What is a New Year "theme word", and how to brainstorm your own

Theme words

We’re on the gateway of a new year, and many of us are considering what our resolution will be. Some of us welcome new year’s resolutions with excitement, while others become anxious thinking about all the pressure they may bring. Instead of committing to a new year’s resolution this year, I’ve decided to try something a little different: a year-long “theme” word. Essentially, instead of committing to an action or habit to define your year, you determine a word that you want to encompass your focus on for the year ahead. For 2025, my theme word will be “Wellness”. 2024’s theme was recovery, even though I didn’t explicitly commit to that, and I did well until the end of the year. The benefit of a theme word is if you slip up, you can use it as your True North to get back on target instead of feeling bad for failing.

Developing your own theme word

It took me a few tries before I realized what I wanted to pick as my theme word. I toyed with “attraction”, “success”, and several others. I decided on wellness because there is no wealth without health. Feel free to borrow my theme word, or think about the one core issue in your life you’re struggling with that needs a pick-me-up. Remember, the goal is to stress less about your theme word than you would about a resolution — so don’t spend too much time on this. You can always pick a new word next year!

Happy new year!

As always, may the force be with you. I’m looking forward to growing with you all in the year ahead. Take care, and God bless.