Finding Focus for Life Success

Recently, I was sitting in my optometrist’s chair and he was asking the familiar, “Which way can you see more clearly? This way? Or That one?”  After the check up, I learned that the reason my eyesight was blurry was my need to see an ophthalmologist because something was not working correctly in one of my retina’s. My eyesight was not serving me well because one eye was 20/20 and the other was 20/100! I went to the eye specialist, and I received an honest assessment, and the doctor delivered some tough news. I learned my malady was treatable—but the medicine had to be delivered through a needle directly into my eye! I was very motivated to endure such a scary sounding treatment because there was something I valued more than my comfort—and that was gaining clear eyesight! When my eyes were blurry and lacked focus, I knew something had to change—but I just didn’t know what, or who was going to help me gain the needed change.

In the same way, each New Year, many of us are praying for a renewed focus, we just may not know what needs to change or how the change will be mobilized or who with help us gain the needed life changes. About Thanksgiving each year, I begin pondering what changes God might be stirring in my heart and life. The holidays are the perfect time each year for this kind of reflection because life itself offers illustrations of the need for changes. For example, when packing to fly to family, my suitcase is often overloaded! No amount of sitting on my suitcase will allow the zipper to close, I must do the hard work in deciding what needs to come OUT of my suitcase so things of higher priority can stay safely inside.

Early in our ministry, I designed a simple worksheet for this end of the year reflection. It is simply two suitcases. One with the question: What needs to come OUT of my life? What drained my joy or did not serve me well?

The other suitcase had the flipside question: What needs to be packed inside? What is God revealing is a higher priority for the coming year? What goals and actions should I take to gain success and forward movement toward the life plan God has for me? (Download the Two Suitcase worksheet)

One Thing Goals

The next step I take is inspired by author Steven Covey who asked, “What one thing, if I did it daily and consistently, would make the biggest positive difference in my life?”  Again, I created a worksheet with 7 areas of life and I pray over these areas and try to discern the “one thing” that needs to happen daily to move my life forward into God’s path for my life.

(Download your “One thing” Priorities worksheet)

Word of Focus

Then comes the tradition I have been doing since I was age 19, that is selecting a Word of FOCUS (Word of the Year, One Word, Nudge Word, Word of Intent, etc) I like to call it Word of FOCUS because of an acrostic I once heard:

Follow

One

Course

Until

Successful

Early on, I only selected a Word of the Year and a verse to accompany it, but several decades ago, I began to add more ideas to discover deeper meaning and ways to process the word to spark life change. I created a worksheet that adds to the Word and verse, a motto of the year, song and scent of the year, art piece or reminder, (I have also added symbols and colors connected to that word) However, and most importantly, I decide a key question of the year.

Let me give an example of how I came about to this year’s Word of FOCUS: I did the what must go and what needs to stay or be added “suitcase” exercise. This year what needed added was very obvious because I had ovarian cancer (a surgery for cyst and ovaries removed, then 6 rounds of chemo). I tried my best to hydrate, eat healthy and keep moving—even on the hardest days but at the end of chemo, my body was (and is) depleted! I also have been trying to manage a very odd side effect since round three of  treatment- that is severe muscle cramping that makes the simplest movement incredibly painful. Even walking means I am in severe pain. I refuse to let pain sideline me from life so I have asked my husband, Bill, an extremely terrific caregiver, to allow me to keep some of the tasks that I have been handling for decades. This means that many days, I weep under my sunglasses as I shuffle through the grocery aisles. My physical health must be a top priority because weakness in this area effects all the other areas of my life and relationships.

In my book, 7 Simple Skills for Every Woman,  I share an example of a bicycle. Each spoke is a skill, or in this case, an area of life, that needs managed well to keep your life running forward smoothly. If a spoke is bent or broken, you will remain stuck until that spoke is repaired or replaced. I use the “One Thing” worksheet to help me evaluate the spokes of my life.

