may have otherwise convinced myself could wait another day. We’re but 10 days into January, and the word has been with me constantly as I stare down something else I’d rather put off…and you know what? Things are getting done.

Sure, you say, but how long will that last? Well, I’m hoping for another 11 months and a couple weeks, but who knows? And who really cares? I’ll still have all those accomplishments, and as many of you have probably already figured out, getting things done actually breeds getting more things done. There’s something so inherently inspiring about progress.

By the way, my “now” doesn’t refer only to work and chores either. It also plays nicely with downtime as I tell myself NOW is the time to turn off the computer, load that movie, make some popcorn, and just relax.

Do you have a word for 2011?