It's a new year. I'm feeling hopeful and encouraged. I'm attempting to both hold things more dearly and a lot more loosely. (Got those words from this song!) I spent serious time prepping for the year to come, and I want to share it here both to keep myself accountable and to remember the journey as it begins.

Here we go, 2018!

My OneWord365:

STEWARD.

This wasn't the word I thought I would set for this year. I have set a word for my year for more than 4 years now -- 2014 was devote, 2015 was selah, 2016 was rhythm, and 2017 was clarity. As I worked my way through my PowerSheets this year planning for 2018 with all those past words in mind, I was all over the place.

On the "Choose Your Word" page of my PowerSheets, I started just writing down anything that came to mind, along with synonyms to try to get the juices flowing.

well. healthy. flourishing. whole. thriving.
wonder. awe. marvel.
freedom.
joy.
strong. able. sound.
stewardship.
invest.

I liked the idea of "well" and "able" but they didn't seem to quite capture all the big goals and dreams I had for 2018. With debt payoff and financial stability being at the forefront of my goals, with physical strength and spiritual health right up there too, "stewardship" seemed to be a better, more comprehensive word.

So, with that, I settled on "STEWARD."

(Please appreciate that the graphic above has the word steward and a picture of a ship to represent STEWARDSHIP.)

To me, it's the idea of moving toward health, strength, wholeness, and security. It's about intentionality and action. It's about taking good care of the things that have been given to me, and it's about making good investments all around.

(ps-- I'm an affiliate with Cultivate What Matters, so if you click on my PowerSheets links and purchase them, I'll get a little bonus! It means so much to me that you want to try these awesome tools, too.)

My Goals:

These are the big 10 things I'm focusing on this year! If goal setting intimidates you, let me recommend using PowerSheets-- they are the most helpful, grace-filled, intentional goal planning guide I've ever encountered, and they have made a HUGE different for me personally. I never set goals and stuck to them well before this tool.

Here are the big 10 goals I have for 2018:

SCRIPTURE // Spend time intentionally studying and soaking up Scripture every day.
FITNESS // Strengthen, fuel, and move my body through eating well, exercise, yoga, hiking, workouts, vitamins, etc.
FINANCES // Pay back all my debt, stick to my budget, build up savings, have a no spend year.
AUSTIN // Grow a healthy, strong, Christ-centered, fun relationship-- love, respect, and care for Austin well.
FREEDOM // Continue counseling as I learn how to step into freedom, heal, and receive God's grace and love.
READING // Read 150 books, limit book buying, challenge my reading and stretch myself, read 100+ books not by white dudes. (I'm blogging more about this soon!)
WRITING // Journal, blog, write for fun, write poetry.
PLAY // Create, make, laugh, chase whimsy, let go of rules, embrace mess, wonder.
EXPLORE // Explore my city and beyond-- embrace culture and new experiences.
COMMUNITY // Connect with others, love people well, be intentional, prioritize friendships.

My Word + My Goals:

This is where it gets fun. As I set my goals in my PowerSheets, I wanted to make sure my word tied in to each of them in a clear and concrete way.

So, for 2018, I want to...

Be a faithful steward of the Word.
Be a good steward of my body.
Be a wise steward of my income.
Be a loving steward of my relationship.
Be a kind steward of my soul as I embrace freedom.
Be a thoughtful steward of my mind through reading.
Be gracious as I steward my story.
Be openhearted as I steward my playfulness.
Be adventuresome as I steward my curiosity.
Be intentional as I steward community.

My Vision Board:

This was so much fun to create (I used Pinterest images and a board to start gathering inspiration, then designed this in InDesign!)

This is the visual representation of all the things I want this year to be about, and I love how it turned out. I have printed several extra copies-- one to tape into my PowerSheets, one to have hung up at home, and one for the office!