As we step into a new year, there’s a powerful practice that can help you set the tone for the months ahead: choosing a Word of the Year. When you have a word that is your focus for the year, it is more than just a word, it is something that captures or expresses your intention. It is a guiding energy that supports your goals and dreams, and how you want to show up in the world.
Unlike resolutions, which often feel rigid or focused on “fixing” things, a Word of the Year is expansive and rooted in possibility. It’s a touchstone that centres you when life feels overwhelming or distractions creep in. Your word becomes a simple yet profound reminder of the energy and focus you want to carry through 2025.
Why Choose a Word of the Year?
Your word distils your priorities into one clear intention which can really support you in maintaining focus. Whether your word is “Courage,” “Balance,” or “Flourish,” for example, it reflects what matters most to you. And because it’s a single word, it is easy to keep in focus despite all the distractions in the busyness of life. Your word can help inform your decisions and align your actions with the energy you want to embody. And on tough days, your word can re-ignite your spark and remind you of your intentions for 2025.
How to Find Your Word
Discovering your word is a personal process. You could just google word of the year, and you’ll find lots of lists of words. Sometimes a word will just jump out at you from such a list and you’re good to go. And sometimes you have to dig a little deeper! So here are some questions to prompt you in exploring what your word of the year for 2025 could be. As you envision the year ahead, consider:
▪ What do you want to feel more of in 2025? (e.g., confidence, connection, creativity, impact, peace, success…)
▪ What do you want to accomplish in 2025? Think about personal goals, health, relationships, career, or spiritual growth. What qualities or strengths will help you achieve those results?
▪ What word would support you during challenges or setbacks?
▪ What single word captures the kind of person you want to be this year?
Using these questions, write down words that come to mind. Examples might include Courage, Balance, Flourish, Ease, or Discipline.
Then let your word choose you. As you contemplate your list, often, a word will feel “just right.” Pay attention to what sparks excitement or calm in your heart.
It’s ok to explore this for a while. I’d encourage you not to rush into choosing your word. And it is ok to change it if you spend a bit of time with a word and find it’s not quite what you need or want to work with. That said, don’t keep changing your word either, give it a few days or weeks and then settle on one word and stick with it for the rest of 2025. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just needs to be a word that is helpful in guiding you this year.
For me, my word of the year for 2025 is Trust. My intention is to become ever more trusting in the power that is breathing each of us and in the awareness that we really are spiritual beings having a human experience. My goal is to deepen that belief for myself and also to hold it for you as we create unprecedented results in our lives in 2025.
So what’s your word? What word embodies the energy of your intentions for 2025 that can help to focus your mind and align your actions this year in service of living a life you really love.
Embodying Your Word
Once you’ve chosen your word, it is important to weave it into your daily life. It becomes a touchstone and as you navigate your days, noticing your thoughts and interactions, you can check in with yourself:
Am I really showing up as the person embodying my word today?
Did I bring that quality [of my word] to that interaction?
To help you keep your word in mind, place it somewhere visible. Keep it in your journal or on your phone screen or put a sticky note on your computer. If you do the morning practice I teach on my coaching programmes, your word could be what you identify as how you are showing up on any given day. You can find out more about that practice on my website here: No.1 Tip to create a Great Day Every Day.
And finally, you could share your word with a trusted friend or mentor to support you in being accountable for embodying it as much as possible, remembering that what we are seeking here is progress and not perfection!
Your Word of the Year is more than a choice—it’s a declaration of the energy you want to embody for the year ahead. Take time to reflect, trust your intuition, and let your word guide you into a year of purpose and possibility and results you love.
What will your word be? I’d love for you to share it with me as part of claiming it for yourself…
If you would love to be further empowered to create your best year yet, join us at the Vision Workshop Live on January 23, 25 and 26 in Cork! Early Bird Tickets still available – Book here and give yourself every opportunity to create and live a year you love.
Photo by Caleb Gregory on Unsplash