Word of the Year: Balance

Updated on March 27, 2024

One Little Word 2017: Balance. Each year, I choose one little word to help guide my priorities and goals. This year, my word is … balance.

For the past several years, I have chosen a new word to help guide my year, goals, and choices regarding all my priorities. I’m not too fond of New Year’s resolutions. They often fall flat so quickly after January.

Previous Years: Word of the Year

Focus. Happy. Create. Do.

Above are the words I have chosen in past years. Each year, my word has helped me choose which activities I spend time on that align with my priorities and goals. 

Choosing a word has not always come easily to me. But somehow, each year, I seem drawn to a single word that keeps finding a way to stand out to me in many little ways.

Last year, my word was “do.” It helped me in all aspects of my own life.

I got more done than I had in years past. I stayed more on top of tasks I often dreaded. And it helped to remind me all year long that the only way to get things done is to do.

You don’t get there by planning, dreaming, and writing things down. You have to put in the work.

2017 Word of the Year – Balance

This year, I have been going back and forth on the words balance and simplify.

A great way to achieve balance is to simplify. I want to simplify my home, life, work, and a lot of things. Decluttering my physical space and mental health allows me to focus on my priorities – my family and the relationships I cherish. 

The Word Balance – Definition

“Keep or put something in a steady position so that it does not fall.” 

I want to avoid falling. When life happens, and unexpected things arise, I won’t crumble because I will know that I am on top of most areas of my life.

I know I need to have routines and systems that allow the most mundane aspects of my life to run on autopilot so I can enjoy being present with the people I love and doing the things that fuel my soul.

“A condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.” 

I want my time to be spent on things that are important to me. It is so easy to get bogged down by the everyday details of life.

How often am I truly present in the moment? Do I give my kids my undivided attention, not distracted by my phone or thoughts about what I must do next?

How often do I rush through my work to get it done rather than enjoy the fact that I can work in a field that allows me to be creative daily?

I want to look back at the end of the year and be happy about my choices.

RELATED: Other Words of the Year

Is There Such a Thing as Balance?

As a work-at-home mom, balance can be very elusive. In reality, I don’t think there is such a thing as work-life balance. There are seasons in which certain areas of our lives will take priority, and other things must take a back seat for a while.

I want to be a successful businesswoman, but not at the expense of time with my family. Working from home makes it very difficult to unplug and disconnect.

I use social media for both business and pleasure. So many aspects of my work and home life intersect and overlap.

However, I realize I need to find more separation between the two. When I am at work, I want to be present and get the most done with my hours.

Plan for Achieving Balance

My plan for this coming year is to set concrete working hours while the kids are at school. I want to work 20 hours a week, five hours a day, four days a week, when my kids are in school. (I am still trying to figure out how to find balance over the summer.)

Then, I can focus on my family when the kids are home from school and on the weekends.

There have been many nights when I worked feverishly to finish a project before the kids got home from school—those evenings often turned out to be total chaos. It isn’t easy to give the kids and my husband the attention they deserve when I am still working on projects in the evening. 

The first step to finding a little more balance is to get ahead and have more of a buffer so that I am more prepared when life inevitably happens.

Take Care of Yourself to Take Care of Others

For the last couple of years, I have not made myself a priority. This year, I want to focus on my health and well-being.

Thank goodness I don’t have any significant health problems, but I don’t feel my best most days. I am tired and sluggish.

I don’t exercise as much as I should (or sometimes even at all, if I am being completely honest). A lot of the time I don’t eat well. I snack and grab quick things that are often unhealthy.

Too many nights, I stay up late and don’t get enough sleep. I am not my best self.

to have the energy and focus to do all the important things., I need to take better care of myself

I am not so naive to think that there won’t be days when I have a big deadline and my kids have to fend for themselves for an evening. Or that one of my kids will get sick and need my full attention, and thus, the work I had planned will have to wait.

But I hope that by simplifying and creating some routines, these types of events won’t make me completely melt down.

My word of the year is balance. Do you have one word for 2017? Happy New Year!

Powersheets Goal Setting

Want to learn more about goal setting? Do you feel overwhelmed by setting goals and tracking them? I suggest using the Cultivate What Matters Powersheets. It is a proven system for discovering and tracking your goals throughout the year. I use one most years, and I notice a difference in how successful I am with my goals when I use it compared to if I don’t.

You may also like:

• 2013: Focus
• 2014: Happy
• 2015: Create
• 2016: Do
• 2017: Balance
• 2018: Simplify
• 2019: Change
• 2020: Finish
• 2022: Less