Setting a Theme for the Year

Why My Year Has a Theme and Yours Should Too

Why My Year Has a Theme and Yours Should Too

It’s 2020 and everyone is busy making their new year’s resolutions come to life. But not me. Not really anyways. I don’t believe in making resolutions because I think it’s a useless practice with a very low success rate. We are always so excited to make resolutions for the year, only to forget about them by February. And then it’s back to doing whatever we were doing before the resolutions. As if we never set them in the first place.

That’s why, recently, experts have begun to talk about setting small attainable goals, instead of sweeping resolutions. And I think it’s a great idea. But I also think that before setting your goals, you need something to tie them together. That’s why this year, I am setting a Theme. It’s kind of like a Theme Party, only for my life. I know it will give me something to work towards and guide me in the right direction.

My Theme for the Year

My theme for 2020 is: Achieve. It sounds very broad and it is. I can fit many goals to help me stay on track and keep true to my theme. And this year I have a lot of things I want to achieve. I want to grow my blog, open up a life coaching business, make yoga a daily part of my life, work through the residual feelings of my postpartum depression. There is just so much I want to do this year. And it’s such a new feeling to me.

I forgot what it feels like to want something out of life. And it feels good to get that drive back!

But let’s back up and let me tell you how I got to this year’s theme.

How did I come up with my Theme?

Setting A Theme for the Year

Ever since the birth of my first son almost 4 years ago, the theme of every year has been: Survive. That was the only goal. If you’re wondering why so grim, you can read my post about my experience with PPD (The Dark Side of Motherhood: When PPD Takes Over) to understand why surviving was my only goal for a while. My second pregnancy and my second son’s infancy did not lend to anything except survival either. So there I was, coasting for nearly half a decade and now I’m ready to start moving and achieving. But I didn’t know where to start.

Setting resolutions is not my cup of tea, as I said before. I know that I wouldn’t be able to hold to them all the time and it would just leave me feeling upset and like a failure. (I am that perfectionist that will give up if even the smallest thing goes wrong). Small attainable goals – yes, that would be a good start. But what if they’re too all over the place? That would just make me feel anxious and scattered.

And so I thought, what about a Theme? A grand vision for the year. My Mission Statement! 

Yes! That is exactly what I needed to set this year apart from the rest. A mission statement that would guide my goals and help me choose activities to support them. I don’t have to be bogged down from the start and try to come up with a bunch of goals for the year. I can set my theme and then come up with monthly goals that I can break down into weekly goals.

It’s Your Turn – Create Your Theme

Setting a Theme for the Year

If it works for you, you can further break the goals down into daily goals. Do whatever you need to support your success and adherence to your theme.

Remember there is no wrong theme of the year. It’s your life and it’s up to you to figure out your mission statement. What do you want this year to be about?

Go ahead! It’s time! Make this the year you set a theme and set attainable goals to achieve it. And if your theme is too big to complete in one year, no worries. Extend it to your next year and come up with more goals to support it!

And if you need a little more help in creating a Theme, read my post Creating a Theme to Change Your Life on Mamas and Coffee for helpful tips and tricks.

Share your theme for the year in the comments! And let’s all celebrate our themes and see how we can help one another in setting goals that align with them!

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18 thoughts on “Why My Year Has a Theme and Yours Should Too”

  1. This is a great Idea! a theme for the year!! I think mine would be the same, there’s so much I want to achieve this year with my blog and in life in general with helping my little girl learn and grow!

  2. My word for the year is “intent” – so I can live with intention in all that I do. Last year as I started my business, I let many things fall to the wayside, and this year I want to cultivate what matters.

  3. I like broader themes like yours – it reminds me of a word of the year. I think having that word or theme helps us focus on more things than just a resolution.

  4. I like this and agree new years resolutions are too hard to keep. I have word for the year and this year after going through a tough couple of years is ‘Engage’. So far so good. Thanks for sharing.

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