Selecting a word for the year and creating a vision board is something I look forward to each new year.
I’ve been picking a word for the year since 2014. It was in 2013 when I started my retail flower shop journey, that I would take the time to sit down and focus on one word I would like to be the ‘theme’ for the new year.
This word can be an idea, thought, belief, really anything that when you visualize the year ahead this is what you would like for it to be like. I also do this along with creating a vision board. I find that making the vision board first, can be helpful in selecting your word.
I’ll share my vision board process first, then my word for the year! Happy New Year! Happy visualizing, creating, letting it happen, and helping it to happen!
vision board – how to
Vision boards can happen in all kinds of ways. I suggest making one that feels the best for you. That can be finding images, printing them out, and making a ‘hold in your hand’ board or doing more of a virtual one. I love both! I used to do it the first way, with some magazines and glue. Since 2019, I’ve been using Canva to make my boards. If you’d like the link to the board I use just email me and I can send you the link (you do need to have a Canva account – they are free).
To me, what’s most important when creating a vision board is to … just put it on there, even if it’s scary. You don’t have to share it with anyone. This is for you! Also don’t be intimidated by the thought that you have to do it all in a year. I have images that stay on my board for years. For example, in 2019 I had a “SOLD” sign because I knew I wanted to start the process of selling my flower shop. I now, for my 2022 board, was able to take it off. If it’s in your thoughts and important to you – put it on there!
To make my board, all I do is search Pinterest or Google for images (or use your own – 4 of the images are mine). Copy / paste the image in and type out 3 words next to the image of what that means to you or how you want it to play out in the new year. This is where you can get ideas for your word for the year, too.
For example, the image of the large white flower doesn’t just mean I want flowers in my life. It means gardening which means calmness, joyfulness, spending more time being in nature.
Another tip I find helpful can be doing categories. For example, the first 3 images can be work related, the middle 2 can be family related, the final 3 can be personal goals. Remember this is for you, so take your time to visualize your life. Also remember to not put pressure on yourself. You don’t have to show your board to anyone, so no explaining if something doesn’t pan out. That’s life, we have to be ready for things to go a little off course. I find that having something to go back when we are off course, like this board, is very helpful.
now on to the word for the year…
2022
HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2022 – wow typing that out seems like 2021 just flew by. Last year was a big one. I finally sold my flower shop that I had been wanting to do for years. I didn’t realize how challenging it was going to be to sell it. Not challenging as in the actual sale (well that was hard and didn’t go how I had planned), but challenging on me, mentally and emotionally. Yes, it was what I wanted, no doubt, but the thought of not doing something I had given SO much of my time and life to was extremely tough. I would just stand in the shop and cry. It was very odd because I wasn’t crying happy “Sold” tears or even sad ‘This is over’ tears. It was the strangest feeling. Even now it’s hard to put into words, but a lot of 2021 was facing change and newness.
My word for 2021, was TRUST.
Trust was just the right word to focus on for last year. Not only to trust myself and the decisions I make, but also to know the right people to trust. It’s ok to not fully trust all. That doesn’t mean I have trust issues, it means I know where to draw the line. That’s the point I wanted to get to. A healthy, understanding place with trusting others and myself. And of course, putting my trust in God always.
2022: JOYFUL
I lost a lot of joy during my 8 years at the flower shop. Not that it was all bad, of course. There’s just something different now that I’m no longer tied to the shop. A feeling like weight is actually lifted and I can breath again. For the new year, I want to focus on being more joyful. I’m not exactly sure what that means right now, but I’m looking forward to 2022…joyfully.
2021
Ok, umm, 2020. I know we all have something to say about this year. It’s been unlike anything we’ve been through. Never would I have guessed we would be dealing with something like this. It was the year of no weddings, and as a small business owner that’s a hard one to wrap my mind around. But it wasn’t the worst year, actually I learned a lot from 2020 and while I wish all this never happened- it did happen for a reason. All we can do is grow and learn from what life gives us.
My word for 2020, was COURAGE. What a good one to pick even when I had no clue what I’d be facing back in January 2020. For sure not what I had in mind when I chose courage, but shifted focus and it all worked out the way it was meant to.
2020 was not the worst year of my life, not by far. Sure did my business profit take a huge hit- yes it did. That’s not something any business owner wants to happen, but while no weddings were happening and my shop was forced to online only- I was allowed something I haven’t had since 2013. Time.
This extra time allowed me to view things in a new light. Honestly, I’ve been afraid of having free time. In the past, if I wasn’t busy I would find something to make me busy. 2020 forced me to live with the time and I’m thankful for that. It did take courage to use this time in a new way. Instead of focusing on what was best for my business, I focused on what was best for me and that comes down to having more trust in my life.
