How And Why To Choose A Word Of The Year

We have just stepped into a new year, which usually brings along the usual suspect—the (failed) new year’s resolution—but what if there is something less undefined and more aligned with who you truly are? Enter the Word of the Year. Keep reading for tips on what it is, who could use one, how to work it into the routine of daily life, and more. No more dropped empty promises on 5 January!

What Is A Word Of The Year?

A Word of the Year is a personal, single word that someone chooses to act as a continuous source of guidance for mindset, priorities and decisions in the new year. It is returned to regularly through daily, weekly and monthly reflections, and can be added to calendar and journal pages, or on post-it notes in good places at home such as the bathroom mirror or bedside table.

A single word is at its best both narrow and wide, by which I mean that the act of choosing just one (narrow) word means all the other words are less emphasised (not necessarily less important though), compared to the significant guidance provided by this Word of the Year.

And yet it can be wide in the sense that if we have focused on our career for years, but down-prioritised our physical and mental well-being, the time may be great now for health to become the Word of the Year. This opens up multiple ways in which to improve our health, for example nutrition, sleep, exercise, and stress reduction. Since health is the main theme, whatever efforts are made will benefit the whole.

As is clear now, a Word of the Year is no goal or project, but rather a compass of sorts to point us over and over in its direction. For this reason, we should choose something that feels right, but obviously it isn’t the same as easy. Lifestyle changes and self-development in general can be surprisingly tough, despite the fact that we may both think and feel that a chosen path is the optimal choice.

Why Choose A Word Of The Year?

Choosing a word of the year can bring considerable structure to a year without crossing too much over into goal setting and project management, if these feel too much like work, too “official” and rigid. Some of us also thrive without ever writing long to-do lists, so such individuals may find this more informal type of guidance helpful, since the word stems in for example values and unique desires.

A single word that is personal will be easy to remember in everyday life, which in turn is beneficial when thinking about for example lifestyle change, and personal growth in general. Often our actions are driven by habits, which can be extremely hard to change due to their ingrained patterns in our brains. A word of the year helps us remember that our numerous small choices and activities add up over time, thereby creating positive change, which we ourselves are the cause of.

New years resolutions are oftentimes wishful thinking in their one-track minded rigidity, and as such bound to fail due to them not being connected to anything deeper. A word of the year on the other hand provides guidance over time, and makes allowances for unexpected changes in curcumstances and so on.

Who Wants To Use A Word Of The Year?

A word of the year is for everyone interested, but often it is used by people, who have a particular interest in personal growth and self-development. In addition, such a word is frequently used by those, who want to start nurturing their educational or professional development on a deeper level.

For example career management is an on-going effort that requires active involvement in order to move a person forward in a way that they invite, contrary to their circumstances at work simply happening to them. With such a mindset of intentional actions being the preferred manner in which to move forward, a word of the year can help especially much by providing a constant reminder of desired projects and activities, and their optimal outcomes.

It was about a decade ago that I chose my first word of the year, and while I can’t recall the exact order of them, some have been clarity, focus, and flourish. The context and applications have been uniquely personal, but you still get an idea of where my mind has been in the past.

Today, I wouldn’t choose clarity anymore, because the foundation was laid so many years ago that I feel I have progressed to a much deeper level of personal development. Now it is more about fine-tuning things, which goes to show how exciting self-development efforts truly can be.

Progress is slow in daily life, but over time even the tiniest steps taken together become a huge investment in oneself that does indeed pay dividends continuously.

How Would I Choose A Word Of The Year?

If you have already defined your life values (core values) to come up with about a handful of them to distill what is the most important to you currently (or always), it may be easier to start working on a Word of the Year. Or you might consider engaging with these two concepts in tandem!

Whether you know your life values or not, you can start pondering your word. It isn’t set in stone either, so if it turns out later on that another word may feel more aligned, then simply switch it out.

You may find it beneficial to journal your way through this thinking process, because there is value in both random thoughts, understanding what works or not on a deeper level, nuances, and of course priorities, too. Maybe life values feel too formal or daunting currently, but through this gentle self-work you can find out things about your true self that come as surprises to even you.

Let’s say that you have a hobby you put on ice years ago due to an active choice or perhaps because that elusive “life happened”, and now through realising that you miss those moments, you want to shake up not just that but more. What comes to mind then? Feelings, words? Are some of them descriptive of a deeper change, and thereby suitable as guiding stars for the year, if you will?

Remember, a Word of the Year acts as support for the changes you want to implement organically, in a balanced way. It can nudge you daily during your morning routine, or in another way that feels natural and helpful. Searching online for other people’s reflections can help you as well.

Personally, I am “late” at deciding (at the time of writing still have no word), so a word of caution, please don’t judge yourself through your unique process. It is no competition and there are no prizes for top achievements performance-wise, measured as “finished first” or “finished most projects”.

Self-kindness includes accepting your process exactly as it unfolds, through all the emotions, and successes and setbacks included. Neutral observation and reflection is equally valuable, since a “personal-growth project” continues as long as we are allowed to be alive here.

Wrapping Up

A Word of the Year isn’t about being as productive as humanly possible—unless we step away from the capitalist measure of “usefulness” into a broader meaning, which allows also for example rest to fall into the definition of productivity. Rather, this word, when applied with utmost care and self-compassion, can provide guidance that unlocks new dimensions of understanding oneself, honouring one’s truth, and acting in authenticity with intention. Whatever that may mean in practice is for all of us to define subjectively.

This in turn can lead to us eventually striking a healthy balance between prioritising ourselves over others in some situation, and providing first what others need from us in some other instances. When observing the Western world right now, there is a lot of criticism of hyper-individualism, the latter of which in itself is not a fantastic thing if keeping in mind that at some point there is no collective remaining, were all of us to act in self-servitude only.

For a society to thrive, I firmly argue in favour of a certain level of altruism, but when people are still learning new psychological concepts, taking the much needed time to heal generational traumas and build healthier behavioural patterns, learning to communicate with health and wellness in mind, and setting boundaries where there were none, it is natural that sometimes we can go overboard. Instead of perfection when learning still, let’s aim for increasing awareness of what happens during our pursuit for more balance.

What at first glance may seem as “alternative” nonsense can in fact be a key component in our pursuit towards better health and wellness. I hope my thoughts on this have set yours in motion, so if you have comments to share, please post them below, and in any case happy wording!

 

Photo credit: Annie Spratt.