Feeling overwhelmed with a new goal? Try a “theme” to power your 2023 instead.
When your goals seem too daunting, try themes instead.
Every year we set aspirational goals to do better.
Unfortunately, they don’t always stick.
If you’ve lost sight of your goal, you’re not alone.
It’s not uncommon to abandon a goal (especially a complex one) within the first month.
We push too hard
We let a habit slip
We let go
But goals aren’t the only way to improve your life.
If a goal is too specific or daunting, try a theme instead.
Why a Theme?
Like a mantra you can repeat to yourself when you’re feeling low, a theme can give your very next actions purpose and direction.
Our brains relate to the tone of words and phrases.
For example:
If you hear the word “hero,” you may imagine Superman, a firefighter, or someone that inspires you (like a parent or loved one).
If you hear the word “villain,” you may imagine Voldemort, a murderer, or someone that antagonizes you (like a boss or competitor).
The same goes for themes.
Themes can be powerful filters for our actions. When you say a theme to yourself that means something personal to you, it resonates with who you’re trying to become. Your next choice is more likely to align with that feeling.
Things to remember about Themes:
Themes are simple and emotionally resonant
Themes can and should guide basic goals
Themes are easy to remember
The 4 Easy Steps to Developing a Theme
The process of defining a new theme for myself each year is only a few simple steps.
Step 1 - Analyze the themes and patterns of previous years.
Step 2 - Assess what is going on in my life right now and what areas of my life I would like to grow in the next year.
Step 3 - Write a list of words that may trigger a feeling of what I’m trying to achieve in the next year.
Step 4 - Pick a theme that resonates strongly with me and go for it.
Let’s walk through the steps and I’ll show you how I developed my own theme for 2023.
Step 1 - Analyze the Themes and Patterns
The benefit of tracking my past themes is that I can use them to see patterns in who I was and where I’m going.
Here are my themes from 2016 to 2022:
2016 = Expansion
2017 = Metamorphosis
2018 = Experimentation
2019 = Consistency
2020 = Expression
2021 = Simplify
2022 = Sculpt
2023 = ???
For myself, I recognize that I tend to go through a bit of flux between diverse activity and focused activity. One year is about consistency, and the next is about expression. Two ideas that on the surface may not conflict, but their execution and the intent behind them do.
This is important because it allows me see how one theme can shape the next.
During a year of consistency, I wrote a newsletter every week for the entire year. That’s only because, in the year of experimentation, I tried a lot of different styles and content types to figure out what forms of content creation interested me.
Side Note: If you’ve never made a theme for yourself, no worries. We’ll work on that in the next step.
—
Step 2 - Assess my life and how I want to grow in the next year
This step is likely the most specific to you, your situation, and where you see yourself in the future. First we have to work with the data.
Think back to last year:
What went well and what went wrong?
How did you feel about last year?
What is something you have under control?
What is something you’d fundamentally like to work on this year?
—
For me, I felt last year that I had shaped certain aspects of my life—my running and my friendships.
As a counterpoint, I:
Let my video game habit increase
Let my sleep schedule go
Let my snacking urges increase
Let my reading habit drop
I yearned for progress in the areas I wasn’t making any in. But I didn’t want to accept the simple fact that it would be boring to do so.
I didn’t need a radical change, but I needed more parameters to control the bits of my life that were a little unwieldy.
It’s not fun to go to bed early, but it’s not fun to wake up like a zombie either.
—
Step 3 - Write a list of words that may trigger a feeling
From a conceptual assessment of my last year, I write down a bunch of words to represent next year. I keep going until I find something that resonates with me deeply.
This year, my list looked something like this:
Consistency
Orderly
Methodical
Organized
Boring
Mundane
Structured
Restrained
Discipline
—
Step 4 - Pick a theme and go for it.
While many of the words I wrote down could have worked (or been made to work) as my 2023 theme, none of them resonated with me the way “Discipline” did.
How did I know?
I could intuitively feel myself light up when I heard it. The best themes fill you with such positive energy that it’s difficult to imagine your theme as anything else.
That said—if this is your first time picking a theme, just pick one you know you can commit to for the next year and go for it.
Side Note: If a year still feels too intense, make it 6 months or even 3. Commit to enough time that you can evaluate the results. A week or a month may not be enough.
A theme will give you focus, but also give you some much-needed wiggle room for any goals you attach to it.
The key - Every year I assess if I was true to my theme first and my goal second.
Let me say that again.
Every year, I assess if I was true to my theme first and my goal second.
I’ve been at this long enough to recognize that life has a funny way of messing with specific goals. I find that I’m a much happier person when I pursue goals from the broader sense of how I want to sculpt my life in the long term.
Yes. I still have goals.
But my goals aren’t purely binary anymore.
They’re infused with a theme that guides me and motivates me throughout the year. If I need to adjust, I don’t beat myself up about it.
I move forward. Always forward.
Final Thoughts
Last year, I “sculpted” my creative writing process, my running form, and my friendships.
This year, my theme is “Discipline.”
I’m going to take the open-ended lessons I learned from last year and create parameters to keep my good habits going strong, bad habits in the dark.
—
You can take the same steps I did to develop a theme for yourself and track the results over time.
Try things out, assess how they went, understand the lessons they reveal and use those experiences to shape new ones.
So, the million-dollar question:
“What is your “theme” for 2023?”
TL; DR
Goals are great, but they don’t work for everyone
Themes can help filter decisions you make all year long
Analyze the themes and patterns of previous years
Assess your previous year and where you want to go
Write a list of words that trigger a feeling
Pick a theme that resonates strongly and go for it
Quote of the Week
Motivation for the days ahead of you.
“Be regular and orderly in your life, so you may be violent and original in your work.”
—Gustave Flaubert
That’s all for now.
Stay creative, my friends—and have a great week!
