“One Word”: Better Than New Year’s Resolutions

Have you experienced the joy of practicing “One Word?”

Or have you been making New Year’s resolutions only to have your efforts fizzle before the end of the year?

2013

Rewind to 2013 when I selected my very first One Word. At that time, according to MIC.com the top ten New Years’ resolutions were:

1. Eat healthy and exercise regularly
2. Drink less alcohol
3. Learn something new
4. Quit smoking
5. Better work/life balance
6. Volunteer
7. Save Money
8. Get organized
9. Read more
10. Finish those round the house “to-do” list

2017

When this post was originally posted in December 2017, the top ten New Year’s resolutions according to Inc. were:

1. Diet or eat healthier
2. Exercise more
3. Lose weight
4. Save more and spend less
5. Learn a new skill or hobby
6. Quit smoking
7. Read more
8. Find another job
9. Drink less alcohol
10. Spend more time with family and friends

2024

Fast forward to 2024. The top ten New Year’s Resolutions according to Forbes were:

1. Improve fitness
2. Improve finances
3. Improve mental health
4. Lose weight
5. Improve diet
6. Make more time for loved ones
7. Stop smoking
8. Learn a new skill
9. Make more time for hobbies
10. Improve work-life balance

Did you spot them? There are some pretty consistent themes! Perhaps you recognize one or more of these resolutions because you’ve made them too!

While making New Year’s resolutions is a tradition, it’s something I don’t do!

Sadly, among Americans, only 3% of those who made resolutions in 2024 stuck to them according to YouGove.com! Those are not great odds!

What’s the Alternative?

Rather than New Year’s resolutions, I’ve implemented a different strategy to assist me in achieving the results I desire in my life and work. That strategy has three parts:

1. Adopting a “One Word.”
2. Setting specific targets or goals.
3. Systematically reflecting on my progress towards those goals.

More On One Word

It takes more than just choosing a One Word. It’s something you truly have to practice and allow to guide you in every area of your life.

If you’ve watched any of my YouTube videos, you may have noticed the word on the wall in the background that periodically changes. I keep my One Word on my office wall so that I see it regularly and I’m reminded of the focus God has given me for my year.

My One Word becomes a lens, or a perspective for viewing my life and work. It guides me in endless ways and it provides a clear focus.

Each year I set out thinking I know how my One Word will influence my year, but by the end of the year God has compounded the insights and taken me on a meaningful journey like only He can!

12 Words

I’ve been practicing One Word for going on twelve years. Each new word brings unique and unexpected discoveries and growth – it really is an adventure that allows me to experience Him in fresh and new ways too! Curious what my words have been?

• PROACTIVE (2013)
• FAITH-FULL (I know it is not a word, but it is the one God gave me!) (2014)
• RELEASE (2015)
• RECEIVE (2016)
• REFRESH (2017)
• ACCEPT (2018)
• ABIDE (2019)
• ENCOURAGE (2020)
• HOPE (2021)
• INVEST (2022)
• SURRENDER (2023)
• EDIT (2024)

I’ve shared more on my what I’ve learned from many of my previous One Words here.

If you’d like to learn more about the One Word concept, checkout the book One Word: a collaborative effort by Dan Britton, Jimmy Page, and Jon Gordon. If you have not yet read it, I urge you too! It’s a short and sweet read!

What would happen if you intentionally focused on a single word for an entire year? In my experience, it’s always a surprising journey.

Here’s how to begin your own “One Word” adventure:

1. Evaluate Your Life

Consider the various areas of your life including your relationships, finances, health, work, intellect, leisure (aka fun!), emotions, and spiritual life and ask yourself:

• • • How satisfied are you in each of these areas?
    • What’s missing in these areas?
    • What is God’s perspective in each of these areas? What’s important to Him?
    • To grow in these areas, what do you need to change?
    • What would enhance these areas and take them to the next level?
    • When it comes to your needs in these areas, what needs aren’t being met?

As you answer these questions, what themes or patterns surface? What focus would have the greatest impact on your life? What words might address these ideas?

2. Seek God and Listen

This is a process. God may not instantly reveal your One Word. Then again, maybe He will.
What’s important is to listen, really listen, over a period of time. He will whisper that word – be patient!

3. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Once you know what your work, in order for it to truly have an impact on your life, it must be in front of you! Without frequent reminders, you will forget your One Word and its powerful impact will be lost.

I’ve already mentioned that my One Word hangs in a prominent place in my office where I spend a good bit of time. Where do you need to post your word to keep it top of mind?

4. Check-In

Routinely check in with yourself. Pick a time to regularly evaluate how your One Word journey is going. Perhaps on the first of the month like I do, every other Friday, or when you pay your bills; whatever works best for you.

Keeping a journal and jotting down what you are learning along the way is another way to dwell on your One Word and allow it to saturate your life. Look for examples of ways your word is impacting the way do life and work as well as areas where you might focus on your One Word a little more. What would ensure that your One Word has the greatest impact on your life in the coming year?

5. Don’t Go Solo

Share your “One Word” with others – your spouse, a trusted friend, or your coach. Don’t keep it a secret! In the coming year you will face challenging moments – moments that test your ability to live out your One Word. When life gets difficult, those trusted people are able to point you back to your word again.

My 2024 Adventure

Here’s what this year’s One Word EDIT taught me:

1. To flex and be quicker to make changes in my life and work.
2. That change is ongoing and never-ending! There is always something to be changed.
3. I need God’s help! Eliminating, improving, and changing is overwhelming without God’s in the mix!
4. To alter how I see the mundane, seemingly small stuff and delight in it.
5. It’s OK to stop doing some things.
6. That starting something new or doing something in a brand-new way is also good!
7. To not edit is to be stuck.
8. I serve a God who is in need of no edits!

The whole goal of New Year’s resolutions is to motivate you to make personal improvements. Adopting a One Word is a focused and simpler way of making positive strides forward in your life, and often in unexpected ways you didn’t anticipate and would never have made a resolution to address! Your One Word serves as a reference, encouraging better choices that have a wider impact than a new year’s resolution might. And if you take your One Word seriously, it changes you at a deeper level.

The Year Ahead

For 2025 my One Word is…INTEGRATE

Dictionary.com defines it this way: to bring together or incorporate (parts) into a whole.

My own take on the word INTEGRATE is…

To do life/work in a God honoring, interconnected, and whole way.

My desire in selecting this word is to…

• Allow God to be more a part of all I am and do – that He would be integrated into everything.
• To integrate and use my gifts, abilities, and talents in a fresh and greater way.

God has a funny way of showing me my One Word towards the end of November, making December a month where I frequently feel like I have Two Words: instead of just one for a short time.

I look forward to sharing my word journey with you a year from now! I know it will be memorable and life-changing experience!

How about you – what’s your 2024 One Word adventure been like? What have you discovered?

What’s your One Word for 2025?

© Unsplash/timmossholder