Purposeful – having a useful purpose, intentional.
At the start of each year, everyone puts together their New Year’s Resolutions, filled with a list of goals to accomplish. While millions of Americans set these goals and have high hopes for the year ahead, estimates show that only 8% of people actually stick to their resolutions. While I understand that people like to use the start of a new year to jumpstart new goals, I have never been a New Year’s Resolution kind of guy – I’ve always approached every day as an opportunity to do that.
“The person without a purpose is a like a ship without a rudder.”
– Thomas Carlyle
As humans, our lives are multi-faceted, and therefore, contain many layers. For me, that makes it difficult to narrow it down to just one resolution. So rather than focus on a single resolution for the year, I focus on one word. This one word serves as my compass for the year, so in everything I do, I tie it back to that one word. When I think about purposeful, it’s about being intentional and showing determination. It’s about looking at things through the lens of achievement and meaning. It’s about thinking through the impact that I hope to have and following through.
“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”
– Fyodor Dostoyevsky
One of the main reasons I started this blog was because I like to share ideas and information with others. I got distracted last year – like we all did because of the pandemic – but 2020 taught me to refocus. I think about all those drive-by birthdays we did, or creating a bubble of friends to limit our exposure to COVID-19… all of that was on purpose. The more seasoned I become in my personal and professional life, the more I realize that there are more people that I can continue to share ideas and information with that I hope will in turn help them in their time of need. I have a strong desire to achieve many things this year, both personally and professionally, and I intend to be more purposeful in those pursuits.
Have you thought about choosing a word for the year? If so, what is it?
My word for 2021 is purposeful.
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