Tag Archive for: new year

One Word

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by Paula Gail Benson

This year, I received a gift that has me thinking differently about New Year’s resolutions. The gift is a book entitled One Word that Will Change Your Life (Expanded Edition), written by Jon Gordon (a leadership speaker with a training/consulting company), Dan Britton (a speaker, writer, coach, and trainer who serves as the Chief Field Officer with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes), and Jimmy Page (author, speaker, and leadership coach). It was given to me and other members of our church’s congregational council to encourage team spirit and help establish and focus on “relationships” (the word selected for our council members this year).

So, what is the “one word” method? How does it work and how do you determine your word?

The authors explain in the Introduction: “One Word that Will Change Your Life is a proven way to create clarity, passion, power, and life change. Each year, resolutions are rarely kept, and goals are often easily forgotten. But One Word sticks. By living a single word that is meant for you, you’ll find renewed purpose and meaning throughout the year and achieve laserlike focus and power for your life.” (One Word, p. x)

According to the authors, while 87 percent of people make new resolutions and goals each year, 50 percent of those folks keep their resolutions and goals only through January. The authors contend, with resolutions and goals, “[s]uccess is measured by what we accomplish instead of who we become.” (One Word, p. 2) They said, “By embracing, owning, and living a single word for 365 days, our lives changed. Instead of being weighed down with unrealistic resolutions and unmet goals, One Word provides an entirely new perspective on how we approach our year. It frees us up. One Word gives us renewed purpose and meaning.” (pp. 5-6)

The authors recommend a three-step process for finding your word: (1) prepare your heart by removing yourself from “busyness” and contemplating in “silence”; (2) ask God what word is right for you and listen for an answer; and (3) keep your mind on the word as you face life and consider how its perspective changes how you view and react to events.

You can start the process at any time and concentrate on a single word for any amount of time you choose, but don’t repeat a word—select a new one for the year or time-period.

The book itself takes about 49 minutes to read. It is available in audio format. At the end of the book is an “action plan” that provides questions and exercises to help discover your word and think about how to use it. Also, there is a website: GetOneWord.com, and X and Facebook accounts.

In addition, these authors have collaborated on a One Word book for children and a book called Life Word, about finding your passion and creating a legacy.

If you went with a single word instead of a list of resolutions or goals, what would your word be?

New Way of Thinking

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New Year, New Way of Thinking

By Cathy Perkins

I’ve been thinking about New Year’s Resolutions this week. Making
them is ingrained in us, isn’t it? New year, new leaf, fresh start and all
that. This year will be different! Everything is new and shiny!
Okay, confession: I only made a couple of vague resolutions.
You know, “I’ll finish that online course I started, cough, cough, last year”
ones.
So many people swear they’re going to change, to start doing
the good for you stuff. Go to the gym. Eat healthier. And writers? This is the
year you’re finally going to finish that, fill in the blank. Novel screenplay,
memoire. You hear echoes of “work hard” and “sacrifice” and, if you really want
it…
Why do our expressions for going after what we want to
pursue—our goals, for heaven’s sake—come across as something negative? Why
do we make them about things we clearly don’t want to do?
And what happens? Here we are, barely three weeks into January
and mine are already headed for that big dump station in the sky.  
Then I stumbled across a post by Jennifer Crusie.
Jenny is a fantastic teacher. I met her several years ago
when she taught a masterclass at the beach. I think my head exploded, I learned
so much that week. So, when she says something, I tend to listen and think
about it.
Her proposal is instead of choosing tasks that you know you
aren’t going to carry through, focus on what makes you happy. Won’t that be a
better way to appreciate the good things in life? 
I’ve been thinking about happiness this week (instead of
that class I’m not listening to). What makes me happy?
I love to travel, so I took advantage of Alaska Air’s sale
and booked a few flights. And art. I’ve been playing with my kiln and fused
glass for a while, but those pencils and watercolors are calling. There’s a
shiny new book I want to write and this may be the year to screw up my courage
and tackle the book that nearly made me quit writing.
So, what about you? How are your resolutions going? Did you
make any?

Or would you rather jump on board my Happiness Train?


Image courtesy of Gross National Happiness USA organization. Find them here.




An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award.

New Year Promises

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by Sparkle Abbey

Happy New Year from us to you! Since it’s the beginning of a new year everyone’s talking about resolutions. We’d have to say it appears that there’s a bit of a divide on whether they’re a good thing or not.

