Adopt One-Word Theme For The Year
“ The beauty of a one-word theme is that it allows you to compare all your thoughts, actions, and decisions against a single, universal standard. All you need is to ask a simple question: “Is this aligned with my theme?”
— Niklas Göke, excerpt from “Set a One-Word Theme for 2020.”
I had an Eureka moment when I read that paragraph.
I am, like many Millenials, a person wearing many hats. I have a full-time job as a digital marketing executive and am also a mixed-martial arts fighter, a sport with severe physical consequences.
The cherry on top of the cake is that I also run a rapidly growing event business solely on my iPhone!
Life can get overwhelming when there are so many plates in the air at the same time.
Niklas’s idea of having a theme for the year, and referring back to it whenever you have to make a decision really resonated with me — it seems like a great way to cut through the chaos and confusion of life.
Since reading his article, I have adopted his suggestion and experienced surprisingly positive results.
My anxiety levels have decreased, life seems simpler, and most tellingly I experience lower levels of decision-making fatigue, the bane of every founder.
On the surface, it looks stunningly simple. I can already hear the haters moan:
“Adopt a one-word theme and revert back to it whenever life gets hard?” Ugh. This is literally the most self-help bullshit advice ever!”
Well to them I say, simplicity is a great virtue, and if you read till the end of the article, you might be surprised to find out how complicated a seemingly simple thing can be.
Consistency Is King
“Long-term consistency trumps short term intensity”
— Bruce Lee
Before the year started, I already had a rough idea of what I wanted it to be like.
My New Year’s Resolution was to do 100 push-ups a day, and on hindsight, it’s embarrassingly obvious that the theme I wanted to adopt for this year was consistency.
You see, I’m not the most consistent person on the block.
I’m creative, expressive and open to ideas, but when it comes to the grind of things, my mind starts to drift.
I’ve low key known this all along, but it really began to bother me when I started doing long-term endeavors like writing and business.
In 2019, I made a concerted attempt to introduce consistency to my life via daily journalling, and I watched as my trait conscientiousness slowly but steadily improve — and reaped the rewards that came with it.
When 2020 came along, I decided to double down on being consistent.
I wanted to chip away at my goals one day at a time instead of doing what I usually do, which is to wait till the last minute and feel the fire behind my back before being productive in one short, frenzied sprint.
Here’s where it gets complicated.
The beauty — and potential pitfall — of this one-word theme thing is that it isn’t one size fits all.
You choose the theme that best suits you, and for that, you need a little something that not everyone posses…
Self Awareness
“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
— Carl Jung
My theme for 2020 might be consistency, but yours may not.
Mine is aptly and purposefully chosen because I realized consistency was something I sorely needed to live a better life.
The one-word theme most suitable for you might be something else entirely — you won’t do well to copy off me, or anybody else. This isn’t homework.
Maybe focus is a better theme. Your perfect theme might be balance, or hustle, or smile, or gratitude.
It may be any of the above — or none of them. It’s your choice. There is an endless selection of snappy one-word themes to choose from.
But before you dive in headfirst and choose your word, the most important thing is to look deep into yourself, and ask yourself this:
What would I like to accomplish this year?
Not what your parents want you to accomplish. Not what your friends want you to achieve.
You. What do you want? What do you truly want for yourself? Who do you want to forge yourself into?
Don’t consult your friends, your parents, your teachers or society at large. Don’t listen to anybody. They’ll lead you astray. And I mean that in the most empathetic way possible.
It’s possible to lead someone down the path of regrets thinking you’re doing good. As the saying goes, the way to hell is paved with good intentions.
Don’t listen to anyone because they don’t know you — nobody really does except for you. And that’s your superpower.
Spend some time alone. Look deeply, and answer truthfully. Take as much time as you need.
Eventually, when your fears and insecurities subside and your mind stills, a word will emerge, clear and bright as fish in a clean river.
That single word is the distillation of your purpose.
The Beauty Of Simplicity
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
What I love most about this one-word theme is how simple it is. A single word stripped bare of all extra weight, all needless connotations. It’s meaning reduced to its purest essence.
Whenever the storms of life get too rough and I feel like I’m being pulled in all directions, I consult my one-word theme.
Consistency.
It reorientates me to my purpose.
Stephen Covey hit the nail on the head when he said:
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
I’ll let you read that again.
Often when we’re coming up in life, we get opportunities galore. The main thing is to know which to accept and which to refuse. Keeping the main thing, well, the main thing. Otherwise, we’ll be endlessly tossed from one shore to another, a victim to the fancies of fate.
My one-word theme helps keep me true to my purpose.
It is my lighthouse in the stormy ocean of entrepreneurship. As long as I’m being consistent, I know I’m headed in the right direction.
As long as I write something, anything, before my head touches the pillow, I’m gold. As long as I take one step, no matter how tiny, towards furthering my business endeavours, I sleep like a baby.
My one-word theme is the nautical star on a moonless night, guiding me true, a shining knife parting the dark.
In Summary
“ Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
— Proverbs 16:24
If you do the self-introspection exercise right, you don’t choose your one-word theme as much as the word chooses you.
It’s super corny, and I cringed typing it, but it’s true.
The last thing to keep in mind is to keep your single-word theme as positive as possible.
Instead of using a word with negative connotations such as “urgency”, consider reframing it to something more positive-sounding, such as “timeliness” or “swift.”
You are, after all, going to be using the word for an entire year, and it makes sense to refer to something that’ll energize you instead of fill you with dread.
And that’s it.
Develop self-awareness, use it to choose a word (or let the word choose you), and make sure it’s a positive sounding one.
May your one-word theme be a powerful guide to your year, as it has been to mine.
Simplicity is power.
Thanks for reading my story.
