How to choose a guiding word for the year

How to choose a guiding word for the year (Photo: iStock)

With the New Year ringing in, many people take this as a chance to reflect on how they are going to live the rest of the year. For the longest time, resolutions have been the choice to go for but many people may not be able to remember each one of them in detail before January ends. 

Not to worry, there are other alternatives to resolutions or you can also back up your resolutions with other methods to be able to follow through with your goals. For instance, you can create a mood board or a vision board. Also, have you thought about having a guiding word for the year? 

The word for the year has garnered popularity over the recent years and we get why. This concept makes your vision easily memorable; you will only need to choose one word after all. Your brain is likely to go back to it for clarity every time even when you do the most mundane things that may have missed in your resolutions or when life gets busy.  

To help you choose a word for the year that is in line with your goals, here are some ways to go about it:

1.   Reflect on the most recent years

Look back at your life and project your focus for the new year. When you see the formed patterns of the previous years, you are better placed to make decisions about your present moment.  Think about your progress and the path you want the story of your life to take.  

2.   Set intentions for the new year

Think about what you want to achieve this year. Is it financial success, enjoying life more with family and friends, self-care, or seeing the world? Whatever these goals are, write them all down. Better still, list them in categories such as wellness, career, social, financial, spiritual, personal development, family and so on. After listing the goals under each category, you can highlight the consistent goal that you see. You can also easily come up with a word for the year without writing down the goals in each category, just by reflecting on what you hope to achieve in these aspects of your life. What are these aspects calling you to do? 

3. Brainstorm words

You can think of the words on your own to choose from or use Google. Examples include manifest, ease, discover, balance, bold, simplify, and grow. As you go through each word, you can remind yourself of the word that best reflects your current passions and overall intentions in life. 

4.   Be realistic

It is commendable to be a dreamer, but just as resolutions need to be realistic, so do words for the year. Choose a word that matches your abilities and priorities at this time. You will feel more confident if you live up to the word in your daily decisions.

5.   Remind yourself of the word

Write the word on your mirror. Have it as your screensaver. Listen to songs that capture the mood of your word. Bring it up in conversations without necessarily sharing that it is your word for the year- if you don’t wish to. Read about it. Do whatever it takes to make it more notable for you. You will be more likely to come across the word even in random places. Fulfilling it then becomes smooth sailing. 

6.  Apply in your everyday life

The best thing about selecting a word for the year is how you can apply it to your life goals in everyday life. Even as new opportunities come and some goals shift, the word can remain a constant figure of how to go about new situations. 

7.   Leave room for change

That said, you can still always change your word for the year. Say, at the start of the year, you went with stability as your guiding word and you met that goal in the early months, you can choose another word like enjoy. You can also change a word if you adjust your priorities and your word just doesn’t go with it. 

Happy goal-setting!