THE Reason Why Word of the Year Works
After 15 years of practice it finally hit me why the Word of the Year works. It's so simple and so difficult at the same time. All the best things are.
Last week, I promised you two things in this week’s post:
A short recap of what I gained from my 2024 Word of the Year
The unveiling of my 2025 Word of the Year (and WHY it works).
2024: A Year of Being CONTENT
Let’s begin with a recap of 2024. Last year, I chose the word CONTENT (as in contentment). Here is what I wrote in my journal to close out the year:
When I look back on this year of CONTENT, I think about the productivity of my year.
I wrote 52+ times on my Substack page.
I wrote an Advent devotional.
I spoke at SYNC, Park City, Bridgeway, and CPC (groups large and small).
I created a Word of the Year PDF.
I met with dozens of people one on one.
Content is not lazy. Content is satisfied with the results as they come on their own. I am the master of what, when, and how I create. I cannot control what people think or how they respond to my creation.
I must be CONTENT.
I am not complacent. I continue to think and move forward. I continue to work hard. I continue to pour my life out, and then I am satisfied with how the results flow.
This is also true of my relationships at home, church, and in all areas of my life. I work to pour in, cultivate, and even ask back from them, but then I am satisfied with who they are. They may not meet my expectations, but I will be CONTENT with their choices.
CONTENT is a form of agency. I will only be CONTENT with that which I can control.
What was your 2024?
If you were to recap your 2024, how would it read?
This exercise was so healthy for me then and now as I look back on it. I encourage you to take some time to do the same for your past year — whether you had a Word of the Year or not.
This leads me to my 2025 Word of the Year…
2025: A Year of KNOWLEDGE
As a reminder, here are my words for each of the last 15 years:
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 - KNOWLEDGE
That’s right, my Word of the Year is KNOWLEDGE.
I was influenced by what I read at the year's end — the Psalms and Proverbs. Two passages, in particular, I couldn’t get out of my head as I closed 2024 and entered into 2025:
The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing,
but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness. -Proverbs 15:2
Apply your heart to instruction
and your ears to words of knowledge. -Proverbs 23:12
KNOWLEDGE is used 29 times in the Book of Proverbs alone (New Living Translation). There is both natural and supernatural knowledge, and both are from God. But choosing the word KNOWLEDGE alone is not” alone is not enough to change me.
Start with WHY
This marks the 15th year I’ve participated in the Word of the Year project. I’ve shared before how this ritual changed my life. That’s a dramatic statement, but it pulled me out of a pit. At this time last year, I shared a few practical posts on choosing a Word of the Year and growing from your Word of the Year.
I haven’t shared WHY the Word of the Year works. When I boil down the power of the Word of the Year into one idea, I find…intentionality.
Living an intentional life is not natural. The most common approach is to allow life to happen to us, even if this isn’t how your life started. You may have intentionally chosen a college, a major, a career path, a mate, a family, or a home, but at some point, you slipped into letting life happen.
That was my story. I believed I was powerless to change my situation. However, choosing a word (FREEDOM in 2011) pointed me back to reality—I have control over myself. Many things are out of my control, but I can change my thoughts, words, actions, and attitudes.
I’ve also found that the most impactful years were those in which I intentionally practiced actions that led to learning and growth throughout the year. This means starting strong and continuing to build throughout the year.
To grow from my word, I must dig deeper into how I see KNOWLEDGE transforming me. This year, I’ve used two brainstorming activities to kick-start my year of KNOWLEDGE.
1. Actions
This is an easy next step to move yourself forward. You want to ask yourself two questions and write down your answers:
What practical steps must you take to see more of your word this year?
What will your life look like if you fully incorporate your word into your life?
As I asked myself these questions around KNOWLEDGE, my answers became a list of goals. Here are a few of them:
Read 15+ non-fiction books.
Research Spiritual Formation.
Learn how to screen print half-tones.
Take a Master Class on how to write a book.
Last year, my word was CONTENT, and my answers were less concrete or goal-oriented. A few things on my list were:
Learn to be patient.
Look to God, not Egypt.
Balance working hard and trusting in God.
Combat greed.
Over the years, I’ve learned that the list will morph and change throughout the year, creating a launching point. Now, you can take another step to help visualize your word: More + Less.
2. More + Less (Hello/Goodbye)
My wife sent me a handful of ways she is working through her Word of the Year, along with some resources she is using. More + Less and Hello/Goodbye are similar ideas that can help you develop concrete ways to express your Word of the Year.
In their podcast, Lead Stories, Jo Paxton and Pastor Steph O’Brien share an annual evaluation called Hello/Goodbye. The concept is simple: What do you want to say hello to in 2025, and to see this, what do you need to say goodbye to? In this podcast, they specifically mention the Word of the Year, which they think is excellent, but they make the point that to see that word take root, there must be things that are let go. You can go as deep as you want with the Hello/Goodbye resources — a free series of podcasts, a $5 download kit, an in-person class, and even a retreat experience.
A Substack post by Wendy MacNaughton is closely related to the Hello/Goodbye idea. MacNaughton outlines a simple exercise she learned from Julie Rothman called More + Less. The activity is making a list of things you want to see More of in 2025 and what you’ll do Less to make those things happen. Rothman began doing this a decade ago, and she is an illustrator, so she draws these lists. I am not an artist, so I wrote my list.
As you can see, many of my MORES (or Hellos) were based around KNOWLEDGE. So, the second brainstorming act is to create a list of More + Less (or Hello/Goodbyes) directly tied to your Word of the Year.
If you are like me, you can incorporate the first brainstorming list into your More + Less list.
Be Intentional
So, now act. It could be one of the two action steps listed above or a suggestion I’ve made in prior posts (e.g., share your Word in person or online and find a token of representation).
In other words, be intentional with learning and growing from your Word of the Year in 2025.