How to Inspire and Encourage Yourself Every Day
You’ve probably heard of choosing a guiding word for the year. Have you ever considered selecting a guiding word for each day?
A few years ago, I had a dedicated practice of choosing a guiding word or phrase each day. Some days, I needed a word to inspire me. Other days, I needed a word to encourage me. And then there were days I needed a word to focus or motivate me.
Each morning, I would tune into myself to see what I needed, and sometimes the perfect word or phrase emerged immediately. Sometimes, my daily word would be inspired by my morning Tarot card draw.
Once I had my word or phrase, I wrote it at the top of the column for that day in my planner and on my daily page as well. By writing it in my planner, I knew I would see it frequently. If you don’t use a planner, you can put it on a sticky note and place it on your mirror, fridge, or computer - any place you’ll see it often.
I found this practice so beneficial, I did it religiously for almost an entire year. Eventually, for whatever reason, the practice dropped away.
I’ve been longing to restart my daily word practice. So, using my 2018 planner as a resource, I went through each page and made a separate list of daily words or phrases that inspired me that year. If I ever get stuck, I can look at this list and no doubt a relevant word or phrase will pop out at me.
Just writing the list raised my spirits so high! It reminded me of just how powerful words can be in their effect upon one’s heart, mind, and spirit, and hence what a valuable practice this is.
A List of Daily Guiding Words
I want to share my daily word list with you, in case this is a practice you’d like to try too. Of course, there are limitless possibilities of words you can select for yourself as well.
Here’s mine, and new ones emerge all the time:
Love
Love and Let Go
Loved
Love Myself
Loving Heart
Manifest My Vision
Me Day
No Blame
Not About Me
Open-Hearted
Open to Miracles
Patience and Faith
Presence
Reach Out
Receptivity
Reflection
Relax and restore
Relaxed Focus
Relax and Enjoy
Relax and Be Happy
Renunciation
Rest
Rest the Mind
Resurrection
Stay Calm
Self-Compassion
Self-Love and Self Care
Self-Responsibility
Serve in Love
Silence
Stay on Track
Stay Warm
Stay the Course
Stillness
Strength and Courage
Strong and Clear
Super-Okay
Source
Smile
Strong and Kind
Surrender
Take It Easy
Trust
Unconditional Love
Wake Up
Watch Your Thoughts
You Are Welcome Here
Aligned
Alone Time
At Peace
Be Here Now
Be Kind to ME
Be Strong
Boundaries
Breathe
Calm
Calm and Clear
Centered
Celebrate
Clarity
Comfort
Comfort and Connection
Compassion
Contemplate
Connect with the Divine
Courage
Courage and Grace
Deep Self-Appreciation
Determination
Divine Love
Ebb and Flow
Emotional Flow
Embrace
Encouragement
Enjoy
Equanimity
Fill Up
Focus
Follow My Intuition
Forgive
Focus and Breathe
Good Choices
Healing
Higher Purpose
I Belong
I Can Do This
Inner Harmony
Just Be
Keep Going
Let Go and Trust
Light and Free
Listen
Listen to My Heart
Live Your Light
As you can see, I sometimes used the same word in combination with a different word because every day is different and might require a slight tweak. But I didn’t need a different word or phrase every single day. Sometimes, a word or phrase I’d already used worked perfectly once again.
Using a daily guiding word doesn’t conflict with using a word of the year in any way. In fact, your daily word may be exactly what you need to do, feel, or think to stay in alignment with your word of the year.
If you want to find your word of the year for 2021, Susannah Conway usually offers a free course and e-book to help you out. Keep an eye out on this Find Your Word for 2021 page for a soon-to-come announcement about what she’s cooked up for us this time.
Planner Ideas
Writing my daily guiding word in my planner works for me because I’m a planner addict.
If you haven’t found your planner for 2021 yet, these are my favorite planners that contain vertical weekly pages along with monthly pages, and some have daily pages as well. I’ve included a budget conscious option too, in case your finances have been hit hard by the pandemic. A free wall calendar or pocket size monthly calendar that you get for free from a local store or business will work just fine too.
(Please note, some of the following links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a tiny commission if you make a purchase after clicking them. There is no cost to you and your support enables me to continue writing free articles for you here on Always Well Within. Thank you so much!)
Hobonichi Techo Cousin – My all-time favorite, the A-5 Hobonichi Cousin (or the two 6-month books called the Hobonichi Cousin Avec) has monthly, weekly, and daily pages and features the amazing Tomoe River Paper. Tomoe River paper is very thin and smooth so it holds a variety of mediums well. It’s fountain pen friendly and you can even do light watercolor washes on it. If you prefer a different size and format, there’s also a wallet size Hobonichi Weeks (comes in different colors and designs) and the A6 Hobonichi Techo Original.
Wonderland 222 – This planner and notebook also features Tomoe River Paper. You can use one or both as your planner or the notebook can serve as your daily pages. The Wonderland 222 comes in A5 and B6 sizes.
Inamio Planner - If you’re on a budget, don’t like Tomoe River paper, or don’t need 365 daily pages, you can pick up the Inamio Planner for one-third the cost of the above planners and still get the same Japanese inspired style. The Inamio Planner has monthly and weekly pages plus some blank pages at the back for notes, and comes in A4 and A5 sizes.
The Passion Planner is another fantastic option with monthly and weekly pages plus blank pages at the back for notes. It comes in small (A5), medium (B5), and large (A4) sizes with dated and undated versions. Passion Planner also offers a 3-month undated daily planner with monthly views too. I love that this is a company owned by a woman of color, who started it in a garage. Plus, Passion Planner gives a free planner away for every planner that is bought.
Make Every Day Count
After the turbulence of 2020, I think we’re all looking forward to a new year and new possibilities. If you decide to try out the practice of a guiding daily word, I hope you find it enriching.
In the meantime, let’s make the best of December. Because life is precious, make every day count.
Thank you for your presence, I know your time is precious! Don’t forget to sign up for Wild Arisings, my twice monthly letters from the heart filled with insights, inspiration, and ideas to help you connect with and live from your truest self.
You might also like to check out my Living with Ease course or visit my Self-Care Shop. May you be happy, well, and safe – always. With love, Sandra
