Power Words for 2020

I must admit, the previous year did not end up well for me. Setting resolutions for the New Year usually ends up with failure. And that is the last thing I want for this year.

For this year, I aim to focus on the things that is important to me. And these words – power words – will be guide my actions and goals for the year.

What are Power Words?

The first time I have encountered power words was from one of the journals from ilovebdj.com.

When I googled the term, the results are usually linked to marketing and copywriting. Power words, in that field, are words that aim to trigger a psychological and emotional response or call to action.

Close, but not exactly the definition that I was looking for.

Dan Trommater, a motivational speaker, defined power words as a word or phrase that “represents what you want more in your life.” In his 30-day challenge, he encouraged people to use these words instead of New Year Resolutions as these words serves more as a guide for the decisions for that month or year.

In addition, he said that these words or phrases become powerful because of neuroplasticity. Constant application of these guide words in daily activities enables habit formation.

For this year, I decided to pick three words to motivate and remind me of my personal goals.

Create

My first power word, CREATE, is a call for me to continuously find way to practice my skills may it be in illustration, painting or writing.

Whenever I get overwhelmed with work, I tend to set aside personal art projects. It is as terrible habit – I must admit – that I need to unlearn. That habit results to a lot of time wasted – time, that I need to further improve my craft.

This year has to focus on breaking that destructive habit.

Discover

The second word, DISCOVER, is a reminder to never stop the pursuit of knowledge.

I believe that we should aim to learn something new each day. Read something. Watch something informative on Youtube. Try out a different technique. It does not have to be something completely new or different. It could be a more efficient method to undergo the same task or simply, just new information from a documentary.

I would like to learn more by signing up in online classes or webinars.

Explore

And lastly, EXPLORE, is the word to teach me the value of going beyond my comfort zone.

This word comes hand in hand with the previous one. One of the reasons why I get overwhelmed is because, sometimes, I feel uncomfortable in new things. There are changes that I can adapt to like in learning new techniques or adapting to certain organizing systems. However, changes in schedule or environment stills gives me discomfort.

I would like to be able to adapt quicker. And some would recommend exposing my self to the things that make me uncomfortable from time to time can help me learn to adapt.