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Written by Special Guest Contributor, Dennis Gorski | January 11, 2024

Have you ever chosen a “word of the year?” It’s a single word that encapsulates a theme you wish to focus on or live by for the year. It’s a subtle yet powerful compass as you journey through each day. My wife, Jane, introduced this concept to the entire family at Thanksgiving a number of years ago and then had us making bracelets where we metal stamped our word into a decorative washer. The first year, I wore my bracelet daily to remind me of my word until the band broke around May! This concept has now been adopted by my son and sons-in laws as we gather every January for our business and personal goal planning retreat. We don’t make bracelets anymore, but as we present our plans and goals with one another, we also share our word of the year and the reasoning behind it.

Last year my word was transition. I was entering into a chapter in what many authors call “the second half of life,” and there were some things I wanted to figure out. The second half of life is less about success and more about significance. Less about accumulating and achievement and more about service and impact. Less about doing and more about being. Less about building a life and more about giving one’s life away. Less like the world and more like Jesus. For someone like me who is a Type A competitor, and who has always operated with a performance mindset, this transition into the second half of life has not exactly been easy. But I think I am making progress.

This year, my word of the year is uninhibited. I believe when we go through life and get to a certain place, we often get more cautious: “I sure don’t want to screw this up now,” we think. Or maybe we’ve made some mistakes or experienced setbacks and then fall into the attitude of “I’m not going to do that again.” For me, I’m tired of being safe and careful and prudent. I want to be uninhibited. This word has implications for many areas of my life, but I want it to especially influence my faith and my spirit of generosity.

I believe many of us hang on tightly to our stuff, our titles, our reputations and our social media image. We worry way too much of what others might think. Interestingly, the most frequent command from God in the Bible is, “Do not be afraid.” In fact, I’ve heard some authors say that some version of this “fear not” command is found 365 times in the Bible, one for each day. This certainly applies to our worry about health and well-being, job security, family wellness and other life circumstances. However, I also believe God wants us to stop worrying about what others are thinking about us.

When Jesus spoke hard truths or hung out with undesirables, he didn’t worry about what the cool kids were thinking of him. I want to be more like that. Uninhibited, like Jesus. I don’t want to insult God with my small thinking and safe living. Rather, I want to be irrationally generous because He certainly has been irrationally generous with me. That’s why one of my accompanying verses to go along with my word of the year is Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

So that’s a lot of rambling, and I’ve already exceeded my assigned word limit.  Thanks for letting me think out loud and put a lot of my thoughts into writing. I don’t feel like I captured it, and I still held back what I fully wanted to say, but I guess I have all year to work on this uninhibited mindset. Do you have a word of the year? If so, we’d love to hear what it is. If not, consider choosing one for your own life this year and see how you can live it out in the days ahead.

 

Bio:

Dennis Gorski is a husband, father, grandfather, and business owner. Having grown up in the Milwaukee area, he and his wife, Jane, moved to Batavia, Illinois with their four kids in 1999 for Dennis’ career in financial services. He ultimately became a managing partner of a nationally recognized firm and helped it grow to well over 100 advisors. In 2017 Dennis launched his own boutique financial planning firm which consumes most of his time, energy and creativity today. When not working Dennis is attracted to volunteer roles of leadership and service at impact organizations such as churches, HBCU, and Habitat for Humanity. He is most passionate, and finds the greatest joy, in family (just ask him about his eight grandkids), travel, nature, personal development in others, and the Green Bay Packers.