Are you the resolution type?
Nah? Me either.
I’m definitely the goal-setting type, but when I identify something I want to accomplish, I don’t wait around for a particular date to get started. New Years is just another day.
Still, there’s something about dark January mornings that makes me think. What do I want to explore next?
I’m a fan of a different approach to answering that question: the Yearly Theme.
What is a Yearly Theme?
What is a yearly theme?
A yearly theme is something you choose as a guiding principal that can be applied across many aspects of your life. Themes operate independently of specific goals. They’re more like lenses through which we view the world.
I got the idea of a yearly theme from Stacy Westfall, who proposed it in this podcast episode. She suggests picking a concept you feel positive about and want to focus on throughout the year. Something you want to consistently notice, explore, practice, and develop.
Stacy’s examples include things like:
A Year of Less (Perhaps less spending, less busyness, less sweets, less clutter, etc.)
A Year of Balance (On your horse, between work and personal time, in your diet, etc.)
A Year of Relationship and Responsibility (That was Stacy’s own theme in 2021, and she explains how it played out.)
See how these themes are broad enough to apply to many facets of life? They might touch our horses, our health, our finances, our marriages, our jobs, our homes, and more.
I’ll confess that in re-listening to Stacy’s podcast this week, I realized that I didn’t apply the yearly theme concept as thoroughly in 2022 as I could have done. Stacy suggests writing your theme at the top of daily journal pages, setting it on screensavers, and otherwise intentionally drawing your attention to it on a regular basis.
I didn’t do any of those things. I simply chose an idea that was meaningful and made a point of circling back to it whenever I felt challenged or needed to reframe a thought.
And you know what? It stuck!
Looking Back: My Year of Curiosity
Last year, the theme I chose was A Year of Curiosity.
You see, for all the strong points of a Type A personality, it has the great weakness of making one prone to paralysis by analysis. I sometimes hesitate to try something because I’m not sure I’ll succeed. Or, I’ll get frustrated when I try something and fail.
My Year of Curiosity was about releasing perfectionism in favor of exploration.
Uncertain how Bella will respond to a particular training session? It’s okay! We’ll just get into it and see how we do.
Not sure how a hot, hilly workout will go because I feel a bit punky? It’s okay! Run the first mile and check how I feel.
Dreading that dinner with a relative who’s a bore? It’s okay! Maybe if I ask them questions I’ll learn something new.
Even right now, I’m not convinced I can get those post ready to publish before I need to get back to my day job. It’s okay! I’ll get as far as I can and finish later if needed.
Curiosity, it transpires, lets me separate my plan from any expectations for the outcome. That way, I can take all the time I need to focus on the process with no pressure to succeed.
I’ve come to think of this as coming to life with open hands I can come to a challenge with open hands ~ releasing reservations, giving what I have, taking what comes.
Next Up: My Year of Elite
I liked the yearly theme idea so much in 2022 that I’ve been percolating my 2023 theme for months now. It came to me, as many ideas do, while I cleaned paddocks on a warm September evening:
What would happen if I approached my passions like an elite?
…if I conditioned like an elite endurance rider…
…if I trained my horses like clients were lining up…
…if I managed workouts and recoveries like an Olympic athlete?
Of course, I will never be an elite endurance rider or athlete. I also won’t make a living as a horse trailer or author. That’s not the point.
The point of my Year of Elite is to see what I can accomplish when I give my passions the level of attention that a professional would. It’s about making the choices — day-by-day, hour-by-hour — that maximize my potential.
I approach with caution, because there’s an obvious risk of overwhelm. Can I really give several priorities that much commitment?
We’ll see. Future posts will explore my plans for the Year of Elite. If nothing else, this yearly theme meets one of the most important criteria cited by Stacy Westfall: It excites me!
Have you ever considered a yearly theme? If you chose one, what would it be? Share in the comments!
