Inertia: My Word for 2024
Several years ago I began choosing a word for the upcoming year. In 2020, I chose “focus,” in 2022 I chose “healing” and in 2023 I chose “music.”1 As I mentioned last week, my focus in 2023 was on making music and in improving my skills — though I necessarily had to address the guilt that I had allowed to hold me back for most of my life. When I chose my word for 2023, I spent time writing down what I hoped to achieve and coming up with a plan to achieve it.
Last week I described the role that guilt played (no pun intended!) in my musical journey and how I chose to deal with that baggage. I didn’t stop there, however. I also chose some simple action items that I could do as I “allowed” myself to be free of guilt for one year.
Among these actions was this simple statement that I wrote down as a reminder of my direction for the year:
“In 2023, I will find a group to collaborate musically with and I will commit to the group for one year (or the equivalent)."
With this action item in mind, I rejoined the Round Rock Community Choir as a singer and have completed half a season with them. That part was easy for me — almost too easy — because I’d been in a lot of choirs in the past, so I didn’t want to stop there.
I revived a short-lived journey with Native American flute that had fallen by the wayside. To support my journey, I found a tribe of people who also enjoy this unique instrument and are incredibly supportive. I’ve just barely started my journey with the Lone Star Flute Circle, but I’m already excited about the potential for this group to help me find my voice on Native American flutes.
I chose to find my tribes at RRCC and the LSFC because I knew that, for me, being part of a group of musicians would compel me to practice and to do my best. When it’s just me practicing alone toward a vague goal at a nebulous future date, it’s too easy to get complacent. I needed someone to answer to, someone to be my accountability partner, and someone to guide and challenge me. After a year of focusing intently on music, I got some momentum going in the direction that I had envisioned for myself.
Now, standing on the cusp of 2024, I conceptually feel like I can use the inertia that I created in 2023 to propel me even further musically in 2024. I already took the first step by finding a group in which I can play my western flute. In fact, I found several! I’m currently in the process of checking out the groups I found to see which one would serve me best in 2024. This is an example of how I am using the inertia from last year to make appropriate choices for this year.
Which brings me to the word I’ve chosen for 2024: inertia. This word will be a reminder to me to capitalize on the success I already experienced in 2023. I will use what worked for me last year to create even more progress.
But that word “inertia” also comes with a flip side: In addition to capitalizing on the inertia I want to have, I must explore where I have inertia that is working against me. Are there things I’m doing that no longer serve me, but I’m doing them because I’ve fallen into a rut? What might I need to cut out of my life in order to focus more fully on what really matters to me?
I stumbled on the word “inertia” after being asked a Table Topics question at one of my Toastmasters clubs: “Why are you here at this meeting today?” I was surprised to hear myself say “inertia.” Subconsciously, I had already recognized that I wasn’t at that meeting so much because it was a current priority but because I’d been a Toastmaster for a decade and am comfortable doing Toastmaster-y things.
My subconscious yet frank answer to the question led me to wonder whether Toastmasters still serves me.2 I thought that I had an accurate picture of where I was headed this year, but an unpretentious question led me to explore more deeply.
As I consider the word “inertia” this year, I’ll be spending more time assessing where my inertia currently is and whether I want to capitalize on that inertia or break free from it. Even if “inertia” isn’t your word for 2024, might it be worth your time to explore the inertia in your own life and see where you are headed?
Newton’s First Law of Motion (aka the Law of Inertia) tells us that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. This is not only true in our physical world, but in each of our emotional lives, as well. If you want to build inertia, you have to take the first step and build the inertia through conscious action.
What inertia would you like to see continue in 2024? What inertia would you like to break free from? Finally, what might you want to begin finding the inertia to pursue effortlessly?
I didn’t choose a word in 2021 — or I can’t remember it if I did!
Spoiler alert: It doesn’t fully serve me and the Toastmasters program may be one of the things that I let go of in 2024.