Do you have a word of the year?
My word of the year and winter intentions
Do you choose a word of the year? I’ve been a big fan of this practice for years, using a single word to inspire and guide me toward making positive life changes in the New Year. It always feels a bit vulnerable to share some of this but my word of the year is restore.
I love these two definitions of the word:
re·store
/rəˈstôr/
verb
return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position.
repair or renovate (a building, work of art, vehicle, etc.) so as to return it to its original condition.
I chose this word because I felt out of sorts last year. I lost myself. And while part of growing as an adult is changing, I want to get back to the things that make me who I am.
These are things I hope to guide me through the new year. They’re not exactly resolutions. These are just things that would be nice to incorporate more of to make myself happy. I used my iPhone’s Notes App to quickly type out a brain dump of little things I think will make a big difference in my daily routine. The rest of the cool girls on TikTok and IG are posting their ins/outs for the year but frankly, I don’t have enough headspace to come up with a unique list for both.
I have a separate list of S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) laid out on a Notion page by category (health, relationships, financial, lifestyle, career, home, travel, and hobbies) that I hope to check off one by one throughout the year as well. Here’s a free template if you want to try out this idea.
Last year to keep myself from falling into a winter slump, I challenged myself to do one extra thing every night. It could be as small as taking five minutes to clean off a surface I usually would have ignored before bed or as involved as hanging a picture that’s still propped up against the wall after three months. This practice made me feel accomplished and I’m bringing it back this year. I keep a running list of ideas in my reminders app on my iPhone called New Year To-Dos.
This mind map challenge from
is something new I want to try out in 2025, especially as I dive deeper into restoring my interests and hobbies this year. I’m also intrigued by the idea of junk journaling and plan to keep up my monthly mood boards on Pinterest.
What about you? Have you set any goals or intentions for the New Year? What’s your word?
Leaving you with a song that always seems to keep me motivated.
Let’s get after those dreams!
Elsewhere on the Internet: Goodreads / Storygraph / Pinterest
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My word is scrimshaw. It has shown up everywhere lately. I still don't exactly understand it but I can't seem to get away from it.🤪😳
Love this! I started picking a word for the year because of my job. This year in particular I did set some goals because it felt necessary with my word (attention, I want to be intentional about where I put that attention), but I've found that using a word instead of making resolutions works out so much better for me: working in a general direction instead of feeling failure if I don't meet a specific set of goals.