The Crone’s Word of the Year for 2023

For the last three years, I’ve been blessed with time. Sure, world events such as a pandemic aided in that dearth of free time but I’d had it none the less. Time is a wonderful commodity if taken advantage of. It affords you space to get your own personal goals and projects done, it allows you the capacity to think outside your regular thought patterns, but it can also tricks you into thinking that there is a infinite amount of it, and so it can also get wasted.

A lot of things have happened in my life in this last year or so which has brought me to the conclusion that I have been wasting this precious asset, and that I need to value this gift much more going forward. I have let influences – news, social media, family needs and responsibilities, even deaths, hijack my control of my time. You’d think that “time” would be the Crone’s Word of the Year, but that would just be an excuse, when what I really require to better utilize my time, is more focus and intention.

Before I go to my word of the year, let me give you the foundation for my decision. We cannot create what we cannot imagine. A vision is the bedrock of any goal or project. So before I could decided on a word, I had to first decide on what I want to achieve in 2023, and why. What do I want to happen in my life in 2023?

To do that I went back to a technique that has helped me time and time again. I call it the 3 x 3 Project. The concept is a simple one, do 3 things each week towards a chosen goal for 3 months. It’s an approach that helps you kick start the energy needed to gain momentum for any goal, and it really works. But I decided to expand this concept out to a larger view of what I wanted to achieve on 2023, and so I have chosen 3 goals that I want to accomplish and then 3 habits that I can do daily, to create the lifestyle habits that I need, to drive myself forward towards these goals.

Here’s an example: Let’s say that you want to lose some weight in 2023. Okay, let’s call a spade a spade, I want to lose some weight in 2023. That is one of my 3 goals. Now what 3 actions can I do daily to move me forward towards this goal?

1. Consciously eat healthier and less. 2. Exercise daily. 3. Stop snacking at night.

I will add that I am still going to use the 3 month time frame of the 3 x 3 Project concept because it is a short enough time period to check in and evaluate my progress, and then adjust as need be, and then refocus for another 3 months.

So now I have a vision for 2023, and the 3 goals that I want to achieve, and the 3 habits that I want to practise every day to maintain the momentum needed, here is where the Crone’s word of the year comes in.

I have always been a dabbler. I love to satiate my curiosity and try different things. I delight in grazing at the table of the possibilities of life but as I age, I am becoming more and more interested in leaving a legacy of work that marks my time here on earth. To do that I need to focus and apply myself to a dedicated way of being. Some might call this a vocation, or career, or even a craft; I’m looking at it as a synergistic amalgamation of all my experiences, skills and passions. A giving back of all the wisdom and knowledge that I’ve gained through out my life, tempered with the lessons that I’ve learned along the way.

The distillation of the product of my life so far is the vision. The habits needed to create momentum for this vision are easily enough to breakdown into daily habits. But the one habit that has not been a factor in my dabbling life, is a steadfast dedication to a cause, and that is what will be needed most of all to achieve a legacy. So the Crone’s word of the year for 2023 is as much a practise, as it is a devotion.

Perseverance – noun

1. A steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
2. Theology. continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.

Folks who have achieved great things know this word intimately. It is their prayer to their goal. To persevere, is to continue to move forward regardless of the challenges set before you.

At first the word “persistence” came to mind as my word of the year but I quickly discarded it. Persistence has an annoying quality to it. My two year old grandson is stubbornly persistent when he wants a treat, but he can be strayed of his goal easily enough. But if he is adamant, and really wants that lollipop, he will persevere until his goal is achieved. Perseverance is an unwavering commitment and has a noble air about it, that in my opinion, persistence does not.

Perseverance is the follow through of a goal. It is the binder, the sticky ingredient in the recipe of success. It is the thing that keeps you going when all other forces forsake you.

Our world has changed in the last 3 years. That is what time does, and I fear that it will continue to change and challenge what we know and expect from the world around use. Where we are heading, no one can say for sure and perhaps, that is not ours to worry about as it is not in our individual control to affect an outcome as big as that. What is in our control, is to make the best of our own lives and in that, we can effect change. To do that, you will need a vision of who you want to be, and what you want to achieve, then combine that with regular habits that are inline with those values, and a resolved perseverance that will maintain your soul for the long journey.

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2023 and the perseverance to make it so.