What are your theme words for 2013?

For nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other clinicians, personal development is an essential component of overall success in any nursing business.

During the years, I’ve read and listened to my mentors discuss many strategies for success. One of the most important and consistent is planning. Since it is January, let’s talk about how you can set the stage for the upcoming year. Mind you, this powerful and yet deceptively simple strategy can have amazing effects.

When planning our goals for the year, many of us have several items we want to achieve. We may separate them out by business, professional, personal, family, lifestyle and the like. In order not to get bogged down and lost in our own process, we need to have a holistic approach, a blending together. We need an overall vision in order to keep us moving forward.

That’s where the idea of using one word to create a theme can help. Choosing just one word, or up to three as business author Chris Brogen suggests, can give you a shortcut to your vision, purpose, and goals for the year. These words can guide you in creating your to-do list, choosing opportunities and making decisions.

How Do You Do This?

First, decide on your “big picture”, big theme or big goal for the new year (Of course, many people have more than one big theme or goals of the year, but keep it under three if you can). This is not easy for everyone. If this is you, you may find it helpful to think of filling in the blank. For example:

At the end of 2013, I want to/I will be: .

Next, you’ll want to break down your vision, looking for common themes and actions. It is helpful to ask questions such as “What will it take to get there?” and “What has to happen before this can happen?” If you have more than one vision, you will want to do this for each of them.

Look for the common themes of each of these goals. Choose an action verb that will instantly remind you of the big picture:

Service, Gratitude, Journey, Strength, Fitness, Practice, Health, Completeness, Purpose, Clarity, Focus, Self-care, Growth, Transition, Mindfulness, Change, Balance, Rebuild, Family, Faith, Community.

There are no right or wrong words. The word simply needs to bring your theme, your goals into focus. It is however, quite important to keep it to 3 words or less.

Once you have your words, what do you do with them? Print them out and place them around your office, in your car and in your wallet. Use them as the screen saver on your computer, your phone and your tablet of choice. Constantly remind yourself of your path for the year. Share your words, your vision and your goals with your own inner circle of friends, families and supporters.