How To Choose Your Word Of The Year

How To Choose Your Word Of The Year - tips for choosing yours and setting your intention for the year. 

Do you choose a word of the year?  Why not think about picking one for this year, to help guide you throughout 2024?  Here’s how I choose mine, and some tips to help you decide on yours.

Choosing a Word of the Year.  This isn’t about giving you more things to think about and increasing the overwhelm, it’s more about having something to encourage you.  It’s your intention for the year, your theme for the year.  It’s something to guide you through life and your business.  To inspire you to keep going, help you make decisions, remind you what you wanted for yourself, to focus on making positive change and moving towards what you want. 

It’s a word that embodies how you want to feel/think/be/do.

Choosing my Words of the Year

I did this properly for the first time back in 2018, having seen it everywhere the year before, wondered what it was all about, and tried it for the last few months of that year!  And both times it really helped me, and continued to, so I hope it does you too.

So back in the Autumn of 2018 I made a conscious decision to be Brave.  It became my word for those few months, and really helped me try being a bit more confident, and do things I wouldn’t otherwise have tried doing. 

For 2019 I chose Growth.  I wanted to remind myself that I wanted to grow my confidence some more, along with grow my visibility, and grow my business. And it worked!  I did remember to bear that in mind whenever I was feeling worried or unsure of trying something new, of going live, of putting myself out there some more, of making a decision.  And I did indeed grow those three things.  I started my Facebook group, ran challenges and did lives in it every week, and wrote, sold, and launched my first course.  Amongst lots of other things.  Remembering all the time that I was determined to grow. 

So I decided to choose another for the following year.  Initially I would have liked to use the same word again, as I knew I want to keep on growing my confidence, visibility and business.  But everyone else seems to choose a new one, so I thought maybe I’d better move on too.  Momentum was suggested in one group when I posted that I wanted to keep up the growth from last year.  But that didn’t really grab me. So I did a bit of thinking about what else I wanted to do in 2020, and I settled on the word Focus.  I wanted to make sure that I focused on growing my business; on sales, knowing my numbers, and growing my income; on being more organised; on being more intentional and focused when using social media.   And aiming for it to help make the rest of the year a fabulous one! Plus I liked the photography pun, and also wanted to focus on taking better and better photos 🙂 

For 2021 I chose Build, again with wanting to build my business, build my brand awareness and visibility, build on where I'd got to with my courses, and just keep going.  Not surprising after the first wave of covid in 2020 totally disrupting my business (but the focus intention really helped me to get through it and focus on the online stuff that I could still work on).

At the end of 2021/beginning of 2022, for the first time I didn't have a single word jump out at me, but had a collection of words on the piece of paper stuck to my computer for that year.  The main one of which was Streamline - it was time to stop creating more stuff, and streamline what I had already!  It helped me bear that in mind!!  Visibility was another, and that helped me concentrate on doing things towards that, and to remember to feel less fearful of it too.   

For 2023 it was back to one simple word, Align.  I wanted to feel more aligned with who I am, be more me, remind myself to share more of me, and to keep focusing on keeping all my different offers aligned with my message and what I want to do.  Again, I feel those reminders really helped me.

And now we're at the start of January 2024 (when I'm currently updating this blog!), and I'm not sure yet what this year will bring.  I will add it in once I have been through the steps below and decided...

EDIT...I have pondered for a few days and I think I'm there!  2024 will have two main words for me, and possibly a third.  

I'm finding myself drawn to Nourish, to look after myself, and my business, to treat us both more kindly, to get more organised, clear on what I want, and be ready to grow more.  But I don't want that to make me feel too much like hiding away and hibernating all year round to do that or to be held back by it, so I'm also adding in Adventure as a sort of opposite.  For something to keep encouraging me, to keep pushing me, to keep me being more visible.  Adventure to remind me to have fun, and to keep doing the experiments, the trying things out in my business that I try to do.  I might need a bit of courage to stick to it, but that will be good for me just as much as nourishing myself more.  Expand was the third one, but I think the first two will lead me towards that anyway, so I'm just having it as a little extra reminder to take opportunities to grow my business now, and not save it for next year!

Now read on for some tips to help choose yours :) 

How To Choose Your Word Of The Year

Create a long-list of words that you might use.  Brainstorm some words that you could use, that mean something to you.  Don’t think too hard, just make a list.

