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Charlotte Rains Dixon  

Three Powerful Words for an Amazing New Year

It's a little bit of a thing to come up with words for the year.  Christine Kane chooses one word to live by.  Chris Brogan chooses three.  And since I'm a bit of a lush, and always seem to want more, I go along with Chris and opt to choose three.

Last year I chose the words radical, fierce, and profound for my words.  (And in that post I also discussed our society's penchant for using words in groups of three, check it out, this little trick is something writers need to remember.) Note_desk_paper_237717_l

This year, in an email to his list, Chris added a new twist. (Actually, he's probably always done it this way and I just never got it before. Sometimes it takes me awhile.) Make your three words actionable, then every day make a list with a single task that will move you forward a bit with each word.  I love this idea.  It takes a theoretical concept that is easy to forget and cements it into the daily world.

Because I'm going to be putting these words into action, I thought a lot about which words I would choose.  Here's what I came up with:

  • Creativity
  • Faith
  • Inquiry

Let me dig a bit deeper into each word and how I perceive its meaning.

Creativity

Yeah, I know.  Duh.  We're writers.  Writers write.  And writing is creative.  So of course its going to be one of my words.  But I mean it in both a broader and a more specific way.  Let me explain.  Next year, I want to spend more time relaxing through intentionally creating and less time relaxing through unintentional activities.  Like when I need a mental break and spend an hour mindlessly surfing the internet.  Next year, I want to remember to step away from the computer and doodle.  Or paint. Or knit.  All activities which soothe my soul and actually encourage my writing.  (And I have some ideas for posts that will explain how I use such projects to spark writing ideas.) That's what I mean by the broader way. 

Here's what I mean by being creative in a specific way: I want to write more.  I know, I already write a lot.  I do.  But I want to write more.  And by that I mean that I want writing to be the thing I spend the most time at, whether that manifests as writing blog posts, writing fiction, book proposals, or ghostwriting, I want it to take up the bulk of my days.  This year I've gone a bit astray, spending more time focusing on my business and marketing than I would like.  Yes, its necessary to a certain extent.  I've just let it dominate and I need to pull things back around.

How will I make creativity a part of each day? Most importantly, by putting writing first.  That means getting up and going to the page, be that page my journal or my work in progress.  And it also means getting my hands engaged in some kind of art or craft project daily (even something as simple as doodling for five minutes), or nearly daily, and seeing what happens. 

Faith

Yes, this implies faith in God, which is important to me, but it is also bigger than that.  I want to go forth into the new year with full and complete faith in myself, in my abilities, in my career and my ideas.  I want to have faith in the ongoing evolution that is taking place in the world, faith that 2012 will be an amazing and adventurous year.  I want to remember to have faith in my family, my friends, my church, my community, my country and the world.  I want to have faith in my ability to go deep within and bring the riches I find there to the world.

How will faith manifest in my life on a daily basis?  Through prayer and meditation, for starters.  It's such a cliche, but there's no other way to access those inner treasures through getting still and listening.  And then spending some time asking for what you want.  (In my world, meditation=listening, prayer=asking, probably the order should be reversed.) I also like using affirmations, though my viewpoint has changed a bit on that recently.  I don't like using the specific ones (I am now financially free) as I like what I call helper affirmations (I can do all things through Christ, this pattern in me that strengthens me) or questions (how does it get any better than this? see next section).

Inquiry

Lately, I find myself questioning everything.  We have so much information thrown at us and it's easy to nod your head and agree with the party line.  For instance, the recommendation to meditate is something that we hear all the time.  But does it really work for you?  I've pondered that and realized that it does work for me, in the scrappy-ass way I do it, which is why I discussed it above.  But maybe it truly doesn't ring your bell.  So don't do it. The important thing is to inquire about everything.  Recently Chris Guillebeau wrote a post (and a manifesto) about how he didn't agree with the common advice to seek balance.  He says if you're truly intent on a goal, you ought to go for it full out.  I was thrilled to see him poke holes in the sacred cow of balance.   He had the guts to question it, which caused me to, also. And I concluded that, at least for me, he was wrong.  Or more to the point, I didn't agree with him.

I've also had a great deal of success using questions as affirmations, which is a form of questioning the universe.  I learned this after reading a book written by the guys who do Access Consciousness.  I'm by no means an expert in this modality, but I've found that their simple tools are really quite magical.  Ask yourself: how does it get any better than this?  Or: what would it take for X to happen? Or: what's right about this situation? Or: what am I not seeing here? Then the universe (or God if your prefer) responds, most often in interesting and unexpected ways. 

