With just a few days left until the new year, we’re taking a deep dive into your goals for 2023, with a five-day goal creation series. Today we’re talking about how to create a theme for 2023 that will help you stick to your yearly goals and things to consider when deciding what theme will best represent your goals and keep you motivated.
So, if you’re ready to accomplish bigger things in 2023 – then make sure to click subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode in this series. And then, let’s get started.
Links for This Episode
Podcast Episode Recommendations
- #36: How to Clarify Your Purpose + Vision for 2023
- #35: How To Use Hard Times to Create a Bigger Impact
How to Create a Theme for 2023 + Why You Need One
Well, hey there and welcome to the third episode of the 2023 Goals Creation series. I’m your host, Sarah Brumley, and I continue to be so thankful for all of the positive responses from this series. Seriously, friend – it’s so rewarding to know that you and other mamas like you – are finding the clarity you need in order to set up your 2023 for success. This series is meant to take you step-by-step through the process, so if you’ve missed either of the two previous episodes, you’ll definitely want to check those out first before you get started with this one.
And…make sure you click subscribe so that you don’t miss the rest of this series because we have two more episodes this week designed to help you clarify your goals and make a bigger impact in this upcoming year.
The line up is as follows:
Monday: How To Use Hard Times to Create a Bigger Impact
Tuesday: How to Clarify Your Purpose + Vision for 2023
Wednesday: How to Create a Theme for 2023 That Keeps You Motivated All Year Long
Thursday: How to Choose Goals that ACTUALLY Matter for 2023
Friday: How to Create a Foolproof Action Plan + Achieve Your 2023 Goals
Today we are chatting about creating a theme for your 2023 so that you can remain motivated all year long – no matter what the year throws at you. And you’re probably going to want a notebook and a pen to get this done, so feel free to pause and grab that now OR you can head to sarahbrumley.com/goals and grab the resource I designed specifically to help you walk through this process.
Why Do You Need a Theme?
Before we jump into actually creating a theme for 2023, I want to first talk about WHY I wholeheartedly believe that having a theme matters and HOW it can help you as you move through the upcoming year.
Let’s think back to those proms we had as teens. If you didn’t go to your prom – no worries, I’m happy to say I don’t think you missed out on much. But…all of those dances had a theme to them. Then, when the decorating team or the food prep team or anyone else that was involved needed direction – they could go back to what the theme was and see if their plans fit the bill. Right?
It was motivation to stay on track.
The same type of thing goes for decorating your home. When you have a plan or a “theme” you are better able to follow through and end up with the result you want. For example, my office is beach themed. That makes it really easy for me to go to the store and know exactly what colors and items will fit in well. If I’d simply gone with a more general “let’s just get it decorated” mindset, it would be a hodge-podge of all kinds of things that wouldn’t necessarily coordinate. And I wouldn’t be as happy each time I entered my office.
So…the theme was motivation to stay on track and get the job done in a way that actual produced an amazing end result.
What about a birthday party that you are planning for your child? If you want Curious George themed items, then it’s really easy to go to the party store and grab everything you need in that theme. You know you can have a monkey cake, monkey pinata, and so on and so forth. It takes the guesswork out of what to do, right? If someone offers you some Barbie napkins, you can decline their offer because you know it won’t fit your theme. So, it also helps you decide what you don’t need. That sounds like a win win to me.
Once again…the theme is motivation to stay on track and to get the job done in a way that produces an amazing Curious George birthday party that your son or daughter will love.
I could give a lot more examples of themes playing out in other situations, but you get my point. A theme narrows the focus, keeps you on track, and allows you to stay motivated to an end goal you can be proud of.
That’s why I believe we absolutely should have a theme for our upcoming year:
- To narrow our focus.
- To keep us on track.
- To keep us motivated and moving toward the end goal.
So, how do we create that theme? Well, you can go about it a lot of ways, but personally, I recommend using one of two options. (And you can always use both if you feel so inclined!)
Option #1: Choose a Word of the Year
The first thing you can do is to choose a word of the year. This is a word that reflects what you want to focus on most over the upcoming year, or it could be a word that represents a feeling you want to instill or a mindset you want to have.
