A Year of Words Tools for Self Discovery

The Year of Words book challenge can be just that, a book challenge. It is a fun way to read 52 books in a year, and probably books you might not otherwise read. However, if you wish, the Year of Words can be something much bigger, much deeper. It can become not only a book challenge, but a year of self discovery. (That’s my plan.)

I’ve pulled together some resources I plan to use during this year of self discovery and thought I’d share them with you. I’d love to hear about any of the resources you might be using as well.

Creation Journal by Boni Lonnsburry

I’ve talked about my creation journal before. Unfortunately I didn’t really end up using it very much. I can now see it’s because it wasn’t the right time or the right project. I bought it hoping to use it like a planner, but it’s so much more than that. I couldn’t bend it to be what I needed at the time, but can see this project is perfect for the Creation Journal.

It is a weekly journal that provides a space for your intentions for the week, how you plan to keep the energy flowing, the actions you plan to take to move forward with your intention. It also provides space for documenting the ways your intention begin to show up in your reality, as well helping you stay focused on feeling good, and like you already have everything you you dream of.

It can be tough to ask for help. (at least for me) The last section of the week is a place where you can request for assistance. This can be any kind of assistance. There  may be a person you know who would be a perfect fit to help you get done what you want to do, or it could be calling on your angels, or Idea Fairies to support you as the week passes.

The Creation Journal also provides a word for the week and a quote to go along with it. This is where I pulled the words for the Year of Words challenge. If you choose to use this resource it will connect perfectly with the challenge. 🙂

You can pick up a copy of the Creation Journal at Amazon.com

52 Lists Project by Moorea Seal

I am a lover of lists. I make lists for everything, and now my daughter has picked up the love of lists as well. 🙂 When I saw this book I thought it would be the perfect compliment to help me dig deeper into self discovery this year. It just came yesterday and as I looked through it I got a little more excited.

Each week offers a prompt to write a list about. It doesn’t tell you how long or short your list has to be, it provides space to write, and a topic. That’s it. I’m kind of in love. The book is broken into sections by season. It doesn’t matter when you get the book, you can start at the beginning or the season you’re in. I like when books do this, it is easy to get into the mindset you have to start at the beginning of the year, but this book lets you start whenever.

Here’s a couple examples of weekly prompts: 

List 28: List the wildest things you want to try.

List 5: List what you would like your life to look like in 5 years.

List 36: List everything you like to do outdoors.

List 17: List the difficult moments in your past that have shaped you for the better.

See what I mean? Totally fun. I plan on going one step further and using this list technique to document my thoughts/feelings about each word of the  year. I’m putting together a notebook which I’ll show you soon.

If you’re a list lover I think you will like this book. It’s sometimes easier for me to make a list than feel like I need to create complete thoughts and write beautiful poetic paragraphs. This book makes it easy.

You can pick up a copy of The 52 Lists Projects at Amazon.com

Start Where You Are by Meera Lee Patel 

This next book is actually more of an actual journal. However, I like it because it has colorful pages, quotes, questions, images. (It has the feel of a SARK book). Each page provides a prompt  or question to think about and answer for yourself, where you are, right now.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in where you want to go. I mean, we all have big dreams and plans, but it’s also important to remember you are here now, and to have some acceptance for this moment. Remember what brought you to this moment, and while you may not have met all your goals, this moment is yours for a reason, and deserves to be celebrated as well.

Here’s a couple of examples of pages from Start Where You Are:

I think this  book will provide a starting point to dig a little deeper each week.

You can pick up a copy of Start Where You Are at Amazon.com

Tiny Buddha’s 365 Tiny Love Challenges by Lori Deschene

This last book is about action. I’m an action kind of girl. I know that thinking and writing about stuff is not enough, one needs to get out into the world and take action. I picked this book up because they are “little” actions. They are literally something you can do every single day to take a loving action in the world. I also thought it would be a perfect way to carry our Random Acts of Christmas Kindness through the year.

This book is dated. Each month has its own theme. At the beginning of each week she shares a reflection (post from Tiny Buddha) on the topic. Then each day provides a “challenge”, a short “brainstorm” for the challenge, some questions to reflect on about the challenge, and then a space to record how you did with the challenge.

Today’s challenge is to carry one thing with you that someone else might need so that you can help them should the opportunity arise. The brainstorm talks about different things you could take, like a pen, a safety pin, an aspirin. The reflections get you thinking about what you need through an average day, and about times when someone has helped you out, and how that felt.

You see, the challenges are quite doable, and I can only imagine the more I start focusing on doing for other people, how my world is going to change. I often find it difficult to “remember” to stick with things I’ve decided to do. That’s why this book is really important to me. It has become part of my morning ritual, and thus thinking about others and carrying out loving actions in the world becomes part of my “normal” everyday life.

You can get a copy of Tiny Buddha’s 365 Tiny Love Challenges at Amazon.com

I also found post over at Elephant Journal called 52 Fun Things: Try a new one each week. I’ve printed, and added it to my Year of Words notebook, for even more inspiration to take action and DO stuff this year. 🙂

So there you have it… my tools for self discovery for the Year of Words book challenge. I’d love to know if you’ve decided to take the opportunity to make it a year of self discovery and what tools you will be using. Best place to get into conversation is my group… swing by and say hi or join if you haven’t already.

Happy Reading and Discovering 🙂