Protect | Word of the Month

Picking a single word for the year is a popular choice.

Instead, I’m going to run an experiment for as long as it’s useful: choosing 1 word to guide the month.

For January 2024, I’m selecting the word “protect.”

Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash

Why this word choice? On a personal level, I’m navigating a bit of self-doubt (truthfully it’s so, so much doubt!). After a few wobbly years, I noticed how I’ve started to question my ability to make healthy choices for myself. 2023 was not a good year. It wasn’t bad, really, but it was not firmly in the category of “good.” It feels like a lost year, actually, and that interpretation makes me deeply sad and disappointed with myself.

I’d like this year to be a “good” one but I feel such strong doubt about my capability to make it so. (At least that feels like truth as I write this on January 1st.)

Here are ways I plan to practice the word “protect” in January:

I will protect myself like I protect my children, with a massive amount of unquestioned fierceness.

I will defend the actions that nurture my assets, most importantly the actions that fuel a healthy body and develop healthy relationships, professional and personal.

I will protect myself from the slimy self-doubt that wants me to keep sailing along comfortably in this half-alive state.

I will defend becoming a person who experiences herself as courageous, spry, and confident. (That’s my favorite version of me, after all, and I want to see myself this way on the regular.)

Yes, the word “protect” suits me. I look forward to documenting my progress with it here. Perhaps each week, I’ll file a report to share how I’ve applied the word of the month into action and note the results I’m getting.

Care to join me on this journey? Feel free to follow/subscribe.