Good year!
Here we are again. It’s the start of a new year — that magical moment when your journaling app sends you a passive-aggressive reminder to “set your intentions” (and you almost believe you’ll deliver).
What are your New Year’s traditions to start again? Do you write resolutions? Do you set intentions? And the objectives? How can you ensure that you continue to achieve this?
I’ve found that setting just one word as my aspiration and guiding principle for the year makes things easier. My New Year’s journals follow my words for at least 20 years.
If you’re curious, here’s the list of the bottom 10:
Imagination (2024)
Balance (2023) Freedom (2022) Love (2021) Elegance (pre-COVID 2020) Happiness (2019) Scale (2018) Execute (2017) Evolve (2016) Manifest (2015)
I also assign one word to describe what the previous year has become. I actually choose a word for the previous year first. The two words rarely match. The 2018 “scale” changed to “choice” by the end of the year, and the 2016 “evolution” became “evolved.”
The years when they don’t align reveal my struggles. The “happiness” of 2019 has given way to the “disjointed” and the “imagining” of last year has given way to the “pivot.”
Focusing on a single word gives my intention a name and forms the foundation for every action I plan and take rather than a set of rules I will likely break.
Drum roll, please: my word for 2025
I mentioned that my final word for 2024 was “pivot.” I’ve been through a lot of changes this year (like many of you).
The nature of my work today is completely different than it was in January 2024. The model in which I do it has changed. The business world has changed. Geopolitics has changed. And our beloved marketing practice is facing some of the biggest disruptions in more than a decade.
Some of these changes seemed difficult and daunting. Other elements sparked positivity and enthusiasm. But I’m grateful for it all. As I mentioned it in a recent articlemoving from “I have to” to “I have to” has helped me immensely.
So I almost chose “gratitude” as the word for 2025. Here’s why I chose a different word.
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking about what we don’t have. And it’s much harder to remember everything we do. But this keeps people stuck in a scarcity mentality.
Gratitude can tip the scales in the other direction. But if you’re not careful, you risk going too far. So what I call “rationalized gratitude” becomes toxic.
Rationalized gratitude feels like a cruel inner monologue: “Unhappy at your job? Be grateful you have a job! » Or: “Need more money? Be grateful for the money you have and spend less of it.
This form of “gratitude” is actually a scarcity mindset in disguise. This tells you that there isn’t enough stuff to go around, so you should feel lucky to have anything at all.
When you practice gratitude, you can recognize that life is not perfect. And it’s okay to recognize that you have things that others might be grateful for but that aren’t right for you.
After thinking long and hard about the “pivot” that I am still making, my word for 2025 emerged. It’s abundance.
Abundance is a word that feels expansive, hopeful, and deeply aligned with new beginnings. Abundance, to me, is not about accumulating money, things, or more.
Abundance is about flow – a dynamic and energizing rhythm of giving and receiving, of noticing and amplifying what already exists.
Motivational speaker Wayne Dyer once said, “Abundance is not something we acquire. This is something we are listening to.
This simple truth stuck with me as I thought about what kind of year I want to create.
To me, abundance is not about striving, hustling, or pivoting. It’s a question of harmonization. It’s about opening my eyes to the richness of life that is already there – in terms of creativity, relationships, opportunities, and even uncomfortable challenges that tax me.
It’s about believing that life has a rhythm and that by fully participating in it, I will receive what I need when I need it.
This idea of abundance as flow feels particularly meaningful to me as I continue to pivot my professional career toward providing fractional marketing services.
I’m attracted to the idea of creating something sustainable and balanced: a business that thrives not on constant hustle and 225 days on the road, but on constant momentum.
I want to deepen relationships with my colleagues and friends, generate ideas with the people I meet and contribute my expertise in a stimulating and reciprocal way. And, in turn, I want to feel inspired and free, with the peace of mind that comes from knowing I’m aligned with my purpose.
Abundance, in this sense, touches all aspects of life. It’s the freedom to choose how to spend time and energy, the creativity to imagine new possibilities and bring them to life, and the gratitude that fuels a mindset of “enough”, even as I aspire to more.
Abundance is not static: it is a river, always in motion and continually renewed, as long as you stay in tune with its flow.
So, as I prepared to experience my Year of Living Richly (the title of an imaginary book I had written in my notes), I found myself writing these questions in my journal:
How can I give more generously without worrying about running out of resources? How can I create space for inspiration to find myself? How can I honor the flow of abundance by trusting in what is yet to come?
I hope that by sharing this intention, I will inspire you to think about what abundance might mean to you. It is not something we should chase or hoard. It’s already there, waiting for us to connect.
What is your word for 2025? Let me know on LinkedIn (and tag Content Marketing Institute).
It’s your story. Say it well.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
