Have you been wondering, “How do I choose a Word of the Year?” Maybe you’ve seen others picking a word of the year, and it looked fun. Perhaps you’re already familiar with the concept, but you want some helping choosing the best personal word of the year for you? Either way, I’ve got you! In this post, I’ll share How to Choose a Word of the Year 2025 in 5 easy steps.
Before we cover how to choose a word of the year, let’s talk about what it even is. Or scroll below for the how-to steps if you want to jump straight into action.
What Is a “Word of the Year”?
To me, a “Word of the Year” is a single word (or super short phrase) that represents something you want to embody in a given year.
I also like to think of a Word of the Year as your highest level intention for the year ahead.
A Word of the Year is something that generally drives all of your intentions, goals, plans, and actions for that year.
How to Use a Word of the Year (To Live Your Dream Life!)
There are many great ways to use a Word of the Year. Understanding how to use a Word of the Year can help you with actually choosing a word of the year!
Here are three of my favorite ways to use a word of the year:
- For high level guidance / direction
- To help with alignment
- As an easy reminder to help you stay on track
These are basically all ways to crush your goals and ultimately live your dream life!
Let’s go into a little more detail on each way…
#1 Use: For High Level Guidance / Direction
I like to use my Word of the Year the same way I use intentions. To me, intentions are more general directions while goals are super specific and detailed. (They don’t call them “SMART Goals” for nothing!)
Examples:
- Intention: I want to travel more.
- Goal: I will book an international trip by the end of Q1 2025.
And a Word of the Year is your highest level intention that everything else should generally align to.
So if you do want to travel more and your word of the year is “bold” (like my 2025 word of the year), then you may want to ask yourself how you can travel more *and* be bold?
To align your year to your word of the year, that might mean:
- Going somewhere that is more adventurous than what you’d normally pick.
- Stepping into the energy of making a bold decision about a travel opportunity when you’d normally drag it out and overthink it.
- Planning a bold challenge you want to do while you’re on your trip, like doing something that scares you such as singing karaoke or going on a roller coaster.
So you can see that you’re simply aligning the actions, plans, etc. that you’re doing to your word of the year.
Speaking of alignment…
#2 Use: To Help with Alignment
Whilst I don’t think you need to align every single intention, goal, or plan to your Word of the Year, it can be a helpful thing to check in with as you do your planning from the new year throughout the rest of the year.
So when you’re exploring an opportunity or figuring out plans to execute a goal, you can ask yourself if it aligns with your Word of the Year.
Does this goal, intention, or action align to my word of the year?
For example, I could ask myself:
- Will trip option #1 be bold or would option #2 be a better “bold adventure”?
- Will launching my coaching program be bold or would re-launching my YouTube channel be bold? Or would both be aligned to being bold in 2025?
And again, not ALL of your goals, intentions, and/or actions *have* to align to your word of the year. But it can be fun to play with how they *can* align to your word of the year.
#3 Use: As an Easy Reminder to Help You Stay on Track
As a big fan of planning new year goals, resolutions, intentions, etc., one thing I’ve noticed that happens almost every year is losing sight of your original vision for the year ahead.
Life is crazy!
It’s SO easy to get caught up in our everyday challenges, stress, and necessities that we can start reacting to how life is working out instead of deciding how we truly want it to go.
We can easily lose sight of the way we actually wanted our year to go.
My example of getting off track:
- Last year (in 2024) I wanted to get my health back on track and rebuild my strength.
- And while I did mostly achieve that, I also let myself get caught up in overwhelming levels of overwork.
- Which led to high stress levels.
- And in a way, that behavior that was not really aligned to being healthy.
Even though I was consistent with my workouts, and I did build a lot of strength, I ended the year feeling physically strong but also burned out.
I wonder if checking in better with my 2024 goals and intentions would have helped? While I can’t change how 2024 went, I can be more intentional going forward in 2025.
How to Choose a Word of the Year 2025 (5 Easy Steps)
Here’s how I like to choose a word of the year!
Note: If you do new year goal and intention setting, you’ll probably already do steps #1 and #2. If so, you can skip to #3.
- Review: look back on your past year / consider your current state
- Ideate: brainstorm what changes / new energy you want to bring into your life
- Evaluate: notice any overarching themes across your review and ideation notes
- List: make a list of potential word of the year ideas for you
- Choose: review your list and choose your word
Let’s break this down step by step.
Note: If this section looks overwhelming, I have something for you. As a personal development geek, I LOVE diving deep into choosing a word of the year. But I get that sometimes you want something less involved. If this is you, scroll to the next section for a quick and easy *alternate* way to choose your word of the year.
Step #1: Review
Use your favorite review method to understand your recent past and current state. You can go as deep on this as you want. About 5-20 minutes should be enough time for this step.
Review Method Options:
(Use some or all)
- Use some (or all) of my 100 Best New Year Journal Prompts.
- Talk about what’s working and not working in life now with a loved one.
- Journal, think about, talk about, or otherwise consider what went well and not so well in the last year.
When you know where you’ve been and where you are now, it’s easier to know where you want to go.
Step #2: Ideate
Use your review to start thinking about where you want to go in life next. It’s time to create a vision for your dream life new year. Plan to spend about 5-20 minutes on this unless you really want to go wild on this step and go longer.
