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.