Choosing your Word of FOCUS, can sometimes feel like a daunting task, so I observed my process for several years and created a simple set of questions that help you discern God “word” for you as you “LOOK” at your life. (Download your “Looking for Your Word of the Year?” worksheet.)  This year, God started early in pointing me to my word for 2025. When I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it was through great pain (read the story here). However, I also saw fingerprints of God’s goodness, provision and sovereignty clearly. When my physician told me I had cancer, my response was “Well in 2022, I had a DKA and was in a coma in the ICU and the Lord whisked me into His heavenly realm and it was MAGNIFICIENT, so I am not afraid of dying. But God also sent me back because He had MORE ministry He wanted me to do.” And my family, friends, and now my surgeon were all praying God would continue to give me more days, more opportunities, and more ways to minister His hope, light and love.

In the summer, after I recovered from surgery and had begun chemo, I attended the AWSA conference (Advanced Writers and speaker Association) and at their Golden Scrolls awards brunch, several hundred of the thousand fellow author sisters surprised me and gave me the Life Impact Award. All through the week and even as I made my way to the stage to receive the award, my dear friend, Carol Kent was praying for me, and included was the prayer for God to give me many more days and opportunities to serve Him.

Then in the fall, I was speaking on an industry expert panel and for Christian Communicators Collective and at the end of the panel, my friend, author Becky Harling prayed (and the nearly one hundred women attending circled around me and prayed) and again, I heard numerous prayers for God to give me MORE. During one of the sessions, my friend Angela Donadio was speaking and the Holy spirit downloaded an acrostic to help me grasp the meaning of MORE for my life:

Make

Our

Redeemer

Evident

I knew at that moment, my word for 2025 was to be MORE. On the worksheet I designed to help others process their Word of Focus, I knew my verse was supposed to be Eph 3:20 (which I pray each day as my phone alarm goes off at 3:20 pm.

(I invite you to join #Eph320club)

When it comes to discerning a song of the year, I pulled in a little help from AI and asked for 10 hymns and 10 contemporary Christian worship songs with the theme of God giving MORE (abundance, favor, anointing, blessing, and more of Himself). As I worked my way through this beautiful and inspiring playlist,  More Love, More Power by Michael W Smith , became my song for the year ahead. On my worksheet, and in my bullet journal, I  worked my way through various questions like: Are there other items in life that are associated with the MORE God can give? Like are there symbols, flowers, essential oils, perfumes, holidays, traditions, and colors linked to the MORE of God (His abundance, favor, anointing, goodness, and blessing?) Then to dig into knowing God MORE, I decided to use my friend Janet McHenry’s Looking Up devotional and work my way through the Bible readings she provides. I also have a set of empty prayer cards from Dayspring, and I record one word for each day’s quiet time, one prayer, and one praise so I can document the more God is giving. I lead various online groups and I also decided that I would weave the Names of God into the ice breaker times of these groups.

Grab a Theme

My theme for the year was inspired by my friend, Bible teacher, Gari Meacham. I was sitting in the audience when she was teaching on the Wadi Qelt, the uphill, rigorous and often dangerous road from Jericho to Jerusalem that captures the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible.  As she described the rewards of surviving the Wadi Qelt, she pointed to me and said, “Pam, you have been climbing up the wadi, and I believe God is telling you that fields of beautiful wildflowers are ahead for you!” That immediately resonated with me as my theme and symbol for 2025, “Look for the Wildflowers!”

I often buy jewelry, a mug, key chain, t-shirt or sweatshirt that captures my word of focus. Alive in ’25 or Thrive in ’25 are catchy, but I am toying with a few ways to work MORE into my theme or slogan! Having my word of FOCUS for 2025 has moved my heart, mind and body away from dwelling on the hurdles of hard times of 2024 and forward on to the MORE God has to give me! After all, Jesus Himself proclaimed that he came to give us life MORE abundantly! (John 10:10b)

So this year, as I look for God’s MORE for me, I am also enjoying “Looking for the wildflowers!” Because I am looking for God’s MORE, I believe I will see MORE of Him and His goodness.

Join me on this journey of finding YOUR Word of Focus for YOU for 2025!

Download a set of worksheets to help you find and process your Word of Focus.

Selecting Your Word of the Year
Processing Your Word of the Year
One Thing Goal worksheet – Top 7 Priorities
Vision Board template

Pam Farrel is the author of 61 books including her newest, Glimpse of God’s Glory: One Woman’s Near Death Experience. . She and her husband, Bill, Co-direct Love-Wise ministries, and make their home on a live-aboard boat docked in So CA.  Pam has overcome ovarian cancer and each week she records a #TealTuesday Facebook Live video