I love the process of selecting my ‘One Little Word’ each year and while it doesn’t cause me sleepless nights, I do find myself mulling over words in my head as I go to sleep at this time of the year. My search for a word always takes a little time, as I enjoy looking at the definitions of the words I am considering to see if it fits with what I think I want or need for the coming year.
Earlier this month I read and finished Atomic Habits by James Clear and out of this book the word system kept coming up as a possiblity. This book had been on my ‘to read’ list for some time and I finally purchased at the airport in Rome, to read on our flights home. Early in the book James discusses how our failure to achieve goals is often related to the processes that lead to the achievement of the goals. It was easy to identify with this concept and I particularly liked this quote:
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear
The overall theme for the book is really about focusing on the systems, rather than on each of your goals. I started to fall in love with the word SYSTEM as a possiblity for my 2025 word. The definitions of system are:
- A set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; a complex whole
- A set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organised scheme or method.
- The prevailing political or social order, especially when regarded as oppressive and intransigent.
So, I sat and explored this word for a week or so, and shared my thoughts in the OLW 2024 group to see if anyone had used the word previously. I had no takers, but some suggestions to use the words FLOW or RHYTHM which I then explored. Flow, is a word I have considered in the past, especially as it relates to ‘flow state’ – which reminds me that I still have not read Flow: the psychology of optimal experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. But neither of those words had the diversity I needed. One of the reasons I was looking at systems was that I want to focus on setting up better systems for household tasks, exercise and self care, but after a bit more mulling I started to feel that the word wouldn’t give me as much freedom to be curious about a range of topics as another word might.
Once I discounted system and flow, I was back to square one, and started to reflect on how this year’s word PROGRESS had been for me. Documentation wise, I completed 3 months of prompts – but as always my word lives alongside me throughout the year in my thoughts and actions. I started out in the binder this year and had purchased the kit as well, doing January and the February manifesto prompts. Mid way through the year, as I wanted to concentrate on exercise in preparation for the Auckland half marathon and I changed to documenting my ‘progress’ in a travellers notebook. For July through to November I kept a log of my walking, yoga and golf in the TN, and this worked well for me. It wasn’t super creative documenting, but it worked to keep me on track and I was able to see my progress.
I also kept a log of my reading – both in Goodreads and in my TN. I set it up, expecting more fiction reading and less non-fiction, but ended up (to date) having read:
- 8 memoirs
- 17 Non-fiction books – largely about caregiving, personal development, feminism and writing
- 15 novels
- 2 books on art and journaling – although I did flick through many more for inspiration
I am still progressing my way through The Time Travellers Wife, Wifedom and Every Kind of People. I hope to finish these over the break, so I can end the year with 45 read books. It’s slightly short of my target, but happy with that result. I definitely returned to a reading a few pages each night before sleep, which has both helped my sleep and kept my page numbers up.
If there was one thing I hoped to do more of with documenting, it was to capture more photos of myself and my progress. I added a couple of 6 x 8 photos in the album at the beginning of the year, but didn’t keep up with that. However, December is not over and I am motivated to document this month with the facts and feelings prompt – which just might have to include a photo. I’m 10 kilograms lighter than I started the year, and most definitely fitter than I was 12 months ago – so it would be nice to celebrate that achievement as a reflection of my progress.
Back to choosing a word for 2025 and I realised that although I have nearly finished with the word progress I would like to continue some of the good vibes that this has given me and have now settled on the word PRACTICE for 2025. I typically enjoy the ‘practice’ month for One Little Word, and in an effort to create systems and habits that work I think this word will serve me well. Progress allowed me to take things at my own pace, and practice will sit alongside me as I try to become more consistent with my efforts in lots of areas. One of the deciding factors, was entering both the words system and practice into Chat GPT to create a playlist – this was a suggestion by a member in OLW a couple of years back and one I did for progress. When I entered Practice there were 4 songs on the list that resonate with me so much, that I could hardly turn the word away! I do love serendipidity and had been listening to Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfiled a lot while we were travelling. Just love the lyrics to that song.
The other songs that I love on that list were:
- Unstoppable by Sia
- The Climb by Miley Cyrus
- Learning to Fly by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Decision made and now I am looking forward to finishing off progress and getting on board with practice.
With any luck I can add a couple of more finished books to my reading log and do those Facts and Feelings pages by 31 December.
Yellow Azalea 