Setting yourself a word of the year can be a great alternative or addition to your new year’s resolutions. It can be your guide when you’re setting goals and help you to determine what is really important to you.

I have quite a few goals that I want to work on through 2022, but I noticed that all of them centre around the same theme.

That theme is… Consistency.

Most of my goals contained words such as ‘continue’, ‘stop’, ‘keep on’, and ‘keep trying’. It leads me to believe that the common theme of all of my goals is just staying consistent with things.

I’m the queen of starting things and never finishing them. This reflects in my goals too. I often find myself setting a goal and after a week, I got bored and didn’t work on it anymore. I know this about myself and I know that it’s something I wish to work on which once again leads me to think that consistency is the perfect word of the year for me.

I want to become more consistent with many aspects of my life. I want to keep up with reading daily, posting on my blog every two weeks, hitting my daily step goal, and stop giving up at the slightest inconvenience.

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Why choose a word of the year?

Have you ever chosen a word of the year before? Or maybe you’ve never even heard of the idea?

The idea behind a word of the year is to simplify your new year’s resolutions. It can be so easy to start the year with a list of goals that just seems like things you should do. We often find ourselves writing down goals such as losing weight, stopping biting your nails, keeping your home tidy, or spending less money. But the problem with those goals is that they are too broad and unspecific to you and your lifestyle. If you set those goals for yourself and it works then I’m so happy for you, but if you’re like me and unspecific goals just aren’t motivating enough, then maybe it’s time to try a word of the year instead.

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How to choose a word of the year?

Setting your word of the year doesn’t have to be a difficult decision but it should be one that you have thought about. You want to find a word that represents you and all the goals that you have been working towards.

For example, if your main goal is to save money, then you should use a word that really inspires you to save more. A great option for that would be ‘abundance’ or ‘appreciate’. Depending on whether or not your goal is to stop spending as much money or to make more money, these words can be at the forefront of your mind when it comes to making spending related decisions.

What really motivates you? What’s important to you? What do you admire about other people? Use these questions to figure out what your word of the year should be.

Still struggling? Here are some ideas:

1. Positive
2. Cosy
3. Thrifty
4. Wellness
5. Space
6. Calm
7. Express
8. Teach
9. Care
10. Kindness
11. Listen
12. Imagination
13. Slow
14. Change
15. Laugh
16. Believe
17. Discomfort
18. Create
19. Strong
20. Gather
21. Thrive
22. Whole
23. Adventure
24. Direction
25. Enough
26. Harmony
27. Discover
28. Balance
29. Abundant
30. Bold
31. Expand
32. Gratitude

I’ve listed a few options for you but I really hope that you are able to find a word that represents you personally.

So, that leads me to the question. Do you plan on setting a word of the year in 2022? What do you think your word of the year will be?