Here we are again, at the beginning of a new year.
With it comes the familiar ritual: resolutions, intentions, lists of things you promise yourself this is the year you’ll finally start doing. Eat better. Exercise more. Accomplish more.
Recently, I’ve noticed a concept circulating, especially in professional circles. Instead of resolutions, you pick one word to focus on for the entire year. One word that fits across all areas of your life. One word to guide your decisions, your energy, your attention.
The idea comes from the book One Word That Will Change Your Life, first published in 2012. If you weren’t particularly immersed in the self-development world back then, you may have missed it altogether. I know I did.
When I first heard about it, I thought to myself, well, that’s an interesting idea, yet quite challenging. After all, how can you pick one single word to focus on for an entire year? One word that somehow touches all areas of your life. One word that simplifies your life rather than complicates it.
Is that even possible?
Curious as I was, I decided to accept the challenge and give it a try. Surprisingly, without much effort, I came up with my word.
Integration.
For me, integration means bringing together what has been separated. It’s about stopping the habit of living in compartments. It’s about allowing different parts of myself to coexist instead of competing for space.
For me, integration is also about stopping the constant curation of my personal and professional self: IT professional here, artist there, wellbeing coach somewhere else, depending on the platform.
Integration asked quietly: what would it look like to let these parts coexist together in plain sight? Could I stop the leak of energy it takes to keep all these parts separate?
As I kept thinking, it struck me how closely the word integration ties to integrity.
Integration comes from the Latin integrare, meaning to make whole or bring together. Integrity comes from integritas, the state of being whole. Both words share the same root, integr-, pointing to something whole, complete, and untouched.
For me, integrity isn’t perfection. It’s wholeness. It’s alignment. It’s living in harmony with myself in a way where my identity doesn’t change depending on the room I’m in.
Integrate with integrity, I thought to myself.
Once I locked in my word, another question came up: what would integration look like in action?
The first step I took toward integration was small, yet quite uncomfortable. But I did it regardless. I updated my LinkedIn headline.
For the first time, I let it all out. IT professional. Artist. Wellbeing coach. Together. On the same line.
That one line forced me to stop apologizing internally for being “too many things.” It challenged the old habit of separating my identities depending on the audience. And it allowed me to stand in the overlap.
Integration, for me, begins here, in small, deliberate choices that bring things together instead of keeping them neatly apart.
Integration.
Just one word I can return to when making decisions, when feeling pulled in different directions, when I’m tempted to fragment myself again.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by resolutions this year, maybe you don’t need another list. Maybe you need a word. Not an impressive one. Not a trendy one. Just an honest one.
One word to make it count for you.
This idea of integration also sits at the heart of my online pilot course, Finding Your Happy Place. It begins tomorrow, January 5. Enrollment is still open, in case it speaks to you.
Feel free to ask me how.