2017 Word of the Year

For several years now, I've heard of people choosing one word to focus on for an entire year.  This word sets their intention for the year and much personal/spiritual/physical growth is centered around this intention.

Every time I hear stories like these, I always think, "Wow!  That is so cool! Imagine having enough insight and being so in-touch with yourself that you can sum up your intentions for an entire year into one word- I should totally do that!"  And then for the next 5 minutes I think really hard.  This thinking is following by my concession and acceptance that I'm probably not spiritually mature enough to come up with a word that will actually still make sense for my life 12 months later.

As a quick side note (because anyone who knows me knows my tendency to thrive on side tangents)... Most official "Words of the Year" are named in retrospect.  Enjoy reminiscing yesteryears' words here.

After writing down my 2017 goals, I suddenly realized over the years, I had become spiritually mature enough to formulate my own 2017 Word of the Year.  Totally kidding.  But I did see a theme and decided to put it into a word.  It is yet to be determined whether or not it will last the whole year (or really, even past January):

GREATER:

"of ability, quality, or intensity considerably above the normal or the average" 

Don't let this post fool you.  I still feel as though I lack insight.  I could probably stand to know myself a little better.  And I definitely haven't reached some great heights of spiritual maturity.  I simply noticed a trend and put a word to it.  

In case you missed 2017's Goals Post, the areas in which great applies include:

A Greater Number of Books Read

A Greater Number of Posts Blogged

A Greater Understanding of the French Language

A Greater Amount of Time Devoted to Dance

A Greater Amount of Yoga Poses Made
A Greater Amount of Honesty and Courage to Do What's Best for My Family and I

In addition to having my first "Word of the Year" ever, 2017 seems to hold so much promise and potential.  I posted a picture on Instagram at the beginning of the year, letting the world know I've been waiting on this year for about 33 years.  I've always had a fondness for symmetry and since my birthday happens to be on a 17th, having a birthday in the year 2017 seems very special.  Additionally, I turned 33 this year, which is a number signifying a promise or the promises of God.  It's going to be a GREAT year and I'm excited to see what it holds.

2017 Goals

Happy New Year and Bonne Année, dear friends!  I've missed writing but enjoyed taking off the month of December to focus on enjoying every minute of Christmas, Chanukah, and New Years Celebrations with my family.

If you've been around my blog for a while, you know I'm all about setting some goals and New Year's Resolutions are no different for me :)  I'm a firm believer in always growing and doing what you can to better yourself.  So, without further ado, I present my 2017 Goals:

1. Read 25 Books

I always try to set a number of books I'd like to read in a year and keep a list of books read.  2013 averaged a book a month with a total of 12 books read.  I could not find a list for 2014 anywhere, which did not surprise me as that was the year we moved into our home and (a week later) became a family of four.  2015's list really disappointed me with only 8 books, so I was much more pleased to see 14 titles on 2016's list.  It's still not as many as I would like, so I am shooting for 25 in 2017.  I've broken it down to 2 a month, plus 1, which seems way more doable.

2. Have 50 Blogposts This Year

2015 was actually the year I really committed to consistently writing for my blog.  You really can see that carry over into 2016, where I hit my record of 25 posts for the year.  I truly enjoy writing and am constantly wanting to be more consistent, so I set a goal of 50 posts for this year, which can be broken up a multitude of ways: 4.16 posts per month; 0.961 per week, or even .13 per day, which truly seems much more attainable. 

3. Complete Level 2 of Rosetta Stone French

I purchased this software in 2011 and have been slowly working through it over the years.  Right now, I'm in the third part of Level 1 and have set a goal of completing the remaining parts of level 1 as well as all of level 2 by the end of the year.  I also set a *maybe* goal (that's a thing, right?  I'm pretty sure that's a thing) of attending Monday Morning French Conversation at a local French Bakery.  We shall see if that one happens...

4. Dance More

Dancing is my favorite.  Absolute favorite.  Last Spring, my favorite Zumba instructor decided to no longer teach Zumba classes and I did the unimaginable.  I stopped dancing.  I was seriously so let down that the classes that I looked forward to each week would no longer be happening.  I recently decided that it was so silly to let such a reason keep me from Zumba and decided to check out some of the other instructors (who really aren't that bad) and was (of course) reminded of how much I loved it.  This resolution/goal also encourages the random post-dinner (or even pre-dinner) dance parties with whomever might be present.

5. Yoga More

I love yoga, man.  Fortunately for me, my favorite yoga instructor is still in practice, so this goal is to just show up more often.  Last year I had a yoga goal of a side plank and about half way through the year finally nailed it.  This year's goal is definitely to perfect the push-up, and to do them all. All. The. Push. Ups.  

6. Be Honest with Myself and Others About What's Best for My Family and I

This is something that seems so obvious... one of those "easier said than done" things.  It's also been coming up in full force over the past few months in life and through a few books I've recently read.  While I haven't perfected it yet, I know it's of the utmost importance tokeep learning and trying.

I'd love to hear from readers to see if others enjoy New Years Resolutions and Goal Setting!  What goals or resolutions have you set for 2017?