I am a writer so it’s no surprise that I believe there is great power in words. So each year I like to choose a word for the year, a word that is my theme and my focus. A word that keeps me grounded. A word that keeps me going.

My word for 2019 is “CHANGE.”

I chose this word back in November. when I realized I’d lived the same year twice.  I spent 2018 going after the same goals I tried to achieve in 2017, wrestling with the questions and dealing with the same problems.

I’m fed up.

Related Reading: How to Change Your Life

So my word for the year is CHANGE.

On December 31, 2019, I want to be able to declare that 2019 was the year that changed my life — for the better — in every way.

As usual, I’ve spent the past few weeks writing out my goals and plans for the year. In 2019 I want to travel more, reach my goal weight, see my byline in more publications, see my byline on a book, and finally figure out what’s next for See Jane Write. But if 2019 is meant to be about change I need a different approach as I go after these goals.

First and foremost, I’m giving up the idea that I can go at it alone. This year I will truly and fully rely on God to give me guidance and grace every step of the way.

This year I must have childlike faith in God and I must have childlike faith in myself.

Church-going girls like myself are taught we must have childlike faith in God. We are told to believe everything will work out even when all hell is breaking loose. I’ve always struggled with having childlike faith as I’m a person who questions everything and because I am the ultimate control freak. I’m so much of a control freak that I don’t even like surprise parties. But as I’m getting older it’s getting easier to have childlike faith in God because I’m realizing how little control I actually have.

However, I believe that as we get older it gets harder to have childlike faith in ourselves. When we were kids we believed we could be anything — a ballerina, an astronaut, or even president of the United States! Our parents and our teachers told us we could be and do anything and we believed them! To make our 2019 dreams come true we need to have childlike faith in ourselves once again.

To truly change my life in 2019 I must believe that I actually can.

If I don’t actually believe I will accomplish my goals, I won’t. Period. I’ve learned this the hard way. I have a long list of writing, blogging, business, and personal goals that I have yet to accomplish and I know that for each of them I hadn’t yet reached a place where I actually believed I could achieve them. On the other hand, every November when I challenge myself to publish a new blog post every day for 30 days for #bloglikecrazy I always do because I always believe that I can and that I will. And in 2014 when I set out to exercise every day for 365 days I was able to do that, too, because I believed I could. (And I even got interviewed on TV for this feat!)

This is why affirmations work for some people and not others. If you really believe the affirmations you’re repeating to yourself they will come true.

Now, I’m not saying that going after your goals is as easy as “believe and you will achieve.” This is about mindset, not magic. The point is that when you actually believe you can accomplish something you are more likely to commit to doing the necessary work to bring the dream to fruition. I believed exercising every day for a year or blogging every day for a month was something I could do, so I committed to doing it — NO MATTER WHAT.

This year I am committed to completely changing my life for the better by any means necessary.

I’d love for you to follow my journey on Instagram @seejavaciawrite.

What’s your word for the year?