Discover the Power of ‘Persevere’: Vitalia Westlake’s 2024 Journey to Success

At the beginning of each year, Michael Buckley, Arrow’s personal and professional development coach and “The Chief Feelings Officer,” asks each team member to pick a “Word of the Year.”

To help individuals come up with a word, he offers questions like:

What does your life need more of right now?

And my life will be improved if I have more of what?

Michael reminds us that sometimes, we need more focus. Then, other times, it’s more compassion, and at times, we need more fun! In past years, team members have chosen words such as clarity, confidence, intentional, commitment, consideration, and receptiveness.

This year, team members are actively selecting a Word of the Year for themselves and collaborating to create a word for their community. Picking a personal word and community word is a commitment to doing work on themselves and the “we” and “us” work they want to accomplish as a community.

The Vitalia Westlake word of the year is “persevere.”

This word is significant because communities can experience significant changes over time, and navigating through those changes can lead to challenges and opportunities. Perseverance and the ability to adapt are crucial during such times. It will be interesting to witness the unfolding of new developments and the potential for positive outcomes. 

Setting intentions for the year can positively impact the community, including fostering a sense of direction, unity, and purpose. Intentions can set a community up for success for both staff and residents. Intention-setting helps us as a team align our efforts toward a common objective. This can lead to more effective collaboration, with individuals working together towards a shared vision.

By sharing intentions, this will create a sense of accountability. When the team is aware of the community’s goals, they are more likely to take responsibility for their actions and contribute positively towards achieving them. Perseverance will be our guiding light and encouragement. Setting intentions will be our roadmap for 2024. 

We will incorporate the word into the community’s daily operations by creating a plan and implementing actions to align with that intention. This will start with communicating at daily and weekly meetings to keep our goals in sight. 

Creating new habits will be another focus. We can stay on task if each team member looks at the top 3-5 most important things and uses this as a daily action plan. This will also include checking in for each person and supporting each department in reaching the daily goal as a team. By persevering and obtaining new goals, it’s also important to celebrate and acknowledge achievement and goals met. Leadership by example is another way the department leaders can help all staff achieve. This will set the tone and inspire others to follow. 

The most significant goals of the year for our community will be:

• growing and understanding how to communicate by utilizing the core value of listening to understand
• creating a sense of unity, the sky will be the limit on what we can accomplish
• supporting each other’s departments, leaning into what is needed
• celebrating small accomplishments and larger goals will also help us grow

We will work to build and grow relationships, to be more in tune and aware of our residents’ needs. Our goal is for residents to be healthy, happy, engaged, and enjoy Vitalia fully. The same goes for our staff. If we have a healthy, happy, and engaged team, we will reach the goals of retention and no need for an agency. We will go and grow together in 2024!

The chosen Word of the Year should inspire the team. If it doesn’t, it means they selected the wrong word. Hold yourself and others accountable throughout the year. Engage with team members about their Word of the Year and keep it as a frequent topic of discussion in your community. Monitor your achievements using your 2024 Word of the Year, and we eagerly anticipate celebrating them with you!