New Year 2016: One-Word Theme of ORDER

As part of my annual ritual, I love to choose just one word to act as my guiding mantra and primary theme of the year. It’s amazing how powerful this exercise is, yet it is so simple to do. It works on both a personal and professional basis.

2015: The Impact of Partnership

It seems that each year since 2007, my one-word themes have become exponential. It’s as if I’m layering and getting ready for the next level of my goals and vision for my life and business. Example past one-word themes include:

• 2008 – Focus (follow one course until successful)
• 2009 – Influence
• 2010 – Team
• 2011 – Commitment
• 2012 – Growth
• 2013 – Abundance

When I chose Partnership for 2015, I envisioned forming many powerful business partnerships as well as enjoying my wonderful personal partnership.

Along with partnering with Facebook, I also had an amazing year with my partner, Christopher! 🙂 Take a look at this post and video montage: 2015 Year In Review – A Magical Year of Travel, Speaking and Partnerships

2016: Focus on Order

I recently became inspired to dive in to Marie Kondo‘s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Marie developed ‘KonMari’ (pronounced kon-marEE), a powerful Japanese system of decluttering and creating profound order and organization in your home, office and life.

The whole concept can be summed up in one question that you ask yourself regarding everything you own:

Does this bring me JOY?

I hopped on Facebook Live the other day and asked my Facebook friends to share their one word theme for 2016. Take a look at this fun post and responses below:

As the sign I’ve had on my desk for a long time says,

Say no to everything that doesn’t make your heart sing.

Of course, the counter to that is I’m saying a resounding YES to all that makes my heart sing! 🙂

Tools for Creating Email Order

I got inspired to choose ORDER as my 2016 word back in November 2015 when I had had enough of the constant barrage of email clutter. (Can you relate?!) I signed up for Unroll.me and unsubscribed from literally hundreds of mailing lists that I no longer checked. You may also enjoy Sanebox as well.

What’s your word?

If you’d like to implement the practice of having a one-word theme, I recommend setting aside some time to journal, or meditate, or doodle… or whatever creative process allows your deepest truth to bubble up.

You’ll know when you’ve found your word, as it buzzes with energy! You can envision yourself embodying the word in all kinds of circumstances. You know that you’ll be able to “own” the word for the year.

If you have difficulty selecting just one word, let yourself go for two or three. My friend Chris Brogan has also been doing this practice for many years and chooses three words. There are no rules here, folks! Do what’s right for you.

Another idea: you might choose one word to represent what you’re letting go of, as well. However, keep in mind that “thoughts are things,” and when you think of something you want to let go of then you’re actually bringing that thing into your awareness. Which, of course, is important to be able to identify, then let go… but don’t keep dwelling on it.

Now, it’s your turn – what one word do you feel is the best one to reflect your theme for 2016? Please share in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you.

Mari Smith

Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith is widely known as the Premier Facebook Marketing Expert and a top Social Media Thought Leader. Forbes describes Mari as, “… the preeminent Facebook expert. Even Facebook asks for her help.” IBM named Mari as one of seven women that are shaping digital marketing. Mari is an in-demand keynote speaker, corporate social media strategist, dynamic live webcast host, and popular brand ambassador. She is coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day, and author of The New Relationship Marketing.

More Posts - Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn