Happy new year! Of course, it’s that time of the year where people set new year’s resolutions. But though we start the year with these good intentions in mind, we often fail to keep them going after about a month. Well a few years ago, I discovered another approach to new year’s resolutions via business coach/guru Christine Kane. Christine created the ‘Word of the Year’, or WOTY, approach, described here. I loved this idea: one simple word to create one powerful theme for the way you approach the year. It seemed much easier than traditional resolutions, so I thought I would give it a try. I just didn’t apply it and commit to it in a major way until last year, 2017.
Last year, my theme was ‘brave and bold’. I know, not exactly one word, but I modified the rule in this case. Brave and bold meant that I was going to do things that I otherwise may not have done before out of fear and doubt. That year, I planned to be more social, more outgoing, and more confident. And if you read my top ten epic moments of 2017, you can see I did just that! So I decided to plan another new year theme for 2018.
The thing is, I don’t think I’m done yet being brave and bold. I wanted a word that embodied that spirit, but went even further. I felt I needed to take everything I learned in 2017 and apply it to 2018 in a much bigger way. Stretch myself further. Then I looked down at my wrist to see the word I chose for my very first tattoo, and I knew that was it.
Limitless – my ‘Word of the Year’ for 2018. I promise this is the last time you’ll see this photo!
Becoming Limitless
I’ve seen what happens when I really put my mind to something. It shows me that I really can do whatever I want to do, be whomever I want to be, go as far as I want to go, as long as I believe that I can do it and really want it. This year, I have some comfort zone-stretching, life-changing goals in place, so there’s nothing like embodying a limitless mindset to go forth and achieve them.
But there’s more. It turns out that limitless couldn’t have been a better word choice for me. I’ve always been into the meaning of numbers (and yes, numerology). Today I decided to look up the meaning of the number 8, as this year has an 8 in it. What I found couldn’t make me any more excited and a tad emotional.
The meaning of the number 8
As we know, the number 8 flipped on its side is the infinity symbol. According to the blog Angel Therapy, the number 8 represents everything good in the universe which can be infinite, such as love, time, and energy. Seeing the word ‘infinite’ used in this meaning made my pores raise. It makes me feel like I’m on the right path.
Of course, this isn’t the only meaning for the number 8. In numerology, 8 has a different meaning. According to Numerology.com, the number 8 embodies balance. The number 8 also has the traits of being goal-oriented, focused, driven and ambitious associated with it. All of these traits are what I plan to embody this year.
Mind you, Numerology is meant to be used with your name and birthdate. And the actual number for 2018 is 11, which is associated with intuition, leadership, personal power and spiritual truths (Numerology.com, UniversalLifeTools.com). And my personal number for the year is actually a 9, which is tied to philanthropy and the fulfillment of projects or dreams. So you can see there’s a lot of numbers, and either way, all of this stuff is very pseudo-scientific anyway, so it’s not meant to be taken seriously. But it still makes a very small part of me (okay, maybe a huge part of me) feel like the coincidence between the meanings and the theme I chose is magical.
Still, there can be no results without action
The thing is, before my curiosity led me to find out the meaning of the number 8, I had already intended to approach 2018 with a limitless mindset. Action, execution, just doing things always pays off far greater than just reading some prediction for the year and expecting it to work wonders for you. The fact is, even with new year’s resolutions, even with new year’s themes, action is the fuel to transform our dreams or goals into reality. We ultimately have control over our lives to do with it what we see fit. If you’re not steering it, you’re not going anywhere.
And with that in mind, I’m taking mine as far as I can go this year. To the top, and then some.
