2010 will be the year of simplicity!
The beginning of a new year brings a fresh start. A new way to look at our lives and make changes, make resolutions, change habits, plan for business, or personal growth. Just search the web for “RESOLUTIONS” and you’ll find thousands of entries. Many people, all wiser than myself, have ideas and suggestions for us.
Me? I don’t make resolutions, well, not a list anyway. I’ve tried the list a couple of times but nothing ever stuck. Just another list of to-do’s that I never got done.
Christine Kane, a songwriter, and creative consultant, suggests you choose a word for the year. The idea is to set an intent for the year, not a list of to do’s.
How does it work? Let’s say your intent is to live healthier and you find yourself staring at a big ol’ chocolate cake, you remember your word, (maybe it’s the word “HEALTH”) and your intent of living a healthier life and decide you will have a piece of fruit instead. Or a smaller piece of cake. 
I like this idea. It’s simple, it’s easy to remember (I have enough lists, thank you!) and isn’t doomed to failure as say the “I plan to workout 3 times a week” resolution.
So I began with the word “FOCUS”. Focus on my business, focus on this blog, focus on my health and fitness. The problem? I would think “FOCUS” and immediately ask “umm…focus on what, which, who?”.
I thought of words like “ABUNDANCE”, “DISCOVERY” or “EXPANSION” and they seemed too open and undefined. I still wanted focus. That I knew for certain. But none of these words moved me.
No, it has to be simpler, right? Maybe I am just over thinking this. And then it came to me. “SIMPLICITY”. After saying this word I actually felt a feeling of relief. To me, simplicity meant ridding my world of extraneous things, of stresses and distractions.
One example? In my search of finding the “perfect workout”, I have accumulated books, DVD’s, gadgets and gear for 20 different sports or workouts. Not anymore. “SIMPLICITY” dictated that I choose the workout that was simple and effective. Done. All that other stuff you’ll soon find on Ebay or listed on Freecycle.
I am applying “SIMPLICITY” to my finances by paying off credit cards and finding simple ways to save money.
All those projects and “someday I’ll learn to…” stuff. On its way out the door. Closets are becoming uncluttered. Storage areas and cabinets will be emptying out.
And every time I want to buy that latest gadget that promises to make my life or work easier, I pause and ask myself, “Will it really?. Or will it sit in my closet gathering dust?”.
This year, I will ask the question before I make any decision, “Will it complicate and clutter my life?” If I can say no to that question, then it is worth pursuing.
So when I look back from 2011, how will I describe 2010?. In a word, simplicity.
