In a recent article for CEOWORLD magazine, I wrote about making 2024 the year you substitute setting (and often failing to achieve) New Year’s Resolutions for choosing one word to frame the year you want to experience. A word that will act as your true north so that you stay on track. A word that aligns closely to what you most value and ensures you make the right decisions for you. A word to help you simplify and cut through the clutter.
I shared with you my Top 4 tips for choosing your word:
Tip 1: Your word needs to describe exactly the type of year you want to experience
Tip 2: Your word needs to feel very, very right
Tip 3: Your word needs to cut across everything
Tip 4: Share your word
My word for 2024 is “Upgrade” – it is a word that evokes progress, versatility, permission and betterment. Here’s how I stress tested ‘Upgrade’ against the above tips to ensure it is absolutely the right word for me and the year I want to experience.
Progress
‘Upgrade’ means continuous growth and learning. In 2024 I will make progress by:
- Challenging myself to be on my toes, to be adaptive, to be proactive and not reactive, to experiment and explore.
- Saying ‘yes’ when I might otherwise have said ‘no’.
- Diving deep without hesitation into the truly spectacular and happily side-step the not so spectacular, eyes averted, without doubt or guilt.
- Upgrading my craft as a writer, coach and speaker so that my work remains fresh, relevant, challenging, thought provoking and inspiring.
- Upgrading my mind through coaching and personal growth experiences.
- Surrounding myself with supportive and smart people.
- Embracing a new relationship with my kids – as peers and adults – they no longer need me to adult for them. They get to adult for themselves.
- Continuing to upgrade my financial literacy and encourage other women to do the same.
- Adding to my Life List and joyfully chasing down my Go Big Goals, Go Small Goals and Go Now Goals.
- Focusing on the moments.
- Doing everything I say I will do so that I upgrade my entire life.
Versatility
‘Upgrade’ is adaptive, it is versatile, it is a word for all seasons. In 2024, I will embrace a mindset of versatility and chase down goals that involve upgrading my life across all 7 Life List Chapters of health and wellbeing; wealth; adventure; growth; giving; relationships; and lifestyle and environment. If a goal does not tick at least 3 Life List Chapters, then it will not be a focus for me in 2024.
Permission
‘Upgrade’ means giving myself permission to invest in me. In 2024 I give myself permission to:
- Surround myself with people who value my time, who want to invest their time in me, and who don’t selfishly suck time from me.
- Upgrade my relationship with success. I work hard. I am successful. I will own my success.
- Upgrade my relationship with money. I work hard. I will charge what I am worth. I will earn more money than ever before and I will spend it as I see fit and without guilt.
- Talk more about money – because it’s OK to talk about money.
- Let go, relinquish control, relax and simply enjoy.
- Be loved fully and spectacularly.
- Stop overthinking.
- Stop having to be the strong one.
Ownership
‘Upgrade’ means taking full control of my life. In 2024 I will:
- Own that if I want to live my best life, I need to consistently show up.
- Own that this is my journey and I am responsible for setting the direction and the pace of my life.
- Own my happiness. No-one else is responsible for making me happy. Every night I will make time to reflect on what makes me happy and what I am grateful for.
- Own my health. I will eat regularly and well. I will exercise. I will sleep. I will schedule regular physical and mental health checkups and proactively address any issues.
- Own continuing to push myself outside my comfort zone. I will not sit in the shadows.
Betterment
‘Upgrade’ means focussing my mindset on betterment. In 2024 I will:
- See moments of adversity and challenge as opportunities to become better.
- Celebrate that as I age, life just keeps getting better – I am fit, energetic, confident, thriving professionally, successful, full of life and champing at the bit to live my life in a big and beautiful and spectacular way. It just keeps getting better.
- Work with clients who inspire me.
- Build better products and services and provide better content.
- Build better habits.
- Communicate better – I will be open and honest and immediate in my communication. I will not say ‘I’m fine’ when I am not. I will not say ‘Nothing is wrong’ when it is. I will not take myself off and hide.
- Prioritise what makes me happy – swimming every day, solitude and space and focussed ‘me time’, sleep and rest, travel, hiking, reading, surfing, spending time with the people I love and who love me. Because when I am happy I am better. I think better. I behave better. I work better. I share better. I understand better. I love better.
In 2024, I am upgrading my life. What’s your word for 2024 and what does that mean for your year?
