How to Choose Your Word of the Year: A Guide to Clarity, Intention, and Growth
As the new year unfolds, many of us are drawn to set resolutions or goals. But what if you could distill your aspirations into a single word—a guiding principle to anchor your decisions, actions, and growth throughout the year? This is the power of choosing a Word of the Year, a practice that offers clarity, focus, and alignment with your personal and professional journey.
In this blog, I’ll share how you can select your word, explore its benefits, and offer insights from my personal experience of choosing my word for 2025: “open.”
Why Choose a Word of the Year?
A Word of the Year is more than a goal or resolution—it’s an intention, a compass that shapes your mindset and helps you navigate opportunities and challenges. Here are some benefits:
- Clarity and Focus: Your word becomes a lens through which you view your decisions and actions, helping you stay aligned with what truly matters.
- Simplification: Unlike a long list of resolutions, a single word is easy to remember and embody in daily life.
- Personal Growth: The right word stretches you into new territories, inviting deeper self-awareness and transformation.
- Versatility: It applies to all areas of your life—business, relationships, health, and spirituality.
- Momentum: By focusing on one word, you build energy and momentum throughout the year, often discovering layers of meaning as time unfolds.
How to Choose Your Word
Choosing your Word of the Year is a deeply personal process. Here’s 4 simple steps – a step-by-step guide:
- Reflect on the Past Year
- What were your challenges and triumphs?
- What patterns or lessons emerged?
- What do you want to carry forward, and what are you ready to release?
- Visualize Your Future Self
- Imagine yourself at the end of the year. How do you feel? What qualities do you embody?
- What word encapsulates the energy or state you want to cultivate?
- Trust Your Intuition
- Sometimes, your word finds you. Pay attention to recurring themes, emotions, or words that resonate deeply.
- Experiment with Options
- Write down a list of potential words. Say them aloud, sit with them, and notice how they feel.
- Choose the one that lights you up, even if it feels surprising or challenging.
My Word for 2025: Open
Initially, I thought my word for 2025 would be “grace.” It felt fitting—a continuation of the gentle strength I wanted to carry forward. However, during a transformative journey to Egypt, I experienced a profound shift.
When someone asked me how I felt upon returning, my immediate reply was, “open.”
This word captured the expansiveness I felt: open to new ideas, relationships, and opportunities; open to the wisdom of ancient places; open to my own growth and evolution. It reflected a state of receptivity and trust that had deepened during my time in sacred spaces like the pyramids and temples.
How Your Word Supports Growth
Once you’ve chosen your word, it becomes a touchstone for personal and professional development:
- Daily Intentions: Use your word as a guide for setting intentions each morning. For me, “open” might mean being receptive to unexpected opportunities or new perspectives.
- Decision-Making: Ask yourself, “Does this decision align with my word?” This keeps you grounded in your core values.
- Journaling and Reflection: Reflect on how your word is showing up in your life. Are you embodying it fully?
- Integration Across Life Areas: Apply your word to your business, relationships, health, and spirituality.
For example, “open” reminds me to foster transparent communication in business, stay curious in relationships, and trust in divine timing on my spiritual path.
Embrace Your Word of the Year
Your Word of the Year isn’t static—it evolves with you. As the months go by, you’ll uncover deeper layers of meaning and opportunities to embody it in unexpected ways.
Whether your word is “open,” “grace,” “courage,” or something entirely different, trust that it will serve as a loyal guide. Allow it to stretch you, challenge you, and inspire you to grow into the best version of yourself.
What’s Your Word?
If you’re ready to choose your Word of the Year, take some time to reflect, listen to your intuition, and trust the process. Once you’ve found it, share it with someone who can support you in holding this intention throughout the year.
Remember, your word is not just about achieving goals—it’s about becoming.
This year, I am “open.” What are you?