So, let me tell you a little about how this word of the year concept has played out in my life over the past two years.
In 2021, my word of the year was “Simplify”. I was four months pregnant with my youngest at that time and knew that I couldn’t continue on in my life or business without really simplifying things. I want to have peace and tranquility around the time when he was born, without distraction or the pressure to get things done that didn’t really move the needle or matter to me at the time. That was my theme. I had MANY times during that year when I’d come up with what I thought to be a brilliant idea. But, each time I was able to run that idea past my word. By adding or creating this thing in my life or business, did it go along with my theme to “Simplify”? And, you know what? I left a lot of things behind that year because it didn’t fit what I needed in that season to achieve my biggest goals.
Super helpful.
Then, in 2022, I chose the word “Consistent”. You see, I knew that, after taking several months off for maternity leave and having a new baby at home, I would need to be super consistent in every area of my life if I actually wanted to see progress made. And, for the most part, I was able to do so. Even if I didn’t hit my goal, the things that I did consistently over the year, I made huge progress in. And, there were a lot of times over this past year that I was able to ask myself, if I start this new thing or add this thing to my life right now will I be able to be consistent. And you know what, a lot of times I had to tell myself no because it just wasn’t going to be successful.
So, you can see how having a word of the year as my theme has helped me narrow my focus, stay on track, and keep me moving toward that end goal.
How do you choose this word of the year? Well, that’s up to you. I like to recommend that you consider that brainstorm work we did yesterday, and see if any themes pop out to you.
It could be a feeling or mindset you want to have – like bold or courageous. It could be something that you need to offer to others – like grace or generosity. The sky is the limit with this, so take some time to really think it through. Also – it might take time to really come up with the right word. There have been years that I’ve had to sit and pray about it a lot, so definitely take the time you need to get that clarity on your theme for the year ahead.
Option #2: Choose a Song of the Year
The second option you have for creating your theme for the year is to choose a song that best represents it.
We all have songs that bring us back to a certain time in our lives or a certain feeling or place. For me, you can guarantee that if you show up and my house and Jo Dee Messina is playing, that I probably just needed a few moments to feel carefree and remind myself to live my best life.
And I bet you have an artist, album or even a certain genre that makes you feel the same way.
That’s why a song can be a great addition when it comes to creating a theme. So I want to encourage you to take the time to come up with a song that you’ll use to represent your dreams for the upcoming year. You can use this by itself as your theme or in combination with the word of the year – the choice is yours.
There are several reasons having a theme song is a great idea:
- You can turn it on when you are feeling out of sorts or like you can’t go forward anymore.
- You can use it to represent your dreams as a kind of “pep talk” or “pep rally” at the start of a day or an activity that helps you achieve your goals.
- You can use it as a reminder that you aren’t perfect and perfection isn’t expected but the act of “keeping going” is critical.
All of those things can be represented by a song of your choosing and can help you narrow your focus, keep you on track, and simply motivate you toward that end goal.
How do you choose a song? Well, like the word of the year, the choices are endless.
- What best represents what you want to achieve?
- What best represents how you want to feel or think?
- What best motivates you?
It doesn’t have to be all three, either…so make it your own.
Take Action: Create a Theme for 2023
And that brings us to the action part of this episode and you know if you’ve been with me for awhile that I love taking action, because action is where the dreams turn into the reality.
ACTION: Today’s action step is to choose your theme. It can be a word of the year or a song of the year or something else you’ve decided on entirely…but make sure you have something that you can go back to as the year progresses – so that you can stay on track and motivated to achieve the things that matter most to you.
I know from personal experience that I am more likely to accomplish what I set out to do if I am accountable to someone. So make sure to grab that Mama Business Strategy Session by going to sarahbrumley.com/strategy and using code NEWYEAR to get that $25 off. I can’t wait to celebrate progress, strategize your plan, and cheer you on moving forward. And you know me, mama, I am definitely cheering you on.
Have an amazing day and I’ll chat with you tomorrow.
