What’s your word of the year for 2024?

Dec 30

What's your word for 2024?

For the last few New Years, instead of setting out New Year resolutions, I have chosen a word to represent my hope for the coming year. This word has become the theme for my year and helps me when I am making decisions about my next steps and I recommend giving it a go.

If you'd like to try it, here is an exercise for you on how to choose the right word for you.

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR WORD FOR THE YEAR

Think about what you want to achieve in 2024. Is there one main goal that you have? Is there a word that sums that up?

Follow the feeling - the right word for you will often reflect how you want to feel.
If nothing is jumping out at you, read through the list of words below. Make a note of any that jump out at you. It’s then good to leave it for a while and go back to your shortlist to see if one word is clear for you. Sometimes you may find that another word links a few on your shortlist.

Growth

Resilience

Prosperity

Harmony

Renewal

Unity

Gratitude

Serenity

Courage

Abundance

Wellness

Compassion

Clarity

Empowerment

Connection

Innovation

Balance

Happiness

Healing

Adventure

Kindness

Transformation

Joy

Adaptability

Generosity

Mindfulness

Resilience

Creativity

Simplicity

Acceptance

Fulfillment

Strength

Positivity

Determination

Love

Openness

Progress

Mindset

Wisdom

Faith

Harmony

Belonging

Grace

Peace

Patience

Success

Forgiveness

Discovery

Purpose

Optimism

What to do when you’ve chosen your word for the year

The reason I like this exercise is because choosing a word feels expansive. Choosing resolutions feels very constricting and it's no longer the way I want to start my year.

I like to write mine in the front of my journal so it’s easy to look at. You could also write it on a post-it note and put it somewhere you can see it every day.

If you’re creative, why not make some art including your word? The idea is to ensure you keep it at the forefront of your consciousness this year so have a think about what that can mean for you.

Why not have New Year's resolutions instead?

Depressingly, the stats suggest that around 80% of new years resolutions fail by mid-February.

Some of the reasons they don’t work are:

1. The resolution is just too big - sometimes we get a bit to grandiose with our ideas and fail to live up to them, particularly if it necessitates a large change in our behaviour - what we eat, how we exercise, how we spend money etc

2. We’re not thinking about why - we often have great ideas but we’re not focused on why we want to do them. If our why isn’t big enough then we’re unlikely to make lasting changes

3. We’re not really ready to change

When we get so specific as we do with resolutions we set ourselves up to fail. Having a word for the year is more expansive. I’m not telling myself what to do or not to do, I am directing my attention to how I want to feel and this is more energising.

HEAR MORE

If you’d like to hear more about the benefits of choosing a word of the year I was invited onto the Jewellers Academy podcast to talk all about it. We discussed our words for the last few years, how we’ve chosen them and how we’ve used them.

You can listen now on the player below. Alternatively, you can search for the Jewellers Academy podcast on your podcast app including Apple, Google and Spotify. It’s episode 184.

MY WORDS OF THE YEAR

These are the words I chose for the last few years:

2024: TOGETHER

This is my word for the coming year. I have realised how much I am able to achieve when I work with other people - you as my coaching clients and others to help me grow

2023: EASY

This was a great word for this year! Every time I was making a decision I would think about the easy option. I can get very stuck sometimes and this just helped me focus more on solutions. That’s not to say I always chose the easy option but knowing what it was helped inform my decision making

2022: HARMONY

I loved this word because I always love doing lots of things at once! Harmony reminds me of an orchestra, different instruments playing different notes, sometimes in the foreground and sometimes the background but always in harmony. It reminded me that I can juggle projects effectively and move from one thing to another without overwhelm.

2021: MAXIMALISM

I chose this word as the opposite of minimalism. For me it was about taking up space, going bigger and bolder in my choices.