I’ve struggled with trust a little in the past, but all that was intensified when I bought my flower shop. I pretty much shut down with trying to trust at all because I was let down over and over. When that happens constantly, it’s only natural to want to protect yourself from what you know is coming. All my trusting of people went out the window.
This was not only in my business life, it was my personal life as well. Hurt changes you and it made me loose trust in so many things. That’s not how I want to live my life. So this year, I took the extra time and courage to step outside and look at things from a new viewpoint. This is why I’m thankful for 2020 and no matter what the new year brings, I will start to trust more and more with time.
2021: TRUST
PS: I do want to say a huge factor in starting to work on my trust issues has been this book and my new morning routine. Over this past year, I started to take 10 minutes while I made my coffee to pray and read this book / daily devotional. This daily morning prayer changed my whole outlook on everything.
I just want to say if you are reading this and struggling with anything, please grab a copy of this book and surrender your worries. Nothing is too messy for God. TRUST in him.
Thank you Justine Wright Photography for the photos
2020
My word for last year, 2019, was revive. I had been feeling weird, different, possibly it was burnout but most likely it was a lot of things building up causing me to want some revival. To breathe some life back into things after being a little ho hum for a little too long. What I think I’ve learned while trying to do this, is that some things don’t need to be revived, some things need to let lie, to pass on. This takes time and isn’t easy. Sometimes it’s the letting go is harder than the building up.
“When you’re through changing, you’re through” – Martha Stewart
While I think it was necessary to go through the period of trying to re-work things and bring things back to life, I now need to move on from that. If you, too, are needing this new decade to let go of old ways that your precious time isn’t worthy of reviving. Then know this… (I am saying this to myself as well because it isn’t easy.) Just because we are making the decision to move on, it’s not a failure. It can look to some as “giving up”, but guess what?! That’s ok. It’s ok to give up, move on, do something else. Don’t let the fear of that stop you from doing something better than what you’re doing now.
New decade, new spirit full of courage. That’s what I’m going to keep telling myself, over and over. I think it can be easy to just pick a word that seems fitting, but to actually live in that word all year, is a challenge. Even if it means writing little notes or reminders – do it. And even if it’s scary – do it anyway. I wasn’t going to pick this word. I initially had refresh because I felt like I wanted to hit the refresh button on some things, but then I read this…
It kind of hit me that I was playing it safe because I was scared to give up control and trust in new things. So in 2020, I’m going to courageously let go, take a deep breath, trust in God over anything else, and make a change. Since this is the end of a decade, I thought it would be interesting to go back and take a look at my other words. In 2013, I bought a retail flower shop so that’s when I started picking a word for the year.
- 2014 – bloom
- 2015 – clarity
- 2016 – delegate
- 2017 – heal
- 2018 – focus
- 2019 – revive
- 2020 – courage
2019
2018!! You were just what I needed and yet I still need so much more. The year as a whole was a little different than what I was expecting. It felt different than all the other years I’ve been doing this business owner thing. Not different in like a really good or bad way, but just a ‘grey’ way. I always try to have things as close to being ‘black and white’ as possible (not grey) because it helps me think clearly and reduce overwhelm. But, 2018 was very ‘grey’. I found this quote in November that pretty much sums up why the year was a little off for me…
“Don’t surrender all your joy for an idea you used to have about yourself that isn’t true anymore” – Cheryl Strayed
I knew change was coming and happening this year, so I think anytime when you know change is going to happen it can be extra challenging to wrap your mind around. I think I had this idea for quite a few years about how I wanted my business life to go and it just wasn’t fitting anymore. So change needed to happen. I think down the road I’ll look back at 2018 and really love + appreciate how it all went down. This was the year olive + gene came to life!! Even though it was a very ‘grey’ year, I think it’s also a very hopeful year with a lot of great things to come.
So for 2019, my word of the year is revive. I think it’s very fitting going into a new year with a new brand + new mindset. Like always, there’s nothing magical about January 1… still lots of hard work and staying true to what I feel is best for my business so in turn I can give my clients the best.
PS- I know this is super long, but for anyone wanting to know why I changed names from Accents Floral Design to Olive + Gene Weddings is because I bought a brick and mortar flower shop in 2013 which is named Accents. When I branched out and started doing more wedding flowers, it was the simplest to keep the same name. Over the years, my wedding business has grown way beyond what I could have ever imagined and the old business model didn’t fit. To me, the name of your business has to carry some weight and mean something to you especially for me since it plays such a huge role in my life. The names ‘Olive’ and ‘Gene’ will always have a special meaning to me no matter what season of life I’m in, so it seemed fitting for that to be the name of my new brand. Also we are now offering more than just flowers, so that was another reason. Accents (the retail flower shop) is still alive + well and doing her own thing- no major changes over there. And for the three people who read my blog posts (lol- I do love you the most!) Olive + Gene Home will hopefully be up and open for business in 2019! Seriously this is still a little bubble in my thoughts, but I have a whole year to make it happen! I’ve already prepared myself for 2019 to still be a little ‘grey’, but 2020 is the year! I can feel it! Happy new year to you!
