Word of the Year

Many people I ask say they no longer do New Years Resolutions because they can never keep them. I no longer set myself New Year’s Resolutions. But I love to start my year with some clear intentions about how I’d like my year to feel. A ritual I have done over the past few years is to select a word of the year.

This word is not about a specific goal. It is about setting an intention for how I want my year to feel.

Reset

In 2025 my word of the year was RESET. Throughout my year, week, month, day or even hour by hour I was reminded to reset and start afresh. This helped me combat “all or nothing” thinking . In the past if something ‘bad’ happened in the morning it meant the whole day was ruined. Using RESET a bad morning was reset by performing a small ritual to reset my day and start afresh.

A reset ritual is something as small as writing a fresh to do list or taking a shower. Other reset rituals included drinking a hot drink or taking a nap. The practicalities didn’t matter- all that mattered was my mindset shift.

RESET enabled me to stick to new healthy habits such as introducing walking everyday and eating healthier. With RESET I didn’t feel compelled to drop a habit because I hadn’t done it perfectly. For example if I slipped up with healthy eating I didn’t just throw in the towel. Instead I RESET and started again. Each moment was an opportunity to start afresh.

RECEIVE

This year my word is RECEIVE. RECEIVING is very challenging idea for me. In the past I worried whether I was giving enough, and didn’t consider that I have challenges with receiving. I often shy away from receiving as I associate it with being selfish. Or showing off. Or being lazy. But recently I’ve come to understand that my fear of receiving is holding me back. Its holding me back from connection, from joy and from pleasure. It’s also attributing to my scarcity mindset which in turn makes me less able to give to others. The idea of receive for me is about more than gaining material or monetary goods, although that’s part of it. Here is a list of some of the ways I am looking at incorporating the word RECEIVE into my life in 2026:

1. Let good things in to my life without resisting them. This includes allowing myself to feel good emotions like joy, happiness and peace without waiting for something to go wrong.
2. Receiving compliments without brushing them off or deflecting.
3. To stop pushing away the things that I say I want.
4. To stop self defeating or self sabotaging due to a lack of self worth.
5. To pay attention to and be present with the gifts I receive everyday from nature and the Universe. This involves being more present and practicing gratitude. It also involves deepening my connection with nature.
6. To work through my unhelpful beliefs around scarcity and martyrdom. To stop feeling like I always have to prove my worth through hardship and suffering.
7. To ask for what I need – this includes asking for and receiving help from others. It also means listening to what my body needs and my nervous system needs. And Giving myself what I need without shame or guilt.

Challenges

In 2025 I set myself “25 in 2025” challenges which you can read more about HERE. I didn’t just want to repeat this with “26 in 2026”. Some of my challenges I more than doubled my intentional total. For example my challenge of reading 25 book in 2025 resulted in me reading over 50 books.

This year I am challenging myself to read a book by an author from every letter of the alphabet. I hope this challenge will help me to broaden the type of books I read.

What intentions, challenges or mini experiments are you going to work towards this year? I’d love to know what your aspirations are for 2026!