Choosing a "One Little Word" for 2025 - a few tips

[angiekey]

There was a conversation here on the board (https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100030) about whether anyone was doing a "one little word" for 2025. After a multi-day process, I finally chose mine, and I thought I'd share in case anyone else is having trouble choosing a word this year.

If you're not familiar with the One Little Word project, it's something Ali Edwards popularized nearly two decades ago (starting in 2007, which doesn't feel like 18 years ago, but...). The idea is rather than new year's resolutions, you choose a word that will be your word for the year, sort of your theme, where it can embody what you want to do or focus on in the next 12 months.

I did OLW every year from 2008-2015. Then my health got really bad, and I wasn't working outside the house any more, and I stopped focusing on anything more than a day in the future. I tried it again in 2019, but then finally picked it back up again in 2023.

I was struggling with what word to choose for this year. In case you're in the same boat I was, here's what I did to work through it.

First, I reviewed the words I'd chosen in the past. Reading through the list reminded me which words worked and which kind of fizzled out. It kind of put me back in the mindset of what OLW means.

My words, by the way, have been: balance (2008), invest (2009), health (2010), listen (2011), resolve (2012), vital (2013), motion (2014), cultivate (2015), awake (2019), momentum (2023), and transform (2024).

I realized two things:

• I've done better in the years when my word is a verb - an action word - than when it's a noun or adjective.
• I've done best when the word can apply to multiple dimensions of my life.

So I made a list of the dimensions of my life I'd like to affect with my word this year: my health, my relationships, my faith, my home, and my hobbies.

Next, I read through several of the lists of One Little Words over on Ali's blog. Most years, she compiles a list of all the words her class participants and blog respondents have chosen. I made note of any words that jumped out at me and really resonated with me. Literally. I made a list of them.

Then, I read through the list I'd made and looked for recurring themes. I compared the words to the "dimensions of my life I want to impact" list and some fit all of them, while others only fit one or two. This helped me narrow it down to just a handful of words.

Then I looked up definitions of each of the words I was considering. Dictionary.com makes that easy. You think you know what a word means, but reading its precise definition - especially when there are multiple uses of the word, each with their own definition - can help.

Next, I looked up synonyms for the words I was considering. Again, Thesaurus.com makes this easy. Once in a while, one of the words on a synonym list will jump out and make itself known. For example, I was looking up the word persistence; one of its synonyms, perseverance, jumped out at me - so I looked up its definition, and it turns out it's a better fit for me than persistence.

And finally, I looked up quotations that include the word. Go to BrainyQuote.com, type in your word, and you'll get pages and pages of quotations that include your word.

I had narrowed my choices down to two words: persistence and cultivate. I used "cultivate" to great success in 2015, and had the thought that it might be cool to re-use the word now, 10 years later, and chronicle how it's the same as the first time I used it, and also how it hits me differently at this time in my life. And I was really leaning towards "cultivate" until I started making a list of quotes.

It turns out that perseverance or persevere is such an incredibly good fit for what I want to do with 2025 that I just had to choose it. Perseverance in my health, my relationships, my faith, my home, and my hobbies ... it fits all of them. And these quotes really ran it home for me:

• Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other. - Walter Elliot
• Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained. - Marie Curie
• Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. - Newt Gingrich
• Perseverance, secret of all triumphs. - Victor Hugo
• Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spire of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities. It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. - Thomas Carlyle
• I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature. - John D. Rockefeller
• Adversity and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless. - Scott Hamilton

So, there you go - if you're having trouble choosing a word, give these steps a try and see if it helps you hone in on the right one for you. And if you do choose a word, hit reply and let us know - I'd love for us to check in several times throughout the year to see how everyone's doing with honoring, pursuing, or living with their One Little Word.

 

[karlimarie]

Love seeing your process! Thanks so much for sharing.

I have a similar approach of brainstorming and narrowing down. I also like using a word that encompasses different aspects of my life. I haven't compiled a list of previous words in a while, I am going to do that today and do a little evaluation on how each word served me.

I love your insight about using verbs vs. nouns & adjectives. I have found that in the years that I prominently display my word and find ways to incorporate it into my life that it has more impact. For instance, one year I had a stamped metal bracelet made which kept the word close to me. I enjoy scrapping my word, but I find that the years when I make a PHYSICAL collage or scrap page it helps me to embody the word more.

Another thing that helped me tremendously in the past is a program called Holiday Council hosted by Molly Mahar at Stratejoy. It's a course with live calls and a workbook that takes place over three weeks in either November or December. The first week is a review and closure of the current year. The second week is creating big dreams for the year ahead- finding your theme word and five ways of being. The third week is setting down an full on game plan to achieve your goals. It's a little woo woo at times, but I really loved the feeling of unity that came with a group of women coming together with intentionality. Anyway, I haven't done the program in a few years since they raised the price and I have regretted it every time. I really need to find a way to set aside some money for myself at the end of this year and splurge because it's probably been the thing that's helped me most to move forward and achieve my goals one step at a time.

When I first started using a guiding word I found that around November/December a word would just start popping out at me. Like the word found me and not the other way around. But my world has gotten smaller over the past few years as I had children and became a stay at home Mom and the words that would pop out at me on the way to work or out the drinks with friends apparently have a harder time finding me holed up at home.

It's been so much harder to find and connect with the words that I have to seek out as opposed to the words that feel like they've come from within - but now, when I'm about to start a new chapter of my life and feeling a little aimless, I feel like I need that focused word more that ever. Not sure that there's a solution except to keep trying and accept that this is just the season that I'm in.

Thanks again! This was super helpful.

 

[TraceyM]

Wow. Serious process. Maybe a serious process would actually keep me remembering I even have a word. Maybe I will try again.

 

[AmieN1]

I do choose a word- but I don't necessarily live/die by it. Last year my word was No. I did pretty good at saying no and not over extending myself, did less people-pleasing and have made better habits of making boundaries for myself. It wasn't a no in the negative sense, just a way to encourage better habits for myself.

This year I'm flipping it- and my word is YES. Yes to doing things that scare me, Yes to making myself more of a priority and YES to doing whatever makes me happy

 

[CarlaW]

I loved reading this through. Thank you for posting. I have chosen Faithful or Faithfulness as my word for 2025.

 

[Kimberly27]

I used Magnify the last two years I used Magnify

This year I am focusing on the word Healing...healing my heart from loss, my health (started a work out routine with a trainer), healing my mind (more reading, more bible study focus), healing my body (learning to rest and say no)