my word for 2025
plus: the books to help me work toward it
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For a long time, I was a resolutions person. I like a list with what I want to accomplish in the year. Over time, and especially more recently, these lists ended up becoming a very long, very overwhelming To Do list. It didn’t inspire. It exhausted.
I still like the idea of resolutions (or whatever you want to call them) and I definitely still make lists (lots of them). There are also things, though, that I want—no, need—to do better in my life (like rest, to name one). But instead of a loooong list, I needed something to center it. To center me.
Years ago, I decided to focus on a word. Now, I have an annual single-word mantra, if you will. A word North Star to guide me when I’m feeling a little lost or too in the trees of life. A word to remind me what I desired for myself when I had taken the time to do some reflecting and pondering. When I had a little more downtime and separation from the chaos of work and life and writing.
I’m especially excited about 2025’s word because it captures so many areas of my life. It’s visual and metaphorical. It represents how I want to feel throughout the year, and definitely by the end of it.
But, there’s hard work ahead for me to live up to this word. For me to accomplish how I want to feel. Seriously, a big shift is required. I did get a head start this month so it wouldn’t be like plunging into ice cold water on January 1 (time is a construct anyways), but I know the days won’t always be as slow as they tend to be at year end. When life comes at me at full force in just a few days, what’s going to stick from what I’ve gained these past couple of weeks?
In this post, I’m covering:
My 2025 word of the year
How I define it
Where the change needs to happen
Books to help me get there