The way I will put this into action in my daily life is twofold.  First, simply by remembering to respond to life events with the above questions.  And second, to remember to dig deeper and ask questions.  If someone recommends something, I'll stop and think about it instead of readily agreeing just because its the party line.  The thought occurs that another question that will work well this year, is the simple one from Byron Katie: Is is true?

Well, Gee-zus, I didn't mean to run on quite so long. So, tell me: what are your three words for 2012?  How will you put them into action?

*And remember, no matter what your three chosen words are for 2012, if writing is among your goals you might want to look into my Make Money Writing class which begins in January.

 

Photo by lupoianfla.

0 thoughts on “Three Powerful Words for an Amazing New Year

  1. J.D. Frost

    Charlotte, I’m not sure I want to choose three words; yours seem to serve the purpose so well. This is a great post. Looks to me like a great springboard for going into 2012.

  2. Charlotte Dixon

    Thanks, J.D. I have high hopes for 2012. At the very least, its going to be an interesting year!

  3. brian

    nice…i think this is balanced…esp the last 2…faith and inquiry…they have been taught as opposites at times but i think they go together well..

  4. Charlotte Dixon

    Brian, Love your point that faith and inquiry have been taught to be separated in the past, but not in my world. Thanks for dropping by and commenting.

  5. Square-Peg Karen

    Hmmm, what does it say about me that the words “scrappy-ass” are my favorite in this whole wonderful post?

    I like the words you chose – and the explanations, the fact that you enjoyed seeing some “poke holes” in a sacred cow (questioning is so good for us!!) and this whole post; and I’m off to ponder my words for 2012 (how exciting!).

  6. Charlotte Dixon

    I love you, Karen! You made me laugh this morning, and that’s a wonderful thing. Please come back and tell us what words you’ve chosen!

  7. Suzanne Lilly

    What a thought provoking post! So thought provoking, that I need to sleep on this one let my three most meaningful words come to me. Much of what you say resonates with me; your practice of meditation, your needing to come back to creativity after working on business building, and questioning everything. I do question everything and it drives my DH nuts!

    I’m so glad you stopped by my site, Charlotte, because that’s how I found you. I’m loving your posts, and I’ve spent a good deal of time pottering around your blog today. It’s been fun and enlightening!

  8. Charlotte Dixon

    Oh Suzanne, your words are wonderful and so is your post! Thank you so much for coming back to share them. Anybody else want to have a go?

  9. Suzanne Lilly

    Okay, I’m back with my three words.

    Respect

    Nurture

    Openness

    I wrote a blog post at http://goo.gl/nCt4f about why I chose those words with a link back to this article. Thanks for getting this started.

  10. Samantha Gluck

    Those words — creativity, faith, inquiry — make up the successful writer’s inner being. I love that you brought them to life by expounding on what they mean to you in this wonderful post. Three is my favorite number, so I hate to add anything else and make it four, but I would add grace to your trio and make it a quartet. Without grace, it’s awfully hard to have faith (at least for me) and it’s doubly difficult (for me) to allow my creative and inquiring self to emerge in the form it should.

    Thanks for this wonderful post that reminded me of how to fill my writer’s soul with nutritious foods of success!

  11. Charlotte Dixon

    I love the word grace, Samantha, its a great addition. A wise coach once told me that a four-legged stool is sturdier than a three-legged stool, so perhaps adding that fourth word is a wise choice!

  12. Samantha Gluck

    I never thought of it that way! Thanks for that treasure of wisdom, Charlotte!

  13. Colorjoy LynnH

    I need a single focus. For the last 2 years mine has been kindness. In 2012 i think I’m choosing maintenance (which implies discipline). I’m already on the start of a learning curve. I’ve been too airy-fairy and my biz needs me to put some things on automatic routine, just get it done without drama. Pay bills. Schedule classes. Apply to teach at conferences. Put patterns online when they are available. Just do it, no extra energy.

  14. Charlotte Dixon

    Lynn, I know some people really prefer to choose one word, but I’m a lush, I liked three. I love your proclamation that you are going to get things done, period, no extra energy–or drama. When my kids were little I’d tell them if they’d use the energy they were expending complaining, the chores I’d asked them to do would be finished. And, I need to apply a little bit of that to myself. 🙂 By the way, I still think you need to write a book–your designs and sense of color are amazing!

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