Word for the Year 2024 - See Jane Write (2024)

What’s your word for the year 2024?

I’ve been choosing a word for the year for over a decade. And it’s a practice I’ve passed on to the women of theSee Jane Write Community too.

Your word can serve as your theme for the year. It can be a source of inspiration and motivation, a mantra, or even a rallying cry. Perhaps even a prayer.

Why I Choose a Word for the Year

I choose my word for the year before I set my annual aspirations because I use my word to help guide which goals I decide to focus on. And even if my goals for the year change, my word for the year helps me stay true to my vision and values.

In 2022, I was praying forABUNDANCE. But after careful reflection, I realized that I was too focused on material wealth — instead of true wealth. So my word for 2023 was ELEVATE, a charge to focus not on having more stuff but having more experiences that make life feel abundant. I wanted to challenge myself to stop playing small and to live out loud.

In 2021, my word was RESTORATION because in 2020,cancerhad taken so much from me. Nonetheless, I feel that in 2020 my prayer for GROWTH was answered. After all, you must prune before you can bloom.

How I Choose My Word for the Year

Oftentimes the events of the previous year inspire my word for the new year. For example, at the end of 2018, I felt like I had lived the same year twice. So my word for 2019 wasCHANGE and I set the big, hairy audacious goal toquit my teaching job and become a full-time writer and entrepreneur (or writerpreneur) and I did!

In addition to setting a word for the year, each month I ask myself how I want the month to feel and how I want to feel that month. This helps with monthly goals. For example, I didn’t attempt to blog daily in November as I have in the previous years because I wanted the month to feel COZY and I worried all that content creation would make the month CHAOTIC instead!

My Word for 2024

My word for 2024 is LEAP — and no, not simply because it’s a leap year. For the past few years, I’ve been praying for a quantum leap in my business and writing life. By choosing LEAP as my word, I’m declaring that I believe this is the year my prayer will be answered.

I considered making COZY my word for 2024 because I want to be confident and content with my life even as I strive for more success. And I also thought about choosing CONSISTENCY as my word because I want to get better about following through on my plans. But I realized that being grateful, confident and consistent are the keys to unlocking my quantum leap.

Journal Prompts to Help You Choose Your Word for the Year

Choosing a word for the year can be simple, even if you’ve never done it before. Below you’ll find some journaling prompts to help you get started.

Looking back at 2023, what worked well and what didn’t?

What words best describe the person you want to be in 2024?

What are your top 5 values?

How do you want 2024 to feel?

What do you want more of in 2024?

What do you want less of in 2024?

What words best describe your potential goals for 2024?

When considering things that didn’t work well and things you want less of, you can use antonyms to help generate possible words for 2024. For example, if 2023 was so busy and hectic that you couldn’t really enjoy your life, you may want to choose a word like PEACE, CALM, or MARGIN for 2024.

The journaling prompts above should yield a long list of words. Spend some time with those words and choose the one that speaks to you the most. Then let me know in the comments what you chose!

Choosing a word for the year is one of the first things we’ll be doing during Write the Vision: 2024 #GoalDigger Workshop.

Set for Sunday, December 10 at 4 p.m. CT, this two-hour workshop will help you set goals for the year, decide which to focus on first, and develop a plan so you can actually accomplish the goals you set.

And it’s FREE. Sign up here.