December is almost over; 2016 is so close we can taste it. Excited? I hope so! Let’s use that excitement to think just a little bit more about what we want out of the new year. Today’s exercise from 31 Days of Goal-Setting is another one that comes from The Fire Starter Sessions: How do you want to feel in 2016? Choose a word or phrase.

All of the goal-setting exercises we’ve done this month have been designed with the concept of coordinating our activities with our long-term plans. Your day-to-day tasks are tied to your three-month milestone goals, which are directly aligned with your New Years goals, which flow into your five-year plan, which in turn link to your lifelong dream goals and your vision of who you want to be. Everything connects.

At the same time, New Year’s Resolutions are popular for a reason. Even if the effect is “only” psychological, a whole new year feels like a discrete chunk of time, powerful with potential and distinctive from any other year of your life.

Today’s exercise is meant to tap into this sense of unique possibility. Of course, 2016 is and should be one more year in which you work towards where and who you want to be. But it’s also its own year. How do you want to feel, this year? When you look back on December 31, 2016, what’s the word or phrase you’d like to use to describe how it went, how you felt, the theme or key element that connected all of your disparate activities?

As always, use language that is meaningful to you. Brainstorm as much as you need, write down phrases at random or look up not-quite-right words in the thesaurus to find the exactly-right word or phrase.

My theme for 2016 is extended. For me, this word connotes several important concepts:

• Not being too comfortable or complacent
• Working hard and pushing my limits at times
• Doing things that are uncomfortable but that need to be done
• Trying new things
• Making myself vulnerable when necessary rather than reflexively protecting myself