‘Every year, I pray for a word for that particular year. I cannot remember when I started this, but I chose specific areas of my life to apply the word to. Choosing a word for the year also helped me focus on my yearly goals and how to achieve them. This year’s word was discipline, and in January, I wrote about three areas where I would apply discipline.
Today, I am reflecting on how it went because looking at where I wanted to apply it and how it actually went, I’m not proud of myself. I had mentioned this to a friend, and she said to focus on what you learned instead of being disappointed that you weren’t as disciplined as you wanted to be in those areas.
First Area: My Health
I wrote how I wanted to lose the baby weight and would do that by consistently working out. Well, it’s December 2023, and I’ve yet to lose the weight I gained while pregnant. Also, I wasn’t consistent with working out throughout the whole year.
What happened was that I started walking outside in the mornings. This began in June when I saw a walking challenge on Instagram. It was to walk outside every day for the month of June. I invited my neighbor to join me in the challenge. And she did until her parents came to visit her and she couldn’t join me anymore. However, I continued walking by myself in the mornings, which I was proud of.
I was consistent until I got Covid in September and was sick for a week. After that, I’ve been on and off about walking in the mornings. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don’t. When I was consistent, I lost five pounds, which kept my motivation going, but when COVID happened, I lost the consistency and eventually gained the weight back.
If working out isn’t your lifestyle, starting and staying motivated is challenging. However, I know health is important, and I want to be healthy. Hopefully, next year will be better.
Second Area: Business/Podcast
I wrote about how I wanted to grow my business and my podcast. And in this area, I was disciplined. The official name of my company is De La Cruz Media, LLC. My writing, podcast, and coaching clients to launch their podcasts all fall under this LLC.
In January, I wrote that I offered writing services to small businesses (newsletter, social media, blog posts, show notes for podcasts, etc.) – this has shifted. The writing service I provide now is helping podcasters turn their episode into SEO-optimized blog posts.
In helping people launch their podcasts – I’ve created a six-week coaching program. In this program, I meet with clients weekly for one hour to work on the steps needed to launch. For next year, I’m turning this program into a course where people can do it at their own pace. I created an eBook from this program – Launch a Podcast in 6 Weeks eBook. The eBook will walk clients through the same steps as the six-week program, but clients will do it independently and can do it in less than six weeks if desired.
Regarding my podcast, I was disciplined and grew it more this year. My podcast is now ranked in the top 10% globally. I launched a YouTube channel for it, and I’ve stayed consistent with publishing episodes every other Tuesday.
I can’t wait to see how much my podcast grows next year!
Third Area: Finance
This is the area in which I’m most disappointed because I wasn’t disciplined enough. In the post from January, I wrote, “At the end of the year, I will write that they are debt-free!” Unfortunately, that is not the case; we are not debt-free.
Although I continue to read financial books and invest and save money, I am not discipline enough to stay out of debt. But next year, I genuinely want to do better. I thought about hiring a financial coach, but I know how to budget. My problem is having healthy money habits and sticking to the budget.
Word of the Year Recap
If you’ve read this far, thank you! These posts are primarily for me to look back on. However, if me sharing my experiences helps at least one person, it’s always worth it. If you have any advice for any of these areas, I welcome them. Leave it in the comments.
Do you choose a word of the year? If so, what was your word this year? I’d love to know.
With Love, Heidy
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