2018
It’s that time of year again! Really can’t believe how fast 2017 went by and I know I say that every year but for some reason when thinking back on the year- it’s kind of a blur. Which that is probably one of the reasons that inspired my 2018 word of the year. I really love picking a word and then looking back to see how it played out. I do always try to keep this word in the back of my mind at all times, so I can base some decisions on it. I’m not a write down monthly goals type of person. I could never get into those work books of laying it all out then checking things off. That just does not work for me, but I’ve heard it works wonders for others so maybe one day it will click for me?! Anyway, 2018’s word is focus.
To me this simply means knowing what I need and letting go of the rest. Sometimes good things will have to go to make room for newer, greater things. Focusing on a few super important areas and trying to be ok with saying no to the things that don’t fill that. This year marks my 5th year (yeah, kind of can’t believe that) and with that I feel a sense of understanding that I didn’t have before. That is comforting, but also makes me want to explore more creative things. I’m really looking forward to diving into some fun areas this year.
As for last years word- heal with the bonus word- acceptance. I think I did a pretty good job with these. I had some meetings with a business coach because I’m a big fan of getting a professionals outside take on things. I for sure am no business expert! She really helped me to start to accept things for how they really are. As a person with a creative job, it is hard to take off the rose colored glasses and come out of la la land at times but we need to have a realistic look at things as well. Because of that I think I have a better handle / outlook on things.
2017
Happy New Year, friends! 2016 I’m kind of glad to see you go! Not that I ever want my time to go by any faster and not that I need the start of a new year to change the way things are going, but sometimes just the thought of a fresh year is encouraging. While SO many amazing things happened in 2016 (my designs were published in print TWICE, I was able to design floral pieces for two amazing workshops which has been one of my long time dreams and I’ve made so many wonderful new friends)- it was also a year of unexpected growth, busyness & overwhelm. Since I’m pretty much a planner at heart, those unexpected events inspired my 2017 word- heal. So much of my life needs this and it’s what I plan to focus on most during the next 12 months. To be honest, I’m not sure exactly how that’s going to play out but I have some ideas up my sleeve! Starting with getting back to working out…Pilates here I come!
I’m going to add on a bonus word because it keeps coming up so often, so I think I need to focus a little extra on it too. Acceptance. It’s been something I’ve been working on this past year as well, but will try to up it a bit this year! I’m going to accept that I can only be one place at one time. Accept that I can’t always make everyone happy (but wouldn’t that superpower be wonderful lol). Accept that I do need extra hands to help out because I know what happens when I take on too much alone (it’s just bad all around lol) And so many more little things.
As for 2016’s word, delegate- well I did try and did get some help for a short time. It’s something I need more time to think on and find the right people to surround myself with. This was a huge challenge because I’m horrible at delegating, but am not giving up on it!! I believe everything happens and comes into play when it’s the right time. I’ll be so excited when this time comes!
2016
Happy New Year!! If I only write a blog post once a year I hope it’s always this one! Since I bought accents I’ve been picking a word for the new year and it’s so fun to look back at them! 2016 is going to be delegate. To be honest this word kind of scares me- like a lot! But hey, I have twelve months to figure it out so here’s goes nothing!!
2015
Happy 2015!! Does everyone have their lists and lists of goals all ready to go for the new year?! I know I sure don’t! But I do love to pick out a word for the new year and then look back to see if it was a good one! I started to do this after I bought my flower shop as a way to see my growth over the years. Might be fun?!
My word for 2014 was bloom! Seemed pretty appropriate since I had just bought a flower shop in May. But also I picked this word because bloom can mean to open up and grow (I did not look up the exact definition though). Little did I know that’s exactly what would happen a few weeks later and really not stop the whole year. I’d have to say 2014 was the year I grew the most and I could not be more thankful for last year!
Over the next few months, I’m going to share some reasons/experiences for this amazing growth and change! But for now, my new 2015 word…clarity!!! To me this means a sense of calm, focusing on what really matters, seeing things for what they truly are and just being able to BE. Last year I fought so hard to try to define my brand and be my own designer which stressed me way out! So this year, I’m going to try to take those bad/stressful moments from the past and learn from them so they don’t happen again. I know I won’t be perfect or even close to it, but adding some clarity to my life is very important! Even if there’s not a difference right away, I’m not going to give up because it can happen at any time. There’s this quote I love from Lara Casey “there is nothing magical about January 1”. So true! Let’s not put tons of pressure on ourselves to make it all happen right away because magic can happen at any time!
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