2025 Goal Planning: Reflections & Word of the Year

It is time to start thinking about 2025 Goal Planning! We are going to start in an unlikely place, your 2025 word of the year, or theme. There is a method to my madness, so stay with me as we work through it together.

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If you haven’t gotten a goal planner for 2025 yet, that is absolutely OK! I will be using the 2025 PowerSheets as well as my trusty little A5 Leuchtturm 1917 goals notebook as we work through this process over the next month. You can get 10% off your purchase if you choose to buy your PowerSheets through my link. I would recommend that you get at least a notebook to jot your thoughts and brainstorm. If you are curious about some of the different goal planner options I have considered, you can watch the video below.

Why Start with 2025 Word of the Year?

You may be asking yourself that exact question, especially considering the 2025 word of the year page is at the very end of the PowerSheets prep work as well as most other goal planners out there. The way I have always looked at a word of the year is a way to filter my goals through a particular theme I want to have in the year ahead. But, the real reason that I start with my word is because I typically already have a word chosen well before I get started on my prep work.

Once fall starts, there are feelings that come to light. Things that I know I may want to focus on. But, above all, there is a draw to a particular word. I don’t necessarily seek out the words I have chosen, it just kind of comes to me. That sounds a little woo-woo, I know.

Some examples of past words – slow, simplify, intentional, life-giving. Most of these words came to me as I was moving through my fall. If I was super busy, slow manifested. Was I bogged down by a lot of clutter? Simplify did the trick. And when those feelings started to come to me I would start to reflect on my year and the changes I wanted to see.

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Choosing a Theme Instead

You don’t have to choose a 2025 word of the year if you don’t want! The alternative is to choose a theme for the year ahead. What is it that you most want to accomplish? Is there a particular feeling that you want for your year ahead? When you choose a word or theme, you know exactly what you want your life to be like while working through your goals.

And that is the most important thing about choosing a word or theme for the year. You want it to be a tool that will help you with your goals. It helps you formulate your goals because it is a measure for your goals. Will this goal help you achieve what your word represents? Or is the goal not applicable. Now, just because a goal doesn’t line up with your word or theme does not make it a bad goal, but we are getting ahead of ourselves!

2025 Word of the Year: Reflection

One of the easiest ways to choose your 2025 word of the year is to reflect on this previous year. I have a list of questions that I have used for years in order to help me reflect on the year as a whole.

If you would like to use this list, you can grab it by filling out the form below.

Once you have reflected on your year, you will start to see themes. You will begin to understand some of the challenges and some of the changes that you want to focus on in the new year. So don’t skip this step! It is very important.

I spend a good amount of time reflecting each year. Not only do I go through all of my goals for the previous year and evaluate how I feel overall, I also spend time on the highs and the lows, the challenges and the successes. It is important to know the challenges you have faced. However, it is equally important to recognize the positives from the previous year as well.

Did I choose the “right” word?

Once you get through your reflection and you have some ideas on a 2025 word of the year, or a theme, now is the time to start googling some ideas for a word. Take the time to look at definitions, see if any resonate with you. Sometimes looking at the synonyms of a word you are considering (or even the antonyms of a word you are NOT!) will help spark something you connect with.

It doesn’t have to be difficult. But, if you are struggling with figuring out a word, or one didn’t jump out at you, that is absolutely fine. The reflection is still a very valuable piece of the puzzle. As we continue through prepping our goals for 2025 one may make itself known.

There have been years where I haven’t chosen a word until I started getting deep into my prep work. Other years I didn’t choose a word until the middle of January. Remember, your 2025 word of the year is just a tool to help you on the path to progress with your goals.

Do you have your 2025 word of the year already in mind? Is it something you need to sit and consider longer? If you chose a word for 2024, please let me know what it was in the comments. Also how it served you (or not!) throughout the year.