My yearly planning system is pretty complicated. It involves mission statements, vision boards, quarterly goals, 5 year plans, the whole deal; but there is one portion of my system that everyone I've talked with absolutely loves; and even more surprisingly, 2 years later many of them still have a 100% success rate using the system.

That is the one word mission statement.

I first read about picking a one word mission statement in late 2014. I was a struggling intern who was grappling with the idea of either risking everything to follow my dream or taking a safer path and pushing my dream off for 10 years while I gathered valuable experience. This was a very important time in my life, and there was a lot of doubt and confusion at the time.

First let me explain the concept. I tend to overcomplicate things. Most people do. What if you just had one thing, one single focus that you were aiming for? Instead of spreading yourself thin, you could finally have a clear head and know exactly what you should do at all times. The one word mission statement is all about creating congruence and focus.

It's actually pretty simple. Pick a virtue, concept, feeling, or something else positive that you want to embody more in your life. Dust off your thesaurus, and try to find the perfect word for it. Then, make that word like a mantra for you. Think about it every morning and week when you make your plans. Write it down. Make it your desktop wallpaper. Whenever faced with a life decision, or any decision, view it first through the lens of that word.

Here are some sample words that I have used over the past several years:

Reach
Discipline
Habit
Joy

Here are some words that people I know have used:

Patience
Tough
Balance
Gratitude

Each year these words have greatly helped me to focus my life and develop in areas that were lacking, and looking back I can see specifically how I grew to reflect these words and they became more a part of me during their years. By keeping it simple I found that I achieved better results and more growth as a human being than all of the complicated systems I've tried in the past.

So, give it a try. Test it out. What will your word for 2018 be? What will you achieve? Comment your word below, and let's all talk about making 2018 an amazing year.