My Top 2 Tips for a Fabulous 2025!

It's a New Year with new challenges and opportunities. Here is how I approach each new year to be ready for both.

Happy New Year!

Every personality type is different, but I already feel behind in my 2025 planning (AND I am writing this on 12/31/24). I must remind myself there is no timeline for starting the New Year. It’s not too late to plan to make 2025 an incredible year.

This means it’s not too late for you either!

This post reveals my top two ways to start a fabulous New Year today. For some of you, these suggestions won’t surprise you. Others may have already guessed one but may be surprised by the second. A handful of you will be in the dark about both of them, so I ask you to read carefully.

These two practices have shaped my life over the last 15-20 years, and each year, I re-evaluate both my Bible Reading and my Word of the Year. Let’s get started!

1. Finding the Perfect Bible Plan

I have a confession to make.

I graduated college with a Christian Education degree with one purpose: becoming a Children’s Pastor. So, I’ve worked in professional Christian ministry for most of my adult life. However, it wasn’t until I was in my late 30s (and not working in ministry) that I found a personal devotional practice.

To be clear, I was a pastor who didn’t regularly read the Bible, pray, or meditate outside of study for my job.

That’s an embarrassing confession.

One thing that helped change this is the YouVersion Bible app. I bought my first iPhone in 2009 or 2010, and one of the first apps I downloaded was the YouVersion app.¹ After downloading the app, I began exploring it and found various Bible-reading plans. Some were short, just a few days long, and included devotional writing and a selection of Scripture to read. Others were designed to read the entire Bible in a few months, a year, or longer. Today, thousands of different reading plans are available on this app.

I rekindled my devotion to God’s Word in the early days of digital devices. The variety of reading plans and the ability to digitally click through and see my progress helped me begin rereading the Bible.

Fast-forward to the present, I begin each year by choosing one or more of these plans to read throughout the year. I alternate between reading “The Entire Bible in a Year” and multiple different plans that take me through parts of the Bible. There is no right way to do it, but your goal should be to read regularly (4-7 days a week).

There is also no right way to read the Bible. I read it on an iPad Mini with the YouVersion Bible app, which I pair with a journal app to take notes. However, you may not like the feel of a digital device as you read. Recently, there has been a return to reading physical books. My kids like to read physical Bibles and underline and highlight passages. Use what works best for you.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Great Bible Reading Plans

If you choose a digital plan via YouVersion, here are a few year-long Bible plans I suggest:

• The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel
  I have read through this plan multiple times over the past few years. Each day includes Scripture reading (one Psalm or Proverb, one Old, and one New Testament reading) alongside commentary and practical insights from Nicky and Pippa.

• The Bible Recap with Tara-Leigh Cobble
  I’ve never done this reading plan, but it is on my list. This is a 365-day chronological plan designed to help you read, understand, and love the Bible! Each day has about three chapters of Bible reading and a 10-15 minute explanation video from Tara-Leigh.

• One Story that Leads to Jesus
  The Bible Project is a favorite research resource, so I’m always excited to use their materials. This plan incorporates over 150 animated videos to engage you in the Bible’s brilliant literary design and flow of thought. It is designed to help you experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus.

• The Whole Bible in Under 2 Years
  I began this plan in January of 2024. It is smaller chunks of Scripture each day, allowing me to read through the Bible along with other shorter devotions simultaneously. It is strictly Bible reading (no daily devotionals) and is only six days a week of reading.

If you are looking for shorter plans, here are a few I’ve enjoyed over the past couple of years:

• Numbers Explained
  This plan slowly walks you through the Book of Numbers, which is not always easy to understand on our own. It is one chapter of reading each day and a 10-minute teaching (audio file). This plan is one of three, and this organization has several other studies on other books of the Bible.

• The Jesus Bible
  This year-long plan includes only tiny portions of Scripture daily, so it will not take you through the entire Bible. It outlines how the person of Jesus weaved through every part of the Scripture — Old Testament and New Testament. It’s a great way to understand how the Bible fits together and how Jesus is the central character.

• The Bible Project | Shema
  While the whole Bible (or books of the Bible) plans are great, the Bible Project's studies on specific topics and themes in the Bible may be the highlight. This study is on the “Shema,” a prayer prayed by the Jewish people for thousands of years.

• Learning to Be Content
  My 2024 Word of the Year was CONTENT. This plan led me through three meditations focused on different aspects of CONTENT. Each meditation took about 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted time, which can be hard to find, but it was a highlight of this past year.

My first suggestion for growth in 2025 is committing to Scripture, the Word of God. Those are just a few of the plans I’ve read over the last few years, so I encourage you to search the YouVersion plans or even Amazon.com.

I challenge you to begin or continue making God’s Word a central part of your growth plan in 2025. However, I’ve found another key component for learning more about myself, the world, and those around me.

Do you have a Word of the Year?

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2. Choose a Word of the Year

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

If you regularly read this Substack, this bit of wisdom should be no surprise. Below, I’ve linked last year’s posts on what a Word of the Year is, how to choose a Word of the Year, and how to grow from a Word of the Year. The what and how is essential, but sell you with the WHY.

My Word of the Year Journey

2011 was a dark place for me. I had just left a family business, and I don’t know if there ever is a clean departure from a family business. My wife remained in a different family business and was also in a rocky spot (she would exit shortly after). This left a once rock-solid family connection crumbling under our feet.

At the time, I felt trapped; I was stuck between two worlds — what had been and what was to come (and I had no idea what was next). In January, my wife went to coffee with a longtime friend, and she returned home to tell me about a project they would enter together…the Word of the Year, and she invited me to join her. Typically, I let these suggestions go in one ear and out the other. Something pushed me to join her, and without much thought, I chose the word FREEDOM.

One word changed my life.

That phrase is used too often, but my 2011 Word of the Year did change my life. My choice set me on a course to finding freedom for myself, my marriage, and my family. It taught me to make hard decisions and to take responsibility for my thoughts and feelings. I saw what freedom meant.

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Now, Choose Your Word.

This year, I entered into my fifteenth year of this project. Here is a list of the words I chose each year:

2011 - Freedom
2012 - Risk
2013 - Transform
2014 - Vision
2015 - Attack
2016 - Bold
2017 - Restore
2018 - Create
2019 - Courage
2020 - Next
2021 - Stride
2022 - Bravery
2023 - Peace
2024 - Content
2025 - ??

As I look over this list, some years have been profound and fruitful, but others only mediocre. This spurred me to hone in on what it takes to make your Word of the Year project successful. Read these articles to help you understand, choose, and grow from a Word of the Year.²

1. This is Not Just Another New Year’s Resolution.

2. How to Choose a Word of the Year.

3. How to Grow from Your Word of the Year.

4. When You Hear God About Your Word…Will You Obey?

5. How to Endure with Your Word All Year Long.

I’m sure you noticed I didn’t list a 2025 Word yet. I plan to share that next week, along with a short recap of what I’ve taken away from my 2024 Word of the Year: CONTENT.

Until then, I challenge you to read the what and how of Word of the Year. In addition to the links above, I’ve combined these articles and a few other helpful tips into a single PDF document. Feel free to download that HERE.

1. YouVersion was one of the first 200 apps created for the iPhone App Store in 2008. Since then, it has been downloaded 800 million times in over 1000 languages.

2. I’ve combined these articles and a few other helpful tips into a single PDF document. Feel free to download that HERE.