If you’re anything like me, it’s January 1st (or 6th, keeping it real) of a new year and you still haven’t chosen a word for the year. So trust me, I know the feeling. I’ve been telling myself that I need a word of the year, yet here I am still without one. But don’t worry – that changes today!

In this post, I’m going to share with you my tips on picking a word for this year if you haven’t already. But before I do, I want you to know that you can literally change your word whenever you want. You aren’t tied to it. It’s not marriage!

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What’s the purpose of choosing a word for the year?

Your word for the year should guide your daily actions and help you show up as the person you wish to become. This is why you shouldn’t just pick a random word for the sake of picking it.

Instead, your word should come from a place of reflection and be intentionally chosen so that you can remind yourself of the direction you want to go in this year. With that said – let’s dive into how you can pick your word of the year!

Tips to Help You Choose Your Word for the Year

Before you dive into these tips, I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t recommend that you grab a journal and pen/pencil before you get started! Alright, without further ado – here are my tips to help you choose a word:

• Reflect on the past year or even years. How do you feel about them? Did you have goals for yourself? Were you consistent with them? What things held you back? These are all some of the many questions you can ask yourself to get a feel for how the past few years have been for you and what you weren’t happy about. 
• Visualize your future. Now that you’ve thought about the past, what would you like to see change in the future? What do you want to prioritize more? How do you want to feel this year? Once you ask yourself these questions, you’ll have a better understanding of what you’d like to see different this time around.

Related: How to Cast a Vision for Your Life

• Create a list of words. Based on your first two steps (reflecting and visualizing), what words come to mind? What feelings did you repeatedly mention? I even encourage you to look through inspirational quotes on Pinterest to get a feel for what things spark a fire in you!
• Review & refine. Once you have a list, you want to review it to see if there are any common themes. Ask yourself if there’s any words that are related and can be combined into just one word! Then, I recommend that you circle 3 words that catch your attention more than any of the others. Then of course…narrow it down to one!

Word of the Year Ideas

Need some inspiration before you pick your word? I hear you, friend! Check out the list I created below!

• Abundance
• Aligned
• Intentional
• Challenge
• Discomfort
• Committed
• Balance
• Passion
• Humility
• Conquer
• Fearless
• Resilient
• Action
• Acceptance
• Ambition
• Anchor
• Confidence
• Faith
• Creative
• Cultivate
• Learn
• Inspire
• Determination
• Stillness
• Courage
• Flow
• Thoughtful
• Thrive

Want more ideas? Check out this list of 200 ideas!

My Word of the Year

I’ll be honest…I have more than one word for 2022. It’s a phrase – imperfect action. If you’ve listened to my podcast, or even read several of my blog posts, then you’ll know that I’ve struggled with perfectionism for my entire life. I want to do things “perfect” the first time around. But I’ve realized that waiting till things are perfect means that you’ll be waiting forever because realistically it’ll never be perfect, right? 

Final Thoughts

Remember – you don’t need to pick your word by January 1st. You have time. And you can even choose to change your word in 6 months, 3 months, or whenever really!

I encourage you to remind yourself of your word regularly by having it on your phone or vision board. Any place that you look at regularly.