How to Select your Powerful Word of the Year for a Better 2023

It’s a New Year, and with that comes all the pressure to make resolutions. This year, instead of making resolutions, which are often focused on “shoulds” and can feel defeating even before starting, I’m going to spend time thinking about the past and future and then select a powerful Word of the Year for a better 2023.

What is a Powerful Word of the Year?

You may have heard of the “Word of the Year” movement (http://myoneword.org/pick-your-word/). The concept is great – instead of focusing on a list of must-dos that are often forgotten by Feb 1st, you decide on one word that will act as a guide throughout the year. By selecting one word, you will have created a theme for the year. That theme will help you focus on your priorities, provide clarity and be a guide when making decisions to align with your overall goals. For example, when I’m deciding whether or not to do something or struggling to make a decision, I will think about which choice best aligns with my powerful word of the year.

My Powerful Word of the Year for a Better 2023

I initially struggled in picking my word this year as I have so many things I want to focus on. After realizing I was stressing myself out over having to pick just one word I decided to have several words (and that is ok if that is where you are too). However, I realized that most of my most important goals for the year are related to just one topic – Wellness. So that’s my Powerful Word of the Year for a Better 2023. I’m excited that I have a theme to focus my activities and decision making.

4 Steps to find your Powerful Word of the Year for a Better 2023

Schedule time on your calendar to have quiet “me” time to work through these 4 steps.  It’s ok to take a break and come back to review your thoughts at a later time – it helps to let your ideas percolate for a while. It took me several weeks to finalize my word.  Another great idea is to discuss ideas with your friends.  That conversation may spark ideas, I know it did with me.  

STEP 1 Envision Your Best Year

Spend quiet time reviewing your past year and what you want this new year to look like, to feel like. What is important for you to focus on this year to be able to live your best life?  Start a list of words that inspire and motivate you when you think about your best year.  There is a list of powerful, inspiring words below that you can also use. I also recommend meditating or sitting in silence for a couple minutes and asking yourself “What word do I want to focus on in 2023?”. This is simple but effective.

STEP 2 Circle a few Words

Review your list of inspiring words (or use the list provided below) and circle a few that resonate with you.  If you are anything like me, this process took some time because there were so many words that resonated with me.  So I started with a longer list and took the time to narrow it down to just a few.  That’s when it’s time to move on to the next step. Think about the words, try them on and see what feels right. No need to over analyze this process, trust your gut instead. Gently review your list and let the words pick you.

STEP 3 Pick Your Word

Spend time thinking about each word and what it means to you. Does it represent how you want to live your life, how you want to feel this year? Does it support your vision for your best life this year? For each word that resonates, feel it out – does it inspire you?  Is the word motivating to you? Does it have a feeling that seems right for you?  How does it feel – will it support you in making progress on some important goals for the year? Your word should be more about the feeling it evokes than the meaning of the word.

STEP 4 Use Your Word

Now that you have that powerful word of the year for a better 2023 it’s time to use it.  Don’t store it away in a drawer or it will lose its power.  Share your word with friends. Make something creative – write it out in color, pick some images that represent it, make a Pinterest board, write it on post-its.  Write it in your journal. 

Use your word to envision your year.  Start and end your mediation with your word.  Most importantly, when you are unsure of which way to go, which decision to make, gently pull your word forward and feel how each path fits. It will help guide you toward the path that will best point you towards your transformation.

Here’s a fun activity to help you find your word.  I created a word cloud using a free site.  You can create a list in excel or type the words directly into the site and it will create the word cloud for you.  Include a list of all the words that resonate with you…you can also give more weight to those that feel more powerful to you. You can search for free word cloud or here is one site that works well:  https://www.freewordcloudgenerator.com/generatewordcloud

Inspiring and Powerful Words of the Year

Abundance

Achieve

Action

Adventure

Align

Appreciate

Ascend

Authentic

Balance

Be

Beauty

Become

Belong

Better

Bliss

Bloom

Bold

Breathe

Calm

Centered

Challenge

Change

Commitment

Compassion

Confidence

Connect

Creativity

Discipline

Dream

Ease

Embrace

Energy

Enlighten

Expansion

Faith

Family

Flourish

Flow

Focus

Forgiveness

Freedom

Friendship

Glow

Giving

Grace

Gratitude

Honesty

Hope

Humility

Integrity

Intentional

Intuition

Journey

Joy

Love

Mindful

Nourish

Nurture

Organize

Passion

Peace

Permission

Persistance

Play

Present

Progress

Radiant

Recovery

Relationships

Release

Reset

Resolute

Rise

Surrender

Shine

Simplicity

Stillness

Strength

Tranquility

Wonder

Zen

Now that you know how powerful one word can be, I hope you use this post to find your own powerful word to guide and inspire you throughout the year.  Let me know what your word is in the comments below – it’s fun to see and share.