With the New Year here, you may be thinking about New Year’s resolutions. Setting goals is beneficial, but you might feel a sense of weight in figuring out how to achieve them. Trying to achieve the same goals year after year with no results can be disheartening.
Instead, how about choosing one word, a virtue, that supports your vision for the new year? This word can be a steady guide and inspiration for what’s to come.
When you choose a virtue, you set the tone of “being” instead of “having” and “doing,” so “I want to lose weight” (having) and “I need to exercise to get there” (doing) is different from “I am a ‘determined’ (the virtue of determination) person.” When you believe you are determined, your actions will be driven by that belief, meaning you will be more inclined to “have” and “do.” So, staying determined to lose weight will help you achieve your desired result.
Choose a Virtue Based on What You Want
To select your virtue, ask yourself what you most want this year. Consider various virtues and choose one that has real meaning for you and matches your desires. For example, if you want to paint, write, or start a new business, you can choose “creativity” to help you feel inspired and stay the course. Or, if you want to focus on helping others, you can choose “kindness” or “compassion.” Perhaps you want a relationship mended through “forgiveness.” Are you drawn to any of these virtues below? If not, you can view our complete list of virtues.
- Acceptance
- Authenticity
- Commitment
- Compassion
- Confidence
- Contentment
- Courage
- Creativity
- Determination
- Discipline
- Encouragement
- Faith
- Forgiveness
- Generosity
- Gratitude
- Hope
- Integrity
- Joy
- Kindness
- Love
- Patience
- Peace
- Perseverance
- Service
- Trust
How to Keep the Virtue Present All Year
Once you have chosen your virtue (or even two!), here are some suggestions to ensure it stays in your thoughts throughout the year:
- Write down your virtue(s) and place it around your home, office, and car. Seeing the virtue consistently reminds you to live by it each day. Post-it notes are a great way to do this!
- Journal about virtue. Write about how you envision the virtue playing out for you this year. You can jot down ways to practice it and then write about your experiences in a journal. Journal writing has many benefits. One of them is that you’ll have insight into how your selected virtue impacts your life.
- Create powerful affirmations around the virtue that you can read regularly, such as:
- “I am strong, courageous, and worthy of all good things.” (Courage)
- “I intend to live this day to the fullest and practice gratitude.” (Gratitude)
- “I love and accept myself for who I am.” (Acceptance)
- Today, I am aware of my desires and intend to pursue them. (Purposefulness)
- Take one daily or weekly action. If you choose “peace,” perhaps you can begin meditating daily. Set goals to help integrate the virtue into your life. Then, take specific daily, weekly, and monthly actions. And don’t forget to journal about it!
In Summary
By year-end, glancing back at your journal will be fun as you relive positive experiences tied to your chosen virtue. Also, practicing the virtue will strengthen its presence in your life!
Remember that the new year holds a promise of hope, success, revelations, transformations, second chances, ridding of old habits, love, friendship, and countless other possibilities. With virtue as your guiding beacon of light, you can shape the world with this one-word intention as the world shapes you in its glorious response!
What virtue are you choosing to focus on in 2024? Share your virtue with us below. We’d love to hear from you!
I love this idea. For 2022, my virtue is “Creativity.” I retired in the Spring of 2021, and since then have been focusing on my artistic side. For this year, I’d like to continue to learn the nuances of watercolor painting and enhance my drawing skills.
So glad that you love the idea Camille! I wish you the best in your focus on “Creativity” and what a great way to express it, through painting and drawing. Enjoy your retirement!
Good morning friends! I just saw this inspiring post and would like to commend the team.
For 2021 I’d like to work on 2 virtues, thus Discipline and Perseverance especially in prayer and the study of God’s Word.
With the guidelines you’ve proposed I believe I can achieve the goals I have set myself this year for growth in my spiritual journey.
Thanks and may your generosity in guiding others yield abundant fruits of the needed support in all your endeavours. God bless you!
Sr. Benedicta Abena Dede Mante, OLA
I’m choosing patience as my virtue for the year
Hi Justine, Great! Thank you for sharing your chosen virtue. You may find that journaling about patience throughout the year will help to manifest it in your life even further plus track your successes. Best of luck!
Thank you for your thoughtfulness inviting us to start the new year off with the mind/soul set of being, instead of doing and having. My virtues for the year is purposefulness. Since enthusiasm is also a strength virtue of mine, I can be pulled off purpose by shining object syndrome. As chair of the board for the Virtues Project International Association and author of “The Heart of Education: Bringing Joy, Meaning and Purpose Back to Teaching and Learning”, I am committed to remaining purposeful and open to staying focused on my life’s purpose. Wishing you all a year filled with joy, meaning and purpose. With love and gratitude, Dara
Dara – so glad you enjoyed the post, and what a great virtue to choose, purposefulness. In fact, I might switch mine now as I was going to choose creativity but feel purposefulness rings more true for me this year. Please let us know how you do in the new year with the virtue you chose. Your book sounds so interesting! I wish you a lot of luck with it! Wishing you too all the best in the new year and may you always be guided by your life purpose. Stacey
I’m choosing kindness as my virtue for the year! Thank you for this and may you enjoy peace and prosperity in 2013!
Thank you for letting us know the virtue you chose Upasaka. I wish you luck, and your year will surely be fulfilling! Let us know how you do. You can submit a Virtues Story on the site about how you practiced kindness. All my best to you in 2013!