a theme for 2014

I love a fresh start. I relish the opportunity to renew. This is why each year I insist upon making New Year's resolutions despite the stigma of good intentions with less than desirable results. The eternal quest to make resolutions stick was heavy on my mind as 2013 drew to a close. It was a wonderful, busy, overwhelming year that brought many changes and blessings into my life. But I believe 2013 happened to me, and I don't want to live 2014 in a passive state.

After doing a considerable amount of research and reading on the topic of resolutions, I decided to give 2014 a theme in place of a traditional list of wistful hopes. As someone who tends to think big picture, I find that I can't sustain an interest in a detailed list of things I must improve. However, if I set a theme in place for the year, it better satisfies my desire for a connecting concept rather than scattered if-onlys.

With that in mind, I decided on the following theme for 2014:

Discipline.

Discipline because I stay at home with Pip, and I have to set my own schedule. Discipline because the foods I have been putting into my body are less than desirable. Discipline because I use busyness and the baby as excuses for not working out or cooking nutritious meals. Discipline because it's finally time to start writing that book - and the only things standing in the way of achieving what I want to achieve are my own laziness and excuses.

I am hoping that instead of creating an overwhelming list of obligations that is impossible to sustain, a theme will serve as a reminder, for example, when I'm about to go to bed and really don't feel like flossing. Discipline. Or when my alarm goes off at 6 to work out before the baby gets up, and I just want one more hour of sleep. Discipline.

This quote from Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People will serve as a reminder when I just don't feel like doing something that's good and important.

"[The strength of your purpose] requires independent will, the power to do something when you don't want to do it, to be a function of your values rather than the function of the impulse or desire of any given moment." 

I really can't sum it up any better than that. I must let my purpose and deeply thought out values guide me rather than capricious impulses.

This doesn't mean I will lose spontaneity in my life, just that I will make better decisions regarding my daily habits to create a healthier, stronger framework (financially, physically, spiritually, intellectually) so that I am able to have impromptu adventures.

So, discipline. Here we go, 2014. Let's make it a memorable year full of good decisions, adventure, sheer joy, and laughter.

Here is some further reading on the topic of one word resolutions or themes:

The Happiness Project: Choose One Word to Set the Tone for Next Year

Strategic Simplicity: the problem with new year's resolutions (and how to fix it)

The Huffington Post: Why a New Year's Theme Works Better Than a Resolution

What would your one word theme be for 2014?