I’m assuming you want to change something about yourself – your character, your default patterns or reactions.

That’s likely why you are doing My One Word. You want to be different.

Here’s what I can tell you about that. To change at a sustainable level, you are going to have to change what you focus on. You need to look at things differently in order to change. Your word is a great tool in this.

For example, is your one word TRUST? … Are you going to focus on Christ’s power, or on your circumstances today?

Is your one word PEACE?  Will you focus on what you can control, or on what you can’t control?

Is your one word PATIENCE? How then should you live this next hour?

Questions like these lead us to focus properly. You want to change your focus? Change the questions you ask yourself.

Change the Questions You Ask Yourself

Rather than asking, “Why is this happening to me?” ask, “What can I do in this situation to affect the outcome (or others) for the better?” Rather than asking, “Why can’t I ever lose weight?” ask, “What small, doable choice can I make today – right now – to position myself for weight loss?”

Your brain will answer the questions you ask of it. If you ask it why you can’t loose weight, or why you are so disorganized, it will give you an answer. And that answer will sound convincing!  It will say, “Because I love food too much.” Or, “I’ve always been messy – I just can’t help it.”

But if you ask your brain what you can do right now to move forward towards your goal, it will answer you: “I can put down these chips and drink a glass of water,” or, “I can sort through that stack of stuff piled on my desk.”

Change your questions in order to change your answers, so that you can shift your focus. Focus = Direction.

What we see – where we look, or what we focus on – determines the direction we will go.

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So what are you focusing on? Now? Today? Lately? If you want to change, start there. Use your one word as both a reminder and a tool to focus.

Are you looking for a way to keep your word in front of you all year long? Register for a My One Word account! One of the key features of a MOW account is an online Word Journal that allows you to capture your thoughts to reflective questions like you see above. You can go back at any time to read your completed journals to see how God has been moving in your life through your one word.

3-2-1!!!!! Happy New Year! Right now people just like you are welcoming in 2011 and pondering how this year will be different than the rest. There is something about a new year that gives us hope and makes us believe that we can actually be a better person tomorrow than we are today. As the calendar changes, we hope we can too.

So, we make a promise to improve our ways by tackling our bad habits, destructive behaviors and negative thoughts. With all the gusto in the world, we pledge to lose weight, become a better spouse, devote more time to family, clean up our language, cut back on spending and get organized. These vows sound good, and look perfect on paper, but there is a problem; they seldom work.

Researchers say only four out of five people who make a New Year’s Resolution actually achieve their goals. Even worse, a third will give up on them by the end of January. The running shoes stay in the closet while the credit card comes out more often. New priorities quickly get replaced with the old. Circumstances and feelings once again dictate and determine our actions. The voices of “it’s too hard” and “it will never work” become louder and louder until we finally wave the white flag in surrender. We start with the best intentions, but end up getting nowhere.

With such a predictable cycle playing out year after year, one has no choice but to wonder if transformation can truly occur. We want to reassure you that change is indeed possible. There is a better way and it comes in the form of a single word. The key is to get rid of the list of things you hate about yourself and replace it with a vision.

Welcome to the My One Word journey. Since 2007, this project has helped individuals move beyond broken promises of the past towards a brighter hope of who God intends them to be. The challenge is simple: lose the long list of resolutions you want to make this year and instead pick ONE WORD. This process provides clarity by taking all of your big plans for life change and narrowing them down into a single thing. One word focuses on your character and creates a vision for your future.

For those who have been part of this experiment before, we hope God continues to form your character through your new word as He has done in years past. To those who are hearing about this project for the very first time, we invite you to join us and pick one word for 2011.

We understand that for some this will be a daunting task. So many changes need to take place that it seems impossible to narrow it down to one. A hundred potential words come to mind and you are unsure of where to begin. However, don’t worry because we are here to help. Head over to the “Read Others’ Words” section of the website which is filled with stories of words that others have chosen and their reasons for choosing them. Also, over the next month, our blog posts will walk you through the process of choosing your word along with preparing you for the journey that lies ahead.

Before you embark on this journey, a little word of warning: don’t be surprised if living out your “one word” feels unnatural and awkward at first. This is why we’ve developed MYONEWORD.ORG, to give you the resources and surround you with a community that will help keep your word in front of you all year long. Visit our Registration Page to setup an account today and become part of a community intent on encouraging and supporting you towards the change you want this year! We are really excited about what 2011 holds for you and your One Word.

We hope that your journey this year of picking one word and letting God use it to mold and shape you in 2010 has been a inspiring process!  Since 2011 is just around the corner, we have taken down the login page to update our system for the coming year.

But don’t freak out!

We have kept all of your word journal entries and information safe and sound.  You will be able to access it once the system comes back online January 1st as well as add your word for 2011 once you have picked it.

We are really excited about what 2011 holds for you and your one word, and are working hard to continue providing you with new content and resources to help you keep your word in front of you in the coming year.  We will have new guest bloggers on the blog and will begin tailoring the word journal to help make it a more sustainable resource in 2011.

Check back January 1st, 2011 to login and put your word up for other to see and be encouraged by what you chose!

In the meantime, here are a few things you can be doing over the Christmas break to begin the process of picking a word in 2011:

• Check out our newly updated “Read Others Word’s” page to see what words people have been picking all the way back to 2007!
• Revisit our blogs about picking a word from the 2010 blog archive
• Visit our facebook fan page to see what words people have put up there to help spur ideas about what word you might pick in 2011.

See you in 2011!

For a moment, think back to how you felt after choosing your One Word for 2010. There was the excitement of a fresh start along with a renewed commitment to the things left by the wayside during the past year. The feelings of hope for change consumed you. This was going to be the year when things finally shaped up. Not only that, but in the midst of the spiritual change you found yourself in, you realized that you were not alone. An entire community was embarking on the same mission: to gain a deeper understanding of the heart of God and reflect that characteristic more profoundly in their life.

For some those feelings are matching up with the reality they are facing. Growth is happening and you have witnessed change in your walk with God. Disciplines that once felt awkward and unnatural are starting to be embedded into your character. We are excited that you are experiencing growth and we encourage you to continue with the momentum you are feeling!

Yet, there are others of you who have hit a wall of discouragement and trouble. Having encountered this plateau, change is more of a challenge and is less recognizable. For some difficulty with your word may have come almost instantly the first morning after you got out of bed. While for others it took a week or month before discouragement reared its’ ugly head in your lives.

If you are feeling discouraged or believe you’ve already failed and there is no hope for change, there are two things that you must cling to for comfort. First, change cannot and does not occur without struggle. The encouraging thing is that God wants to meet you in the midst of your struggle. If you have exhausted all your human strength, patience, and will and have nothing else to rely on but Him, that is exactly where He wants you to be. Second, one of the most beautiful aspects of grace is that every day is a new day. The moment you wake up is another opportunity for faith in a God who loves a good story of redemption. Although the road may seem long, we encourage you to continue to pursue God’s heart by reflecting His character through your One Word.

We want to echo the words of Paul in Philippians 3:13-14: “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”