One Little Word® 2014
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Make your word visible: Order your own word from recycled matericals created by artist Colleen Attara here.
My One Little Word for 2014 is thrive.
This year, more than any other I can remember, I'm starting off the year with questions. What does it mean for me to thrive? What does it look like? What does it fee like? Are there areas in which I'm already thriving? What's realistic vs. visions of what I have in my head of what it means to thrive?
Open was an awesome word for me last year. It was a touchstone as I navigated my way through growing pains and man oh man did it work in a million different ways I could not have imagined when I started 2013. More often than not when faced with a decision, I chose to open more rather than closing off which was my number one intention last year. That said, I feel like I've been spinning in circles a lot this past year. I've been reacting vs. being proactive and have been dealing with a variety of issues related to stress and growth (totally all part of my own life journey).
To me thriving is optimal living. It's being present and awake and stepping up to be my best self physically, emotionally, spiritually, creatively and within my relationships.
It's not a quest for perfection. It's an opportunity to continue choosing to let go of things outside of my control and to figure out who that best-me-right-now really is.
It will be a whole new journey and I'm here to tell you I welcome it wholeheartedly.
Bring on 2014.
This year I invited my friend Elise Blaha Cripe to film a little video about her experience with One Little Word. One of the reasons I admire Elise is that she is awesome at follow-through and documentation. I've loved reading about her experience with her words over the last few years on her blog and she inspires me consistently with her projects and her real-life reflections.
Here's Elise in her own words:
Thank you Elise for sharing about your own journey here.
Are you considering selecting a word for yourself (or letting one find you)? There's no right or wrong. The main thing to remember is that this is your word. It's not for your child, parent, partner, spouse, sister, etc.
And what do you do with this one little word?
You live with it. You invite it into you life. You let it speak to you. You might even follow where it leads. There are so many possibilities.
SHARE YOUR WORD THE COMMENTS | I’d love to read what word you’ve chosen or are considering for 2014. In the comments feel free to simply leave your word as your comment or write a bit about why you are choosing this word. In a couple days I’ll combine all the words into a single post – super inspiring to see all the words in one place.
If you’re new to the concept of One Little Word, you can read some of my previous posts here: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
ONE LITTLE WORD® 2014 |To help keep your One Little Word® more visible throughout the year I offer a year-long workshop featuring one prompt per month. Read all the details and sign up here. Registration is $5 off until December 31.

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938 comments
[…] wasn’t going to pick a word for the new year, because nothing was really standing out to […]
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Be...
I"m going to BE myself... The real, imperfect, flawed, quirky, weird, beautiful, magical me...
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My OLW word for 2014 is AIM.
You can read all about it here: http://www.lifeonleeavenue.com/blog/2014/01/one-little-word-2014-aim.html
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TEE (Finnish for 'do', 'make', 'tea')
Just do it. Also, keep calm and have a cuppa.
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Pray
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My word is Flourish.
(It's like a "fancy" vigorous growth... and that made me smile)
I want my relationship with God to Flourish.
I want my creativity to Flourish.
I want positive thoughts and behaviors to Flourish in my life.
I want my ideas and dreams to Flourish into actions.
I want 2014 to be a year of Flourish!
I'm signed up for the OLW class and super excited!!
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My OLW is ENERGY. Partly because I feel like I lack it in everything i do.I want to be energized to do more and accomplish. To finish grad school, work more and work harder at my goals. I also want to lose weigh, so I need the energy to move more and lastly because I want to start feeling positive energy and stop sending out the negative.
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I picked believe.. I had actually chose "grow" and then it hit me How can I grow if I do not believe in ME? I need to learn to believe I can do things and feel things and accept things andLife. Thank you to You Ali and Margie Romney Aslett for your inspiration. Good luck to you and your thriving journey! Grace
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Accept.
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My word this year is CREATE! This is my first time doing this and I am so excited!
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my word for the year is PARE. i like to think of it as if simplify and focus had a love child. :) thank you so much ali for always sharing yourself so freely. always such an inspiration. all the best for your 2014.
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[…] I have talked about the power of one little word before (here and here). The brilliant creator of the one little word project, Ali Edwards explains it best on her AE blog. […]
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My word for 2014 is Define.
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As I was falling asleep last night I was thinking of my word, 'Define', and as I thought about it I felt that the better word to describe what I want to accomplish in 2014 is 'Commit'.
I COMMIT to prepare a family budget
I COMMIT to take better care of myself
I COMMIT to get heatlhy
I COMMIT to define my education path
I COMMIT to being a present person
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Trust - the word kind of picked me so I'm going with it.
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Connect
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My word is compassion. I've been fretting over the fact that I see less tolerance and compassion for others in everyday life, so I'm going to "be the change {I} wish to see in the world." Thanks, Ali!!
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I first joined you in 2009 and have done it each year since. Thanks for inspiring me. My word for 2014 is MEMORY.
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Improvement
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This will be my 7th year for One Little Word. It has been such a wonderful influence on my life. My words have been ME, BALANCE, REDUCE, CREATE JOY, TIME, and BEGIN. This year is time for me to THRIVE, not just exist. I can't wait to see what my word brings me - but I know I have to concentrate on more than just living - I want to THRIVE this year!
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[…] came across this idea of choosing a word for the year via Ali Edwards. This year, she has chosen thrive as her […]
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