Create Life Theme

Ahhh.... the ubiquitous New Year's resolution. How many times have you developed a list of New Year's resolutions, which at the time sounded great, only to find yourself feeling less than enthused about it six months later? Have you ever felt guilty or depressed because you didn't achieve a New Year's pledge? Alternatively, have you reached a goal and yet felt uninspired or unfulfilled by it?

Instead of setting New Year’s resolutions, I encourage to develop a theme for their life. This theme gets you focused and sets the stage for what you want to accomplish in the coming year. Consider what your theme could be for the coming months. Step back and observe the bigger picture that is your life. Ask yourself what you want your life to look like in 2003.

Determine what is important to you and what values you hold. Base your theme on what you find joyful and what you want to accomplish this year both personally and professionally. It is important that your theme resonates with you and brings a smile to your face when you say it. You must own it. It must propel you forward. Spend some time thinking about the right words to describe your theme. They will create the overriding intention for your year ahead. Once you have developed your theme, write it down and put it where you will see it every day. Examples of some of my client's themes are "Let go. Rebuild. Move Forward" "Growth and Independence" "Balance and Follow-through" "Stretch" "Reaching my Best Level." The idea is to create a theme that empowers you to live your best life.

My life theme for 2002 was "completion." I loved this word; it sang to me and I knew exactly what it meant. I used my theme of completion as a filter for all the decisions I made about spending my time and energy. I only said "yes" to those things that fit within my overall intention of completion. What I noticed is that my theme gave me great direction and things fell into place as a result. This year my theme is "collaboration." What is your theme?

Playing With Your Coach
What is your intention for the next year? Here are some simple steps you can take to create your life theme.
1)Review your values and vision.
2)Take note of your top three goals.
3)Reflect on what brings you joy.
4)Draft your life theme based on the information you gathered in the first three steps.

Play with the words. Keep your life theme simple. Keep it to a maximum of six words. The simpler the language, the easier it is to remember and act on.