Word of the year recap and new word for 2018

Happy New Year, readers.

My wish for you is to live intentional lives that matter, and to be at peace with the path you choose this year.

My word of the year for last year was give. It was a good word that served me well. Here’s my first quarter recap and here’s my half year recap.

  • I gave to myself by going to one more class each week at gym, I went on walks and I slept really well. My sleep average went up to 7 hrs 38 min from 7 hrs 32 min in 2016.
  • I gave at work through helping colleagues, giving my best to clients and even being patient.
  • I gave to my family energy (even when I didn’t feel like it) and time.
  • I also gave to friends and family by making more calls and sending more texts/ whatsapps than I felt comfortable with, and I was purposeful in giving gifts and paying for more things than is my standard.

And it felt really good.

Before I dive into my word for this year, I want to tell you a quick story.

In October, I asked on social media if anyone wanted prayer. Some people commented on my feed but one friend messaged me privately. She then asked if there was anything I wanted prayer for. Such a novel concept as she was the only one who asked how she could pray for me. I told her about some feeling things.

The very next day a work colleague sent me a link to an enneagram test. I’d taken two of these before and both left me doubtful about the whole thing as I didn’t feel like it quite got me.

This time I took the test because this colleague takes all the tests I send him (!) and lo and behold, it said I was an enneagram 1. I read the write-up and it finally rang true. I downloaded this podcast on type 1 and listened on my way home. It was perfectly me. (I recommend going to look for your type on this podcast – it’s amazing) It was also an answer to some of the feeling things I’d been discomfited by for the last couple of months.

Since then, I’ve been fascinated with the enneagram but I still feel weird about it because I’m not a perfectionist (or am I protesting too much) anymore. I even say on my instagram profile that I’m a recovering perfectionist.

However, I’ve bought a course from Your Enneagram Coach and she calls it The Moral Perfectionist, which rings more true for me.

Back to the word of the year…

This year my word is fun.

Enneagram 1s move toward Type 7 when they’re in a healthy state, and the 7 is all about fun. On another of those podcasts, they specifically mentioned that 1s need to be very conscious about planning for fun. Yep, that’s me.

I’m not unfun but I do have to remind myself to do fun things before work. This is why I have a relax portion on each of my weekend to-do lists. Otherwise I’d just go and go, and never relax.

and I believe God answered my prayer because those feeling things were answered by the enneagram.

I’ll be asking myself these questions a lot this year: what sounds like fun? does this sound like fun? would it be more fun to do x or y?

It sounds frivolous when I write that down but I’m so serious and intentional (and intense!) about my goals already that I think I could do with a year of lightness.

I’ve already mapped out for each area of my life sub-sections of the questions above over two (!) pages in my bullet journal.

I’m going to include, as a part of my monthly review process (sign up for my list – I made a new, very cute monthly review form which I’ll send out at the end of January) a section where I ask myself questions like…

  • what was fun this month?
  • what was not fun?
  • how can I create more fun?

If you like (tell me) I’ll share some of that here with you.

So that’s it – my very long and drawn-out story of how I chose my word of the year, fun, for 2018.

What was your word for 2017, and how did it work out for you?

What is your word of the year for 2017 ?

What is your enneagram number?

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Comments

  1. Fun is a great word and I loved reading about last year’s word, too. I still need to think of one.

    • Marcia Francois says

      Oh Nina, I can’t wait to hear about your word for the new year. I’m off to catch up on your blog now 🙂

  2. Kirstin says

    I love the word ‘fun’! I hope you find many ways to discover fun in daily life. My word for 2018 is the same as for 2017 – Thrive. While I did manage to achieve some aspects – I resigned from my job as it was not making me happy – I want to thrive more in 2018. Fun and playfulness also are part of my thoughts on ‘Thrive’ and what it means for me.

  3. Michelle says

    I’ve chosen “engage” – love the definition, still thinking over the ramifications.

  4. Laney4 says

    Previous years I’ve had Cleanse (and I indeed cleansed people who were no longer friends out of my life, plus I cleaned up my computer files, etc.), Ruthless (when I threw out/donated a lot of “stuff” I really didn’t need), Balance (where I finally scheduled things FOR me rather than just things TO me/scheduling based on initiations by others), and Just Do It for last year.
    Just Do It worked well in 2017 until I had a 7-week vacation (pretty nice, huh?), so I couldn’t Just Do It at my home. It took me until November to catch up on paperwork, etc. So … I’ve decided to repeat Just Do It for this year too. I am taking things upstairs instead of leaving them on the steps, I am keeping my desk cleared, I am “eating my frogs” work wise (doing the things I really don’t want to do faster than I used to do them, but not necessarily first … yet, LOL), and I am saying yes to things I might otherwise not have done.
    Life is much easier to maintain happily if there is less weight on your shoulders, whether it be from a cluttered desk or house, saying yes to too many things, or accepting others’ negativity unnecessarily. (I’m sure the list could go on.) At least we are all trying to do our best, and that is what matters…. Thanks for all the help!

    • Marcia Francois says

      Laney, how is your phrase going this year? I love the focus on action.

      • I ended up changing my Word of the Year. It is now Sluggish (as in I DON’T want to be sluggish, of course). I realized I needed to get myself into more of a sleeping routine (so I wasn’t always tired) and to NOT fall for the “I need a nap” thought process. NOW whenever I want a nap or want to go to bed at the wrong time, I hear the word Sluggish and it motivates to be more active (even though I walk and play competitive badminton several nights every week). I now rarely nap, but instead find more constructive things to keep me awake when tired.
        How is THAT word working for me? It is working well, I’m pleased to say. My weight is down, my blood pressure is down, and my sugar level is down. Win-win-win!

        • Marcia Francois says

          I love your word journey this year and that you had the courage to change what wasn’t working for you!

Trackbacks

  1. […] around that word. For example, one year my word was simplify; the next year it was consolidate. This year my word is fun. […]

  2. […] Here’s where I wrote about why I chose the word “fun”. […]

  3. […] I tend to follow these urges because when the mood strikes, everything is more fun and fun is my word of the year. […]

  4. […] decided to only read books I wanted to seeing as it was my birthday month and my word of the year is FUN, and it was indeed a lovely, lovely reading […]

  5. […] Here’s where I talked about my word of the year, fun. […]

  6. […] Word of the year recap and my 2018 word […]

  7. […] word will help me not only have fun again but also be more playful in spirit. I considered having fun as my word again but I like to choose new words every year, at least for […]

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