What's your word for 2013?

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I recently attending a conference called Making Things Happen. I was expecting to potentially make a few new good friends and just enjoy being home in NC.

What I got out of the experience was so much more than that. Though I think there are a lot of amazing things that founders Lara Casey, Emily Ley, and Gina Zeidler do specifically for MTH, I really think anyone would have to benefit tremendously from turning their cell phone off for two uninterrupted days of focusing on yourself, your fears, your goals, and what truly fires you up.

In the few weeks that have passed, I am continuing to digest all that learned about myself and my perspective about the world from taking that important time and thought. For now, I wanted to share a few things - the first is a set of Goal Setting exercises by Lara which I completed on the plane ride to NC.

Here's a link to the five posts Lara Casey has written on goal setting on her site. Set aside some time when you were planning to explore Facebook instead and trust me, you'll be really happy when you've done this thinking and have a whole word document full of information to share back with yourself.

GOAL SETTING FOR 2013, Part 1 GOAL SETTING FOR 2013, Part 2 GOAL SETTING FOR 2013, Part 3 GOAL SETTING FOR 2013, Part 4 GOAL SETTING FOR 2013, Part 5

Next, here's just a few of the aha moments I've had since attending the conference:

• Though I'm a creative person, I haven't been creative in how I spend my time
• I need to be more intentional with my time
• I need to put the phone away and be present when I'm with people, especially those I love
• I have an amazing, wonderful husband and am probably the luckiest girl in the world
• You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with - and that means the people you spend time with in your head and whose little voice keeps you from feeling valuable
• Feel the fear and do it anyway

Just writing a few of these topline thoughts has me feeling inspired and like I can do anything. One of my favorite elements of all this self-reflection has been coming up with a word to describe my goals for the year ahead.

I think it's a great question for anyone -- what is your word for 2013? 

I had a lot of good contenders - passion, compassion, dream. The winner? PURPOSE. It's what I've been lacking, feeling burnt out and lost before spending this time reflecting.

But when I make the conscious effort everyday to define my OWN purpose and continue to work towards it, I know I am making progress. And as they say, it's about progress, not perfection.