My Word of the Year: Empower

As I sit here with writer's block, yet again, I try to remind myself why I chose "empower" as my word of the year. This is actually the first year I have chosen a "word" and in a geeky way I'm kind of really excited about it. I wasn't planning to, but when I saw tweets from people saying what their word of the year was, the word "empower" suddenly came to mind. By definition, empower means "make (someone) stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights." 

I've always felt that in many ways I'm strong and confident, but these past couple of years or so I've realized (or more so accepted) that really isn't the case. Or at least I'm not where I ideally want to be. This is the year I want to really focus on building my confidence and feeling stronger, especially when it comes to control. There are so many things in life you can't control, which I have learned plenty of times since graduating college, but you can control your attitude and your actions. I want to feel empowered. I want to empower myself to be the best I can be and continue working on my flaws, but also accepting that no one (and nothing in life) is ever perfect.

When I first thought of the word empower, I associated it with my work and career. I finally have a career-oriented job in a field that interests me and I want to really build my skills this year. I have failed plenty of times in the past, but I've never given up. Which is one of the reasons why I'm so happy and grateful to have finally found a job that I am happy with. Now the next step is to empower myself to succeed in this field. 

I also associate the word empower with my blog, because this is the year that I really want my blog to take off and spread its' wings, metaphorically speaking. While blogging is a hobby and passion of mine, I am also starting to view it as a second job. I want to succeed in the blogging world, too. This is something I've wanted for years now, before I had even chosen my major in college!

Lastly, I think the most important aspect of choosing empower as my word of the year is that it is something I want in my personal life. I want to feel more in control. I want to feel empowered when it comes to dating; when it comes time to becoming a fully independent adult; when it comes to my emotions and actions; even when it comes to my health and fitness. It really just relates to every single part of my life. Empower is my word of the year because I want to finally reflect the confidence I believe I should truly have. 

In the past I never really got why people chose words of the year. It never appealed to me. Now I feel that in terms of goal setting and personal improvement, it's an excellent way of staying on track.  Having a word you can focus on throughout the year is an awesome way of reminding yourself where you want to be, who you want to be, what you want to be doing, etc.

If you haven't chosen a "word of the year" yet but you'd like to, I recommend not dwelling too much on what the word should be. Most of the time the first word that comes to mind is exactly what it should be. You don't even have to define it or think about why it's your word of the year. You'll have plenty of time to reflect on it throughout the next few months!

Do you have a word of the year? If so, what is it? I'd love to hear from you!

100 Days Challenge: Improve Your Life

It's no secret that I've been having a rough few months and a generally challenging time of my life since I've graduated college. I've come a very long way and I know that by no means I am the same person I was a year ago, let alone "100 days" ago. I've always been a firm believer that your life can change drastically in just one day, whether for good or bad. I've always been the kind of girl who hopes one of those moments comes along that will just turn my whole world upside down, for the better, and magically all will fall into place. I still like to have that kind of belief, because there is something so innocent and naive about having that kind of mentality, that I don't really want to let go of it. I want to believe that good things are coming my way and that requires me having that hopeful and child-like magical belief in the universe.

Although I am holding onto this "magic" belief system very tightly, I also realize that a lot of life's circumstances are often in our control (not just the "universe"). This fall I let myself slowly fall into a very negative mindset, primarily because I was exhausted and frustrated with my job hunt. It affected all other parts of my life, though, and I wish I could have more control over that. I have been thinking a lot about New Year's resolutions and making changes in my life in general. My biggest goal in life is to be happy, no matter what the circumstances may be. And in order for you to be at peace with yourself and truly happy, you can't rely on any person, job, location, etc. as the source of your own happiness. I realize happiness comes from within and only you can control that. So, with all that being said, I'm ready to embark on one of those "100 days" challenges to improve my life for the better.

I got this idea while I was scrolling through the internet one night and stumbled upon this article called "60 Small Ways to Improve Your Life in the Next 100 Days." I loved it because it has so many ideas for improvements and not just within your self but also small improvements throughout your home, etc. I was going to officially start my 100 days challenge on New Year's Day, but I figured: why wait? My life could certainly benefit from improvements right away and if I start now, I'll already have a good 15 days under my belt as the new year begins. As of tomorrow, December 15th, my challenge begins. I'm going to share with you some of the things I will be doing/working on!

• Write down five things I'm grateful for at the end of every day.
• No complaining for the next 100 days. If I find myself complaining, even about the smallest thing, I will put a small token in a jar. By the end of the 100 day challenge, whatever amount of "tokens" in the jar are, I will add more days to this aspect of the challenge until I've officially gone 100 days without complaints!
• Write at least 500 words every day. It can be geared towards my novel, this blog or just regular stream of consciousness writing.
• Spend a few minutes at the end of each day tidying up my room and desk space to keep a clean and clear space in which I can be in.
• Exercise at least 20 minutes a day for the next 100 days.
• Make an active effort of not comparing my life to anyone else's.
• Leave behind my past and stop worrying about my future. This will probably be the hardest one for me to tackle, and I may not be successful every day, but for the next 100 days I am going to make it a daily reminder for myself.

Will you be partaking in any kind of "100 days" challenge come the new year? If so, please share!