photo by Annamarie Akins Photography

Happy New Year!

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve never really been one to do “new year’s resolutions.” I don’t think new year’s resolutions are bad, they’ve just never quite been for me.

I do, however, love the clean slate feeling that January 1st brings. I love knowing (and totally NOT KNOWING) of what lies ahead of me for a new year. Which is why I love the whole “word of the year” adaptation thing. My 2015 “word of the year” was INTENTIONAL. And, while I think I did well in some areas with it, there were certainly other areas I could have done much better. Much better, to be quite frank.

Which is why I’m somewhat carrying over my 2015 word of the year, but upgrading it / graduating it / promoting it to another level for my 2016 word of the year:

purposeful.

While intentional means more “doing in a way that is planned or intended – the thing you plan to do or achieve,” purposeful means having a clear aim or direction, showing determination, showing resolve, and focuses on the reason WHY something is done.

2016 is going to be a huge year. This I know.

We’re going to welcome our second child into this world, a lot is already planned and in the works for both mine and my husband’s businesses, and as a family, I know that life is going to look very different for us 12 months from now. And I’m excited about it.

But I also don’t want to miss it. I don’t want to forget what’s important. I want each and every thing I do in both my personal and professional life to be done with purpose. 

I want to focus on my why. 

Why I do what I do on a daily basis.

A lot of it will become much more clear (at least, I hope) over the next few months. I’m also pretty prepared for life to throw me a curveball or six and show me that it’s all completely out of my hands and that the more I surrender to the Lord, the more clear my vision will be.

What about you? What is your 2016 word of the year? Do you do a word of the year? Or are you more a “resolutions” person?