It’s that time of year again. Holiday shopping, wrapping, cooking, partying and family gatherings are over. We’ve begun to catch our breath, and we’re immersed in “Best of” and “Reviewing the Year” in all of the media. And, inevitably, we begin to turn our attention to 2023.

Some of us make resolutions. Fewer of us keep those resolutions. Some of us choose a Word of the Year (WOTY). Some of us just hope for the best, and some of us just move ahead – perhaps feeling the optimism of a fresh start or just continuing as usual. How we deal with the close of one year and the opening of another is a very personal thing.

Here at College Parent Central we’ve taken different approaches over the years (and yes, there have been a lot of years by now.) In the past we’ve offered some resolution suggestions for college parents and students. We’ve offered some suggestions for high school parents and students. We’ve thought about what makes a good resolution.  We’ve suggested activities for the new year, people to thank, and even offered a few “one-and-done” resolutions. Last year we suggested some options for the WOTY approach. There’s no shortage of plans that we can all make. You might enjoy going back and checking out some of our earlier suggestions.

This year we’re taking the WOTY approach one step further and suggesting a specific word both you and your student might adopt. The choice of this word is based on what so many of us are feeling, and also on what we’ve observed over the past year in the students we’ve worked with.

The idea behind a Word of the Year

First, in case you’re not familiar with the WOTY, here’s how it works.

You choose a word and use it to help you focus and visualize a feeling, aspiration, or theme, (not a specific goal) and to provide motivation and help you channel your energy and resources throughout the year. For many people this approach is more helpful than making several resolutions that may not last more than a few weeks. If you’ve ever found yourself in February with a list of stale resolutions, you know it can happen.

Because your word of the year is so personal, it is difficult to suggest a word to someone else, but we’re taking a leap this year. See what you think.

This year’s word? POWER.

This is how we got here – and why.

Last year, one of the several words we included was “hope” and we offered this definition of hope expressed by author Shane Lopez in his book Making Hope Happen: Create the Future You Want for Yourself. “the belief that the future will be better than the present, along with the belief that you have the power to make it so.“

There’s that word. Power.

In order to believe that the future will be better, we need to believe we have power to make it happen.

Where to start? We looked up the definition. According to the dictionary power is “the ability or capability of doing or accomplishing something, the capacity to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.” In other words, we need to believe that we have the ability to make a difference. We need confidence, optimism, and a sense of vision that will guide what we do. We need to believe that our actions matter, and we can bring our beliefs to life.

To get completely nerdy, the word power comes from the Latin word – potere – which means “to be able.”

We’ve seen so many students this year who feel helpless, stressed, unmotivated and full of anxiety. They feel overwhelmed and find it hard to follow through and carry on. They need to feel they matter, that they have power over their lives. Living with the word in their minds, on their post-its, on their screen-saver, will help remind them that they do have control over their lives.

Ask your student how they feel, what they do have control over, what decisions they can make each day to have power over their lives. Motivational speaker Tony Robbins has said, “Decision is the ultimate power.” Remind your student that they make decisions every day, big and small, and that is constantly practicing power in their lives.

And for us, for parents, power can also mean control over our lives. We need some of this thinking, too. We also need to feel we’re accomplishing something, that we’re making a difference for others – including our students – even as we step back and let them find their way. Power isn’t telling our students what to do, or doing it for them, it is empowering them and sharing our wisdom.

Rick Miller, in an article in Forbes magazine says the following of power:

• “Real power is what happens when people connect what they do to who they are.”
• “Real power is clarity and it gets stronger with discipline.”
• “Real power is energy, and it intensifies from inside as our insight and understanding grow.”
• “Real power is confidence and it rises as we better understand and live our values.”

Connection, clarity, discipline, energy, understanding, confidence, values. Important stuff. Power, really, is a state of mind or attitude. It says “I can. I am able. I have control.” Isn’t that what we want for our students – and for ourselves?

“The belief that the future will be better than the present, along with the belief that you have the power to make it so.“

Here’s to 2023.

Happy New Year!