Find the perfect word for Your Year!

What do you think? Can one word really make a difference in your life? Can it change you? I think it can.

A couple of years ago, I kept hearing from friends and people in my community how choosing a word of the year had really made a big impact on their lives. Progress was the word chosen by Lauren from Self Care Plans a couple years ago and she shared with me how it really helped her get over her perfectionist tendencies. Using her word encouraged her to just move forward and not allow perfectionism to prevent progress.

Then there was Kim from The Hygge Gathering. She chose the word margin a couple years ago. She may have even used it for more than one year.  I haven’t used it as my own, but I have to admit, I really loved this choice. Kim shared that over time she began to think more carefully about what she agreed to do in her life and to avoid jam packing it full of obligations, or even fun. She wanted enough margin in her life to have time to chat if she ran into a friend. She wanted time to explore places she went to before or after an event–so she would show up early to give herself the margin of extra time to explore. Increasing the margin in her life gave her more time to relax and enjoy life and not be in such a hurry all the time.

Hearing so many stories about how a single word could make such a difference over the course of a year inspired me to begin choosing my own word of the year. Choosing a word for the year is all about choosing who you want to become that year. It can be a powerful tool for self-transformation and the process of choosing your word can even be an insightful process. Today I’ll share with you my word for 2025 and the process I used to decide upon the word that would best help me stretch myself in my personal growth journey.

I mentioned that choosing a word of the year is all about choosing who you are going to become. You are making a declaration of how you are going to change and who you are going to grow into over the course of a year. So you want to allow yourself time to reflect on where you are today, where you want to be in the future, and the person you'll need to become to help get you there. If you think about it, success in almost any endeavor is more about who you need to become than it is about following a specific set of steps to get from point A to point B. So who do you need to become for your life to look differently than it does today? Even if you love your life right now, one part of leading a fulfilling life is self-improvement–having a word of the year can be a powerful tool for personal growth.

The first thing I like to do is create a word bank. This doesn't have to be anything fancy. It's just a place that you can start jotting down words that you think might work for you. I simply jotted down some words on a piece of scrap paper. I usually start thinking about possible words as the year draws to a close, but I also set aside some time to be reflective and introspective as the year begins as well. The word you choose is one that is going to stick with you and be a reminder to you all year, so I intentionally give myself time to ponder various possibilities.

I also have a series of journal prompts that I like to use:

• How do I want to feel at this time next year?

• How am I feeling called to grow?

• What characteristic or way of being would make me feel more comfortable in my skin?

• Where do I feel discomfort in my life? What would I need to do differently to shift this or how would I need to show up differently in my life to alleviate the discomfort?

• What scares me?

• Focus on a goal or dream. If I were to feel like I’ve made huge strides toward this dream, what has to happen this year to get there? Who do I have to become? What words best describe the me that accomplishes my goal?

• What went well in the past year? What did I learn? Is there anywhere I feel compelled to improve or learn more?

Another exercise I like to do is to write "More" on one side of a page and "Less" on the other side, then reflect on all the things I’d like more of in my life and all the things I’d like less of.

After all of this, I’m usually beginning to get a good sense of the direction I’m leaning toward with respect to what word I’ll choose for the year, so then I like to then look at lists of words and see what words jump out at me or that I might also feel drawn toward considering. These too get added to the word bank. 

At that point, it’s time to pick a word to try out. I look through the words I’ve listed in my word bank and quickly pick out the one that feels most right to me. The word you pick should elicit some kind of feelings or emotions–maybe excitement, or hope or calm. If you don’t feel anything, it probably isn’t a good word for you, as you probably will simply forget about it in the coming weeks, as you aren’t excited about the possibility of the changes that it promises. 

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I would share with you my word of the year. I actually ended up choosing a word that I stumbled across and put in my word bank. My mother and sisters had put together a comfort basket for me after I got out of the hospital last month from having colon cancer surgery and one of the little gifts in the basket was a book about Fika–The Little Book of FIKA. A few pages into the book it describes the Swedish concept of Lagom:

“Lagom is a uniquely Swedish word that does not have a precise English translation. it's directly translated as “around the team" a term that dates back to the Viking era, when Mead was passed from person to person, each sipping only their share, and not more, to ensure there was enough for all. It reflected contentment–that there was just the right amount for everyone. nowadays lagom reflects the concept of “not too much, not too little–just enough,” a concept of moderation, simplicity, and contentment that has seeped into the Swedish psyche and culture over the ages.”

This can apply to so many areas of life - how we eat, what we purchase and bring into our homes, and what we do. I think it is the perfect word of focus for me in the coming year. Hopefully this has inspired you to find your perfect Word of the Year as well. Best wishes with this and in becoming your word this year!