How Do I Find My One Word of the Year? 7 Strategies to Find the Right Word for You
Resolutions or One Word?
Do you make New Year’s resolutions?
According to the Pew Research Center, 70% of Americans didn’t make any resolutions for 2024. And of the minority who did, only 9% kept them.
If you’d like an alternative to yearly resolutions, simply choose one word or phrase to anchor your year. This simple practice has been life-changing for me and many others.
Maybe you’ve never chosen One Word. Or maybe you’re a seasoned One Word enthusiast.
Either way, the process of finding that special word can be daunting, whether you’re a newbie or a veteran.
But once you do find it, it serves as a touchstone throughout the year. It’s easy to remember one word while it also gives you lots of flexibility. You can adapt it to whatever twists and turns you face as the year unfolds.
How to Choose Your Word
Not sure where to start? Here are 7 strategies to help you uncover a word that resonates with you for 2025.
If you’d like support on this journey, consider joining our One Word group for accountability and fresh ideas. Click here to learn more.
So, what will your word be for 2025?
1. Mine Your Pain
Your struggles hold clues. What’s been weighing on you? What do you wish you had more of—patience, strength, freedom? Let your current circumstances lead you to a word that feels both personal and relevant to your life for the coming year.
2. Borrow a Metaphor
Think of your year as a story. Is it a season of planting seeds, tearing down walls, or navigating storms? Let a metaphor shape your word, like Harvest, Anchor, or Rebuild.
3. Listen for Echoes
Sometimes you need to stop chasing and start noticing. Words have a way of finding you. Pay attention to recurring themes in conversations, books, lyrics, or even dreams. When a word keeps appearing, it’s worth exploring why.
4. Test Its Texture
Say the word out loud. Write it down. Imagine it on your calendar, your phone’s lock screen, or your journal. Does it energize you? Ground you? If it feels too small or too big, toss it and try again.
Here are a list of 50 words to help get you started.
5. Stretch Its Meaning
A great word is multi-dimensional. Choose something that can grow with you. For example, Balance might mean setting boundaries in January and creating vacation options in July.
6. Break Your Rules
Think you need an “action” word or something profound? You don’t. Your word doesn’t have to be perfect to still be a great option. You might want to choose a phrase instead of a single word. Or opt for twelve monthly words instead of one yearly word, or one word for each season. You get to decide.
7. Speak It Into the World
Once you do decide, don’t keep your word hidden. Share it with a friend or post it somewhere visible. Saying it aloud makes it real and invites others to join in your journey—or even hold you accountable.
Choosing your One Word is less about perfection and more about intention. Don’t overthink it—just start.
Here’s to a year shaped by the power of a single word.
Are you choosing One Word for 2025? Share in the comments.
If you have One Word of the Year, add your blog posts about it in our monthly linkups. The December linkup will open here on Monday, December 23, and remain open for 2 weeks.
If you’re interested in community, join our One Word group here to receive a monthly email with ideas to practice your word. We also have a private One Word Facebook group here.
Learn more about our community here.
Find more tips here on how to choose your One Word of the Year.
Need more suggestions for words? Here’s the list of past One Words from our One Word community.
updated December 2024
What fantastic guidelines you’ve given us here, Lisa, when we are contemplating our word for 2025. Thanks and many blessings to you!
Thanks, Martha. I’ve been narrowing down my word for 2025…
Nice post, Lisa. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks! Finding One Word of the Year has been something that I’ve enjoyed doing for several years now.
I have a list started but none seem to have shouted ‘Pick me” yet. I took the time to rewrite them out this morning and group several of them together. I noticed some of them were quieter and some implied more forward movement. I noticed I longed for a word that leaned forward, moving forward – perhaps that is a hint of what I “need” for next year. I remember you mentioning a word a few weeks back, connect. That is one I am considering, but don’t want to “steal” your word. LOL. Glad there is time yet and I do remember some years not knowing my word of the year until middle of January so there is lots of time yet.
I always look forward to what word you’ll choose, Jean. And how you’ll mine it for gold in so many different ways! You’re right that I was leaning heavily on Connect, but for now it’s taken a backseat to another word (well, actually a phrase!). So feel free to use it. 😉 Even if I go back to it, I’d love sharing a word with you anyway! But yes, you still have plenty of time to decide.
Love that these are soooo concise. I’m ALWAYS WAAAAY TO VERBOSE! Now verbosity would NOT be one I should choose, right?! 😉 I don’t need any help to remember that! What has been interesting for me, Lisa, is how my word this year is dovetailing w/ where I sense God leading, but in an unexpected way. Thanks for all you do for our community!
Love you!
xo
Lynn
It’s good to also have verbosity, Lynn! 🙂 You have a lot of good things to say. You have me so *curious* about what you will *choose* for your next word. I’m grateful that you are such an active part of our community. You are such an encourager to so many, including me. Thank you, friend!