Ideate Method Options:
(Use some or all)
- Use some (or all) of my 100 Best New Year Journal Prompts.
- Based on your highs and lows of last year, think about what you would like to be different in the year ahead.
- Journal, discuss, or simply ask yourself: What does my dream life look like? What does the highest version of me look like? How can I embody her? What do I need to do to get there?
- Set your New Year Goals, Resolutions, and / or Intentions.
Next we’ll evaluate your ideas.
Step #3: Evaluate
Evaluate your ideas for your big, bright new year ahead. Start thinking if there’s a word of the year that thematically aligns to your ideas.
Evaluate Method Options:
(Use some or all)
- Review your journal entries or reflect back on conversations you’ve had about your New Year dream life. What patterns and themes do you notice?
- Ask yourself if your new year is about action, rest, clarity, etc.
- Review a list of Word of the Year Ideas & Examples and see if any align to your dream new year.
Next we’ll make a short list of Word of the Year favorites.
Step #4: List
Make a list of your favorite word of the year options.
- These can be words that have just come to your mind, words from a Word of the Year Ideas list (like my list here) that jumped out at you, or any other words you love right now.
- At this point, I find it helpful to do less *thinking* and do more *tuning into your intuition*. What words *feel* good? Write them down.
- This is the fun brainstorm part. Just write stuff down. Release the need to get it right or even get it perfect.
- You can write down as many faves as you have. I like to aim for about 5-8 so I have some strong options without overwhelming myself.
The choosing part comes next!
Step #5: Choose
Here is where the magic happens! Call it getting woo woo or tuning into your intuition, but this is where you’ll select your word of the year!
You’ll want to review your list of favorite word of the year options and pick the BEST one that is most suited *for you*. Don’t pick the trendy word. Pick the one most meaningful to your dream life vision.
Ways to Choose Your Word of the Year:
(Use some or all of these methods)
- As you review your short list of favorite options, some words will start to look meh. Go ahead and scratch those out. You’ll feel super connected to the best word for you.
- Look up the definitions of your favorite words. Sometimes the word doesn’t mean what you think. (This has happened to me many times before.) And sometimes the obvious and even subtle differences in the meaning of each word will help you choose the one that BEST represents the energy, vibe, and actions you want to cultivate in the new year.
- Also use word synonyms and antonyms to help tune into which one is vibing with you most.
- Meditate and ask for your word of the year to be revealed to you.
- Ask yourself if any words align better than the others to more of your goals, resolutions and / or intentions.
- Notice if any words make you feel better, happier, more excited as you read through your options.
- Circle your favorite on your short list. Or write it down in your journal, planner, or even on a sticky note you put on the mirror.
Usually my word of the year starts to jump out at me at this point! Hopefully this is happening for you too!
Remember, your word of the year isn’t that serious. Just pick your favorite and have FUN with the process. Use my free journal prompts below to help you organize your thoughts.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can try the next alternate method for something that is less analytical and more intuitive.
Lastly, you can always change your word mid-year. It’s your life so you get to make the rules!
Alternate Method: Quick and Easy Way to Choose Your Word of the Year
If you want a fast and simple way to choose your word of the year, this section is for you. Here’s how you can choose a word of the year in a streamlined, more intuitive way:
- Get a list of Word of the Year Ideas
- Read through the list and circle / write down any that call to you
- Review your list of favorites and choose the one you resonate with most
That’s it! Easy peasy!
20+ Word of the Year 2025 Journal Prompts
Here are some journal prompts to help you figure out how to choose a word of the year 2025. These are basically a summarization of the steps above, so read those sections for additional pointers and tips.
- Review your last year:
- What went well?
- What did not go so well?
- What do you wish you did less or more of last year?
- What did you learn last year?
- Ideate your new year:
- Based on what you experienced last year, what would you like to be different in the new year?
- What would make this year your best year yet?
- What does the highest version of you look like? What actions do you need to take to achieve your dream life?
- How does the highest version of you look, talk, and act and how can you embody that in the new year?
- What are your New Year Goals, Intentions, and / or Resolutions?
- Evaluate your new year dreams:
- What patterns and themes do you see in your dream life vision?
- If you review a list of Word of the Year ideas, do any words jump out at you?
- Make a short list:
- Using a list of Word of the Year ideas or any words that simply come to mind, make a short list of your favorite word of the year options (5-8 is great, but list as many or few as you prefer).
- Which words are most related to the patterns and themes you identified earlier?
- Choose your word of the year:
- Scratch through any words that you don’t feel as strongly about as you re-read them.
- Write down definitions for the words left. Include synonyms and antonyms.
- Note if any definitions (including synonyms and antonyms) make you resonate more strongly with particular words.
- Review your short list.
- Which one jumps out to you most powerfully?
- Use your gut, intuition, and energy to pick your word of the year, and circle it!
And now you have it! Your official word of the year. Congrats!
My Word of the Year Over the Years
I’ll be adding my Word of the Year over the years here in case you’re curious what I’ve selected (and why!). Or if you simply want to see some examples.
Want more Word of the Year Ideas – click here!
More New Year Blog Posts to Love
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Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out my blog post How to Choose a Word of the Year 2025 (In 5 Easy Steps). I hope you found some useful tips to help you pick the best word for you in 2025!
Do you have any tips to help The Chic Life community choose their word of the year? Drop them in a comment below, and let’s support each other with having our best year yet!