Word of the Year…an update

In the first couple of days of 2011, I posted about a concept that I was incorporating into my life this year – a “word for the year.” I haven’t said much about it since that initial post. I thought I would give a quick update on some thoughts I’ve had  just recently on my word – FREEDOM.

I think that everyone is different, and I am the kind of person who tends to get mired in the day-to-day details. I really have to work to make sure that I see the big picture. I need to remember to look beyond today, this week, even this year. It’s imperative for me to think about the overall goal for myself, my business, my family, etc.

I was reminded of this perspective this weekend. Over the course of about 4 days the Kansas City area experienced rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow (up to 9 inches in some places), super thick fog, hail and flash flood type rains. Pretty crazy. I was really happy to be able to see the sun yesterday and today. You can see some of the fog, rain and hail in the picture taken of my (kid-ified) backyard Sunday afternoon.

Sunday morning and early afternoon we lived through the fog. We don’t get fog like that very often. So thick that I “snuck up” on a stop light less than 100 yards in front of me. If you driven through fog like this, you know it gets a little nerve-racking.

In the midst of driving through this fog, I began to reflect on my word, FREEDOM. When you can’t see but a few hundred feet in front of you for miles on end the experience gets oppressive. I just wanted to be able to see out in front of me. I wanted freedom.

When it comes to our personal lives and our businesses, this is what happens when we get buried in today, this week, this month and not beyond. We begin to experience an oppression that just won’t go away. We stop dreaming, and maybe more importantly we stop enjoying what we’ve worked so hard to create.

So, I’m choosing to continue to work more on FREEDOM for me, my business, my family. You’ll hear more specifics in the days and weeks to come.

What about you? What is your word the year? Anything specific that this has meant for you so far in 2011?