What if planning for 2024 felt thrilling? Exciting? Fun and invigorating?!

(Pssst… If you’ve been around here for a while, you know what’s coming next!)

With the new year just a champagne toast away, most of us are busy thinking about our goals and resolutions: get healthy, exercise consistently, eliminate sugar, cut down on carbs (for good!) But trying to make massive changes all at once rarely works…

For me, New Year’s promises became an exercise in shame and disappointment, rather than hope and excitement; they highlighted all the ways that my previous year didn’t quite measure up, instead of filling me up with visions of the future.

But at the end of 2013, I shifted the way I thought about my coming year, and instantly, everything felt different: lighter, easier, and sustainable.

What did I do? I chose a word of the year. (My favorite annual ritual, and I LOVE when you join in too!)

For 2023, I picked the word magic. In a year of loss and challenges, I was reminded that life is magical even in the midst of difficulties. I know for certain that when we invite magic into our days, it appears!

Through the years, I’ve chosen reconnect, bold, believe, evolve, trust, ease, spaciousness, simplify, and savor kicked the whole tradition off!

My word of the year anchors my daily life. It guides the work that I do, the choices that I make, and the way that I navigate my days. When I feel adrift, I remember my word – my North Star.

My word for 2024? Elevate. (Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?)

If I’m being totally honest with you, I didn’t choose elevate; elevate chose me! As soon as I started thinking about my word, I kept seeing elevate everywhere: in emails, articles, social media captions, advertisements. Maybe the signs have been there in year’s past, but this year I’m tuned in and listening!

To me elevate is about the tiny shifts, intentional choices, and the conscious effort to make each day a smidge better than the last… 

I’m ready for a year where I take things up a notch, add a little boost, and fill the everyday with a bit more pizazz.

What would you like to invite in for 2024?

Perhaps you’d like the next year to feel calm or connected or creative. Maybe you seek simplicity, or to feel like it's your time to reinvent. 

This isn't about finding the most profound or Instagrammable word out there. It's about choosing a word that resonates and sends a little sparkle through your soul.

Here are three steps to get you started:

Think … about how you want to feel. In order to keep traditional resolutions, we track numbers: calories, dollars, social media followers. But with a single word as your beacon, 2024 becomes easier and sweeter. A “successful” year becomes a year that feels the way you want it to feel.

Peer through the window of your Future Dream Life. Really imagine the specifics: how do you want your life to feel? Free? Supported? Confident? Imagine your heart and mind feeling that way, every single day, then choose your word accordingly.

Trust … your intuition. Choosing your word of the year is a lot easier than you might expect. You don’t necessarily have to labor over this decision; just reflect. In 2023, what worked? What didn’t? You probably already know how you’d like next year to be different. When a word springs to mind and feels right in your gut, you’ve got it!

Apply … your word to your whole life. Supported at home means something different than supported in your professional life. And aligned in your body is different from being aligned with your partner. How does your word apply at work? At home? In your thoughts? When you apply your word to all the areas of your life, you’re ready to make it happen everywhere.

Cheers to a year filled with health, happiness, and just the right word,