As we approach the end of the year I keep thinking about what I want to achieve in my life and business next year.

If you've ever read The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte you’ll know that she talks about focusing on one word for your year ahead. A kind of beacon to attempt to improve your life and bring it closer to an ideal you want. And if you’ve never read it, well now you know!

My word for last year was ‘calm’.

What would your word be for 2019?

I wanted to be calmer. To think in a more calm way. To feel more calm with the ups and the downs of running a business. Be more calm as a mother.

I imagined myself floating still as a leaf on a river. All hell is going on in the river, but I’m just calmly floating away on the top of it all.

And when I wanted to scream, shout or rush about; I take a moment and breath in ‘I am’ and breathe out ‘calm’ (in my head obviously, it’s difficult to breath in and speak at the same time!).

Danielle LaPorte calls it your core desired feelings.

How do you want to feel in 2019?

Stuck for ideas? Here are some of the words I played around with before I settled on calm.

Affluent. Luxurious. Joy. Fame. Serenity. Vivacious. Love.

The more intentional you are in creating your desired life, the more in tune with it you are, the more you seek it out, the more likely you are to get it.

You get to be the creator of your life. You and only you get to decide how you feel about things. You and only you are in control over how you act.

So, Debbie, what is all this wishy-washy woo-woo stuff you are going on about?

Well, I’m glad you asked!

I want to invite you to think about how you want 2019 to be for you. And that starts with deciding how you want to feel.

So pick a word, try a few on for size, find the one that fits. Then think about how you bring more of it into your life.

Once you’ve picked your word, you could start by looking at where you might already have it. I’m sure whatever word you end up with you already have some of it?

Great! So now how can you get more of it?

The wonderful thing about running your own business, is that you are literally in control of what you do, who you do it for, how much you charge, what you say yes and no to, how you want to be perceived and what is important for you.

Let’s not forget how we want our businesses to make us feel.

My word for 2019 is joy.

How do I bring more joy into my life, into my clients lives, into my families life?

When I’m coaching people I’m already thinking ‘hmm, how can we make this more joyful?’

I want to create joy in my own life and then spread it around so everyone else can have some. A human joy machine. Like a snow machine, but pumping out joy!

Social media should be joyful, it’s how you communicate with people. Let's make it joyful. Running a business should be as joyful as possible, otherwise what on earth are you doing?

So, you may see me banging on about joy more and more.

I’m calling it ‘the secret tool for ultimate life success’.

You have the power to create your life.

What’s your word going to be?

Big stuff!

If you’re looking for more inspiration here’s how you can work smarter, not harder!