How Choosing a Word of the Year Transformed My 2024 – And Why I Chose ‘More’ for 2025
My 2024 word of the year ended up being peace—which wasn’t what I originally chose. At the beginning of 2024, I picked abundance and was happy not diving any deeper, but by March, I realized I needed peace more than I needed an abundance of a single damn thing in my life at the time.
I was introduced to the concept of a word of the year by my friend Jessica (who is also a life coach). A word of the year is a single word that serves as a guide for the year. It’s not necessarily a replacement for goal-setting, but it's a theme that helps shape the overall direction of my year. I use the word to help me define goals that align with that mindset and way of living—for me, my word acts as a filter for decisions and a reference point for my priorities, so I can make choices that actually fit what I want for myself.
A key thing about your word of the year is that you should be able to identify a question you can ask yourself that helps you stay aligned with it. Last year's question was, "How is this helping me move closer to or farther away from peace?" The answers to that question forced me to realize that a crucial thing about peace is that it needs to be chosen, protected, and sometimes sacrificed for in ways that aren’t peaceful at all.
My year of finding and prioritizing peace was tumultuous, but it also taught me that peace is a choice; I made a lot of hard decisions that ultimately made my life so much better. I chose to end a nine-year relationship instead of enjoying the fake peace that came from never asking for what I needed or wanted. I got laid off and thought I wanted to be fully self-employed, but found out that it’s more peaceful for me to have a full-time admin job and the creative freedom to work on my own projects in my free time. I had to take a hard look at my home habits and recognize what was actively messing with the peace in my space—then actually change them. This is a short list but almost everything in my life changed last year in a major way.
I found peace in 2024, but it wasn’t something I just had. It was something I worked for, something I earned. My peace ended up being a reward for the hard choices I made, and a renewed confidence in my ability to take care of myself, rather than just a state of being I could will myself into.
For most of my 20s, I ended each December exhausted, almost afraid of what was coming next. But this time, I actually felt energized thinking about the year ahead. I gave myself space to rest and reflect on what my 2025 word would be, hoping to avoid another springtime pivot. And when I landed on more, I felt a rush of excitement for 2025.
After everything I shed in the first nine months of 2024, I started to see some really great things take shape toward the end of the year. And I want to keep going. I want to build on the power I’ve generated for myself by making bold decisions and trusting my instincts. This year, I’ll be asking myself, "Do I want more of this?" That question will help me figure out what I want to step away from, what I want to change my approach to, and what I want to lean into even further.
2024 showed me what’s possible when I’m intentional about my choices. 2025 is about seeing how far I can take it.
