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My 2024 word of the year

Let's talk word of the year!

  • What is a word of the year?
  • Why to choose one
  • How to choose one
  • My word of the year

With bonus shire horse metaphor.

This is my second year using a word of the year. A word of the year is, at its most simple, a word you pick to act as a theme or focus for your year. You can make it as important (or not) as you like: anything from a background idea that you check in with occasionally, to your central journaling prompt for the whole year.

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole trying to find the origin of words of the year in the planner world. There's the word of the year chosen by various organisations (dictionary publishers and newspapers like to do them) but that's the opposite: a word that sums up the year that's ending, not a word for the coming year. I think the One Little Word project was probably an early example of word of the year in the planner and journal world, but whether it's the origin of the idea, I don't know.

You can also view the video version of this post.

Why choose a word of the year

Choosing a word of the year prompts reflection at three points:

  • Choosing the word: you'll probably spend some time journaling, visioning, thinking, to come up with your word.
  • Throughout the year: however you choose to integrate it into your journaling and reflection practices.
  • At the end of the year: looking back, how did you use your word? What effects did it have?

Choosing one word provides a focused starting point for reflection, and a chance to explore one topic in depth.

How to choose your word of the year

I wish I had a perfect recipe to give you, but if I'm being honest, my methods for coming up with a word of the year have been completely different this year and last.

At the end of 2022, I did a lot of reflection. I came across the OGSM goal setting method, which prompted me to really dig down to my underlying life objectives. I evenetually came up with a sort of mind map, starting from "living a good life", and expanding out from that, to create sub-objectives, and sub-objectives of those sub-objectives. I picked my word of the year for 2023, "freedom", from those objectives.

For 2024? I thought briefly about coming up with a new word, and the word popped into my brain. It felt so right, so perfect, that I decided not to overthink it or argue with it. Great intuitive living, not so good for helping other people choose . . .

If a word hasn't magically popped into your brain, try the following exercises:

Reflecting on my 2023 word of the year

Having reflected hard, and picked "freedom" as my word for 2023, I didn't do a huge amount with it. However, it did pop into my mind from time to time, especially around a big career decision. It was a helpful reminder in that moment, when my brain was overloaded with difficult decision making. It pulled me back to my true priorities.

So I'm ending 2023 feeling that word of the year is worth doing, but also that I'd like to make more use of it in 2024.

My word of the year for 2024

So what was the word that magically popped into my brain this winter?

Lightly

As soon as I thought it, something clicked. It's been a heavy few years, both good and bad: from world events (COVID, Ukraine) to major personal life changes (completing an MA, getting a diabetes diagnosis, job change, house move: all in four years). There's some really good stuff in there, but it's a lot. I have a tendency to introspect, to take things seriously. It feels like if I was a horse, I'd be one of those big hefty shire horses, steadily pulling their plough.

Photograph of two shire horses yoked to a plough

Image source

There's nothing wrong with that. That steady endurance has brought me a long way. But now that I have that foundation, perhaps I can risk an experiment in a lighter approach to life?

Lightly could mean:

  • Finding ways to get less stressed about work
  • Being more spontaneous
  • Spending less time thinking through decisions
  • Learning to both take myself less seriously and be gentler with myself

There are a few experiments I'm going to try:

  • I'm putting 'lightly' front and centre when setting up my planner. Sprouted Planner includes a small amount of prep for the year, and I'm repurposing the values & intentions section to look at ways I can bring lightness into my life.
  • Journaling prompts: I'm going to combine 'lightly' with a daily journaling exercise using images as prompts (more on this in an upcoming post and video).
  • Ensuring my days have space: whether it's getting out for a walk, or meditating, or something else. Just making sure my days aren't entirely weighed down with pulling that plough.

I'm not about to change my entire nature. I'll always be a shire horse, and I'm very ok with that. But maybe I can be a bit more like this:

Photograph of a shire horse running through a field of flowers

Image source

Wrap up

If you've used a word of the year, or are planning to try one, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Jump over the the YouTube video of this post to chat.