How I Chose my One Word for 2015 // Explore

This year I really thought about my process in picking my One Word for the year.  It is Explore, by the way, and it took a while to get there (read about my 2015 word here).  Last year Focus just fell in my lap and it worked.  By picking a word last year I felt like I knew I wanted to pick a word for this year.  Here are three things I did to pick my One Word for 2015:

Find a definition that reflects the life you'd like to live

I had a definition or a phrase in mind when I went into picking my word for the year.  This made it hard but also made it easy as well.  It was hard to find a word I was satisfied with but I also knew exactly what I was looking for.  Runners up were Simplicity, Forward, and Brave.  The reason I went with Explore was the connotation of the word.  Brave seemed too fast, too lofty, too scary.  Simplicity seemed too short of a word to live by, it seem too easy, too lazy.  Forward seemed too vague, too much like I could make anything work.  Explore seemed more achievable.  It seemed like it fit where I was and where I was trying to go.  I didn't feel too pressured or too relaxed when I though of it.  It also seemed more specific to me and less vague.

Find words that speak to you

I used Pinterest for this because it is a treasure trove for quotes, words, and inspiration.  I played around with search words until I found phrases I loved or words that stuck out.  You can also look through your own pin boards for quotes you may have pinned but have forgotten about.  It is here that I got the idea for a phrase or definition and worked from there.  I found a lot of adventure related posts but knew that wasn't really the word I was looking for.

Make a list and ponder over it

Like I mentioned above, I made a list once I found some words that spoke to me and I kept it on my phone. I thought about them often and added, subtracted, revised, etc.  One important part of choosing a word is making it visible.  So by consciously thinking about my list and making it something to work towards I was able to finally pick a word.  I even made it a part of my Four Simple Goals for January....and here we are in February and I'm still all about it.

I hope this little post helped you out in settling on a word to live by.  I've heard people choose multiple words a year, or even one every month.  If you find yourself changing that often then go for it.  I like to see how I can evolve in my word and see what it means at the beginning of a year versus the middle and even end of the year.  If you're growing, that's all that matters.

Have you chosen a word for 2015?  How did you choose yours?  What does it mean to you?

xoxo, Moe