On the one hand the beginning of a new year seems like the perfect time to take stock and see how you’re doing. It’s a fresh start, a clean slate, and perhaps good time to set some goals.

But according to U.S. News and World Report 80% of New Year’s Resolutions fail by February. Wow. We’re optimists but even we realize those are really terrible odds. We can see why this January some are just saying “no” to resolutions.

Psychology Today recently published an article on the Four Common Reasons Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail. The article is a great read, so please check out the whole thing, but in short the main reason we fail is that our goals aren’t clear. That makes sense to us. The best type of goal is a very specific one. We’ve all heard of SMART goals, right? The letters stand for: Specific-Measurable-Achievable-Realistic-Timely.

Turns out the research mentioned in the article covers some of the other parts of the SMART acronym. Another piece of the puzzle is that change is hard and we don’t always take the time to figure out the best path. So maybe rather than just jumping in, we should figure out where we’re going and understand that slow and steady (and one track) can win the race.

Another point made in the article is that it’s easy to get discouraged and so we need to look at whether our goals are realistic. As we go forward we may need to make adjustments. We love this recent blog Practical Resolutions by Hank Phillippi Ryan at Career Authors. Hank’s advice involves Writing (a lot), reading (a lot), and also things like listening, respect, patience, perseverance, and getting better.

When it comes down to it, that last one is really what it’s all about, isn’t it? Getting better. So, whether your goals involve writing more, reading more, eating healthier, or getting more exercise, you can always get better. And you can start on January 1st or some random Tuesday in May. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you start!

We like to write our goals down as a reminder of what we’re focusing on. And we enjoy working with SMART goals, but like everything else you have to figure out what works for you. We’re all made differently and motivated differently. Some people, like our friend Holly Jacobs, picks a word for the year. We love that idea! Check out Holly’s Word for 2019.

What are your thoughts? Do you set goals at the beginning of a new year? Do you pick a word or a thought to focus on for the year? Or are you in the anti-resolution camp? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series set in Laguna Beach. Their series features  former Texas beauty queen cousins, Caro, a pet therapist and, Melinda, a pet boutique owner. The most recent installments (book nine) BARKING WITH THE STARS and  (book ten) THE DOGFATHER continue Caro and Mel’s murder-solving adventures.

But here’s some great news, if you’ve not yet started the series (or would like to share the series with a friend) the first book, DESPERATE HOUSEDOGS, is currently on sale for 99 cents in all ebook formats!
Amazon

Joy to My World

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by Bethany Maines
As the year draws to a close, I find myself doing the usual
assessment of what I did this year and what I’ll be doing next year.  But this year, I’m trying to concentrate on
evaluating more through the lens of not just financial success, but emotional
success.  What was fun for me?  Because if a creative project doesn’t bring
me joy, why am I spending valuable emotional time on it?
One of the joyful projects of my year was Blue Christmas. I
like romantic adventures that find characters swept up in dangerous events.  And I liked turning a Christmas Carol into
something that’s not quite so sweet and sugary. 
I also find myself already pondering what Christmas carol I can do next
year.  Santa Baby?  Sleigh Ride? 
Mele Kalikimaka?  Gabriel’s
Message?  What message could Gabriel be
getting and how could it upend his life? Or what message is he sending?  Who is this Gabe guy anyway?  A struggling coffee shop owner soured on love
by the barista who left him cold?  A
photographer who just cannot take one more fake happy family photo for the
holidays? The possibilities are endless and so are the Christmas Carols. 

Another project that made me happy this year was the SharkSantoyo series.  This action packed five
book series follows the ups and downs of Peregrine Hays and Shark Santoyo as
they try to outwit the mob, the FBI and Peri’s private investigator uncle.  I loved creating the overarching storyline,
the quirky characters, the bad guys with hearts of gold, and the bad guys that
were just plain bad.  I loved the
characters and I’m hoping that people will enjoy the roller-coaster ride along
with them.  (Book #3 comes out in April
2019!)
2018 was a great year for exploring the characters I love
and what I want to write. Next up in my pondering: the best way to pursue what
I love in 2019! 

PS. Have a suggestion for which Christmas carol I should turn
into a story next?  Comment below!
**
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San
Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo
Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to
exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in
karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working
on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube,
Twitter and Facebook.