16 Questions to Help you Discover Your Word of the Year

Welcome to the New Year!!!

We made it! While the journey was not for the faint of heart, here we are – back at the starting gate of a brand new year.

I admit, I love crossing a finish line. I love it for the accomplishment of successfully completing something – a project, a race, a goal, a year.

I also love it because it gives me an opportunity to learn from the experiences that brought me to completion:

what worked,
what didn’t work,
where did I fail and what did I learn from it,
how can I do it better, more efficiently, more productively,
how can I add more joy or satisfaction to the process?

I look at what guided me to reach the finish line to determine if it was a good compass and if I followed it faithfully.

Which brings me to my annual New Year Ritual:

pick a word or a theme to guide me throughout the year.

It’s a word that reflects how I want to show up over the course of the year. It guides my actions and helps me make decisions. It keeps me focused and inspired. It helps me push my boundaries, keeps me on track and aligns with my values. It’s a word I want to embody over the course of the year.

Last year, my word was “Impact.”

Once I decide on a word, I want to keep it around me to remind me of my commitment to it. I created a collage on a canvas board to colorfully and visually remind me. I also created a bracelet with the word imprinted on it which I wore most days to see and feel the reminder,

Sometimes a word or theme may be totally obvious and you immediately know it with certainty.

Other times, it needs to be coaxed into revealing itself.

There is no right or wrong approach in deciding on your word.

The only requirement is your thoughtfulness as you connect to yourself to check in to see what resonates in a meaningful way.

This is your opportunity to set your compass for the year in a way that excites, inspires, empowers, provides peace or any other experience you want to call into your life and put out into the world.

Here are some questions and prompts to guide your consideration.

Start by being present, open and accepting – NO judgment allowed.

Then, connect with your heart as you reflect on the following:

I encourage you to spend some time contemplating these questions and any others that come up for you. Where do they lead? To a word? A theme? An intentionally designed life?

My word for this year is (drum roll please!)…

Freedom!

Freedom to unabashedly follow my path and be myself, to live my life by my values, to feel safe and secure, to be free from outdated and stuck in the box thinking, to know I have no constraints and I’m not bound by anyone else’s rules or expectations, to be free from fear and lack.

I would LOVE to hear where you end up. Share your word, theme or results in a comment below and let’s celebrate living into it in the coming year.

p.s. If you want to download the above questions, click WOY Questions – Joan Jakel

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Joan Jakel

I am an Empowerment Instigator - equal parts Coach, Attorney, Entrepreneur and Creative Maverick. I am most alive running mountain trails. I am a good friend striving to be an outstanding friend. I am a lover of art, wine and deep conversations.

My entire life has been in the pursuit of what stirs my heart, daring to follow it and having the unstoppable conviction to achieve it. Purpose, passion and values aligned to create my path while audacity nudged my courage to help me excel at taking on big change to go after it.

I am here to help you find your way and learn how to confidently use your authentic voice, unlock your potential and courageously build a purposeful life you love!

Carpe Diem!