My Word of 2016

It took me a minute to find the words, but I assure you I’ve been thinking hard on my goals for 2016. Like, too hard to the point where I got overwhelmed, and tried to give up.

But I’m here and I’m going to try, even though y’all know I’m not the biggest fan of time..

To simplify things, I thought I’d take a page from one of the most inspiring bloggers out there who I’ve followed since the beginning. The Shine Project’s Ashley announced her phrase of 2016 and I figured I’d follow suit except I’m sticking with one word.

The best way for me to battle the overwhelm of even setting goals was to break it down to one, manageable word.

Freedom

..from financial, emotional, clutter and job-related stress
..to explore, travel, try, adventure, move, do, give
..from destructive, comparative, obsessive thoughts
..from expectations, confines, fear

This was the word I kept coming back to. It won’t be the most tangible, but I have concrete goals, steps and measures to see if I can live up to such a powerful word.

I plan to post it up, visualize it often and strive for it. Freedom. Feels good, right?

I also broke it down into priorities and what the goals within them might look like:

Financial – creating a budget, tracking income better, taking on projects and finally feeling in control
Physical – starting a training plan and finally tackling a huge physical feat I’ve wanted to accomplish for many years, nurturing my body with better nutrition
Mental – practicing yoga + gratitude, being honest with myself, writing (blog posts, essays, articles, my novel), reading (12 or more books in 2016 specifically), learning (photography, design, cooking, baking)
Balance – making time for cleaning/home improvement, growing, adventuring, partying, relationship-ing, growing + cultivating friendships, eating for health + pleasure

I will be writing down the nitty gritty steps to achieving these lofty goals for my own reference, and perhaps I’ll continue sharing my monthly goals as I have in the past.

Until then, I’m leaving you with the challenge of deciding your own word of the year.
What will it be?