Hi Lisa, My new word will be embrace or embracing. My goal is to publish a collection of poems and that word will be in the title of each chapter as well as the book. I’m excited about 2025 and what we can embrace. 🙂 xxxx Thanks for this article that spurred me on to pick my word. 🙂 xxx
Ooh, I love so much what you’ll be doing, Marsha! What a beautiful year of embracing you will have, not just for yourself, but what you’ll be preparing to give to others!
Hi Lisa, I’ve been thinking about my Word of the Year lately, and haven’t yet decided so your post has come at the perfect time for me. I quite like the idea of a word for each month and will give that some thought. It could just work for me.
Let me know if you do decide on 12 words for 2025, Jennifer! For 2024, I chose one main word (Curiosity) but I added a new “subword” (is that even a word? ha) every 2 weeks from a list of 26 words. It worked out great!
I’m looking forward to the encouragement of this group once again!
I’m always excited to know you’ll be choosing a word again, Michele! I’ll be curious to see how our words dovetail again. 🙂
Thank you for sharing the strategies to find WOTY with us at #weekendcoffeeshare. I look forward to hearing about your WOTY for 2025.
Thanks, Natalie. I think I’ve settled now on my new WOTY and I’m excited about it! I’ll reveal it soon.
Thank you for the reminder to choose my word for 2025. I had action for at least two years and I’m doubtful I made any progress. Last year’s word was vision, and ironically I probably pulled off more action as I made fantastic progress. I’ve been seeing an exercise physiologist three times a week. I took up art and exhibited in three community exhibitions and received a highly commended and joined an art course for people with disabilities. After having such a great year, perhaps I should stick with vision. Lastly, while my word for 2024 was “vision”, I also had a goal to find my tribe which I pursued fairly steadily. I made good progress on that front although it proved much harder than I thought.
So after reflecting on all this here, I’m really looking forward to next year.
Best wishes,
Rowena
I love how Action bled into your year of Vision. We can’t always force a word to fit our year, so it’s nice when it shows up on its own. 🙂 I chose Uncertainty one year, and it keeps coming back again and again (although I don’t necessary want it to! ha). It sounds like Vision has definitely been a theme of your year with all that you’re doing and seeing happen. I’ll look forward to hearing if you stick with Vision again and how it goes in finding your tribe. That can be a difficult journey, but an important one. I keep thinking I might need to expand my tribe but I haven’t had the energy yet to do it except in small ways (which I’m content with).
My “word” of the year is usually a class God enrolls me in – I am feeling a keen desire not just for joy – but for joyful laughter – which might be a tall order for a literalist like myself. Your post nudged me to make a commitment to that “word(s)” for next year.
Oh, I think “joyful laughter” would be a beautiful choice, Maryleigh! I would love to hear some audio of you living it out! 🙂 I go back occasionally to listen to videos I have of my grandson’s joyous laughter from when he was 1 and 2 years old (and now too that he’s 3). It’s such a pure, unforced sound and it never fails to make me smile.
These are some great guidelines! I’m hoping to participate again this year.
I’ll look forward to hearing what your new word will be, Joanne! It’s fun to follow along with other people’s journeys to see how their word plays out.
Thanks for the reminder of what’s important in choosing a word for the year Lisa. I have mine and went through your steps to see if it fitted your suggestions – and yes it does. I chose THRIVE this year and it’s been a good focus for me despite what the year has thrown at me!!
Sounds like Thrive was a great choice for you, Debbie! Some years my word fits better than other years, but it never fails to prove helpful in some ways.
Thank you for sharing this guideline. In December, I spend a lot of it thinking about my word of the year for next year. This year I chose “Enough” and I think I decided that on the last day of last year. Now looking back from the last 12 months, “Enough” paved a lot of my decisions to get me where I am.
How wonderful that you can see how “Enough” worked through your year, Julie. That’s how I feel about my word “Curiosity.” I think Enough would be a great choice for me too at some point.
As 2024 comes to a close and I look back at my word “Focus” little did I realize when I chose this word that all of my attention would be focused on my husband.
I lost my husband in August and I have found to have little patience with myself since then.
I feel the LORD speaking to me and telling me it’s time to focus on myself and my need to be patient with myself.
So I will be “focusing” on patience in 2025 and give myself some grace and space.
It sounds like your 2024 was full of caretaking; I’m sure you were a wonderful blessing to your husband in his final months here, Denise. I’m sorry for all that you’ve been through. Grieving is a consuming thing, so I understand how you may lose patience with yourself as you get through your days. I think choosing to be patient–especially with yourself–is a beautiful goal for 2025, whether it’s your one word or not.
Once again, your advice is spot-on!
Lisa, wonderful post! Wishing you the best this holiday season. Thank you for being a part of the Crazy Little Lovebirds link party!