To help you come up with some words, try the following:

1. What do you need in your life right now?

2. Reflect on last year.  How did it go?  What do you want more of in your life?  Or less?  How did you feel about what went well, and what didn’t?

3. Think about this next year.  What do you want to do differently, what do you want to change?  How do you want to feel instead, or feel more of?  Or be instead/more of?  What will help you reach the goals you want to aim for this year?

4. Think about your goals for this year if you’ve set some already.  Are there any common themes?

5. Try thinking about your ideal day.  How would you be feeling, acting, doing?

6. Have a look at some ideas for words in my list below, or google some more.  Pick out some that you like the look of, that could help you.

When you’ve got your long-list, narrow it down to a shorter one if needed, and then find The One! 

...Does one in particular stand out for you?  Which one jumps out at you, or catches your eye when you look at them?  Which one just resonates the most with you?  Which do you just feel more drawn to? 

And there we go, there’s your word of the year! 

Think on it for a few days if you need to, just to be sure.  In my limited experience, when you find your word, you’ll know it when you find it.  It will feel right for you. 

But you do need to be committed to your word though, or it won’t help you!  Write it down everywhere if you need to be reminded.  In your planner, diary, calendar, stick it to your computer or office wall, and make sure you remember to come back to it all the time.

Some people choose more than one by the way, so if that would help you more, by all means go for it!  More than one for the year, or one for each month or quarter, whatever fits what you want/feel will help.  It’s got to work for you.

Example Words of the Year

Here are some examples for you, that I've put into groups of similar-ish words.  See if any of these mean enough to you to go on your long-list.  Or even stand out enough to be It…

Authenticity, Trust, Honesty, Integrity, Capable, Positivity

Confidence, Brave, Courage, Fearless, Unafraid, Strength

Inspire, Empower, Educate, Teach, Connection, Friendship, Communication, Learn, Encourage, Lead

Peace, Calm, Tranquil, Grace, Simplify, Slow

Discover, Explore, Adventure, Journey, Travel, Possibility, Open, Try, Creativity

Consistency, Persistence, Determination, Commitment, Organised, Focus, Clarity, Productive, Streamline

Believe, Hope, Faith, Dream, Imagine, Harmony, Spirit, Energy, Enough

Thrive, Growth, Rise, Abundance, Prosperous, Success, Progress, Flourish, Shine

Joy, Wonder, Passion, Happiness, Light

Grounded, Centred, Mindful, Flow, Balance, Breathe, Nourish, Rest, Stillness, Relax

Transformation, Build, Align, Start, Finish, Intentional, Progress, Create, Expand, Elevate

Appreciate, Celebrate, Gratitude 

Delight, Uplift, Cherish, Kindness

I hope you found that has helped you set a positive intention for the year.  Let me know which word you choose, and come back at the end of the year to tell me if it worked!  Was it better than making New Year’s resolutions?!

Next Steps:

Would you like some more help with planning your year and becoming more strategic with everything?  Take a look at my From Frazzled to Focused: The Big Brand & Business Strategy Bundle – lots of workbooks so you can keep all the info in one place, have it to hand, and have some help filling them in.  How to Review Your Year, Your Big Business Vision, Your Business Goals, and Your Business Strategy.  Plus a bonus one for keeping you on track with achieving your goals. These aren’t time specific, you can start at any point during the year, and they are perfect for both product or service-based business owners.  

Next Steps:

- Would you like some more help with planning your year and becoming more strategic with everything?  Take a look at my From Frazzled to Focused: The Big Brand & Business Strategy Bundle – lots of workbooks so you can keep all the info in one place, have it to hand, and have some help filling them in.  How to Review Your Year, Your Big Business Vision, Your Business Goals, and Your Business Strategy.  Plus a bonus one for keeping you on track with achieving your goals. These aren’t time specific, you can start at any point during the year, and they are perfect for both product or service-based business owners.  

- Ready for more personal mentoring, brand, visibility and marketing strategies that work for you, a community of fellow ambitious introverts, training, and accountability to put it all into action?  Come and join my Brand Plan membership, and get support to show up, stand out, and sell more🤩

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Blog topics / categories: 

#Strategy and Planning

[This blog was first written in January 2020, and transferred to this website and updated, January 2024]