A Short Guide to Choosing Your Word for the Year
Your word for the year isn’t just a word—it’s a compass. It can guide your decisions, remind you of your priorities, and keep you focused when things get noisy.
After my annual review, I set goals and plan experiments for the coming year. I also choose a word that sums up my intention or highlights my top priority. The word is typically a verb but doesn’t have to be.
My word for 2025 is explore—it reminds me to be curious, playful, and embrace learning. Rather than striving for perfection, I want to focus on growth through exploration.
One of the main reasons we fail to achieve our goals is that we forget about them—they become invisible. To avoid this, I check in with my goals weekly during my review. I also keep my word of the year visible.
Here are some simple ways I do this:
Create wallpaper for my devices.
Engrave it on a piece of jewellery.
Include it in my daily notes template.
Frame it in calligraphy on my desk.
If you’re struggling to choose your word, why not ask ChatGPT for suggestions? Share your goals for the year and the kind of person you want to be, and let it spark ideas. You could even turn your word into a short, memorable sentence to reinforce its meaning.
I share more about my process in this short podcast episode: Choosing Your Word for the Year. It’s a quick listen and might inspire your approach.
What about you? Have you chosen your word for 2025 yet? Share it below—I’d love to hear the story behind it.
