What will define your year?

Choosing a theme can provide clarity and give time a focus

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to consider what concept or idea will define
your upcoming year. In both looking forward and looking backward,

(00:27):
it can be helpful to think about what will set
this year apart. I know a lot of people choose
a word for the year. I generally don't, but I
understand the appeal. A word can help define a mindset,
which you can then use as you weigh different choices.

(00:47):
Perhaps this is the year of saying yes, or the
year of gratitude, or the year of intentionality. You could
also define a year by a particular habit you hope
to start or stop. This is the year you quit smoking,
or the year you become a runner, or the year
you learn Spanish. I like this framing because it makes

(01:10):
a goal, an aim, and a defining experience part of
your identity rather than a chore. New Year's resolutions occasionally
feel oppressive, but a theme changes things. If you think
of the upcoming year as the year you quit smoking,
then it is not you versus smoking. It's a year

(01:31):
when a defining experience is the change in your relationship
to smoking. It takes this to do to a whole
new level. As for the year you become a runner,
you are not saying you will run for forty five minutes,
four times a week at six am. I mean some
people would do well with that structure, but for other

(01:52):
people that might not always be feasible in a busy life. Instead,
what you are saying is that you are envisioning yourself
at a runner on December thirty first, and behaving in
accordance with that identity. In the meantime. A runner runs
regularly because well, she's a runner. She doesn't need to

(02:13):
beerate herself and give up if she misses a Thursday
morning run because she is sick or it is raining.
A runner just goes on another run in a few
days because she is a runner and that is what
a runner does. Or maybe instead of a mindset of
a goal, this framing could suggest that it is the
year of a particular activity for you. It could be

(02:37):
the year of dinner parties, the year of calling friends
on your commute, the year of watching Tom Stoppard's plays.
Consider an activity that you want to do more of
and set that as a theme for the year. Or
maybe these past twelve months have been particularly hard. You

(02:58):
might decide that this is the year of recuperation or
rest or getting your feetback under you. When you know
that is what the year is all about, you have
a rubric for choosing which opportunities to accept and which
ones to let pass you by, and for a figuring
out how you spend your time and shape your days.

(03:21):
You won't feel guilty for not saying yes to everything,
because the big yes you are saying this year is
to recuperation. Not everything fits with that theme. Whatever the
particular theme for the upcoming year, it can feel clarifying
to have a focus, and that focus doesn't have to
be about self improvement, truly, it can be about anything.

(03:45):
This maybe is the year of having fun. Life can
feel so busy and time can pass so fast. If
we aren't intentional about what we want for the year,
it is easy to find ourselves on December thirty first
wondering what even happened. So reflect on your hopes for

(04:08):
the year ahead and consider setting a focus for the year.
When you know what you want the year to be about,
you are positioned to make that intention a reality. If
you decide what will define the year for you. You
can let me know about it at Laura at Laura
vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

(04:34):
for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

(05:03):
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