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2020 One Word Resolution: Flow

by Molly Hurford | Dec 30, 2019 | Mindset

A cluster of green Monstera leaves with distinctive holes and slits, overlapping each other. The leaves appear lush and vibrant against a blurred background of additional foliage.

As 2020 is looming, I’ve been thinking a lot about resolutions, goals, intentions, and of course, my one-word resolution. You all know I love a good chance to reflect and reset, so no matter how corny this time of year is, I am here for it. This year, I have a Word Doc’s worth of smaller, broken down goals for life/work/training/health, but at the same time, I also still love the idea of one word to rule them all. It helps focus in in a more global way—sure, each little goal (ahem, finally actually start flossing every. single. day; moisturize my skin occasionally) matters, but having that one anchor word that conveys how I want to actually feel throughout the year is just as important. And for me, this year is all about flow.

Side note, it was admittedly easy to come up with a word like flow from a hammock in Costa Rica. It’s a little harder to write about it now that we’re back in the cold! But it’s still absolutely the word I want to focus on for 2020.

But back to why I picked it. The past couple years have been pretty whirlwind-y between getting married, moving (sort of) to Ontario, doing a lot more coaching and running camps, the Shred Girls series coming out, writing a new Athlete Sponsorship book, and so many other big projects. It feels like I’ve been moving in big ways, but sometimes in a series of starts and jerks versus a smoother trajectory. I want to feel a more overall sense of flow in my life, where things aren’t quite as start-stop as they have been and I’m not always looking towards what’s next and the next few months versus where I am right now. Basically, I’m not looking to change anything big in my life, it’s more that I want to feel a sense of calm throughout it—even as work projects and my own training and racing are happening at a rapid rate!

Whenever I start thinking about the kind of person I want to be, it’s never the tightly-wound ‘super busy’ person I am right now. And I know a big part of that is mindset (as much as it is also maaaaaaybe cutting back in a couple of areas of my life, i.e. travel). To that end, I’m actually attempting to meditate on the daily—I’m over a month in and it seems to help a bit, though I still have my ridiculous moments. But the big thing, I think, will be in thinking way ahead and planning in a non-reactive way, not jumping at every single trip or opportunity. (Never easy for a freelancer/person who wants to do everything all the time/people-pleaser-type, but that just means I need to work on it and be firmer about saying no to the occasional thing.)

Life is never going to be or feel ‘easy’—and it shouldn’t—but I would love to have a bit more of that overarching sense of heading in the right direction, in a calm way. Flowing along, if you will.

Second side note: I realized that flow is also something I’ve been thinking about a lot since finally reading FLOW by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I even have it playing an important role in the upcoming second Shred Girls book! (Out in July 2020, mark your calendars.)

So the second definition—that idea of flow state where you’re in the creative zone—is also why I want this word to be my focus for 2020. With a lot of the projects I’m excited about, being able to spend more time in that zone and not multi-tasking or doing a million admin-type things instead of getting down to it and getting the work in, is going to be a big part of 2020 for me.