Expression, Comfort & Bliss – Guiding Words to show me the way this year
And how to discover your words to connect with
The snow days here in Yorkshire have meant that we have been able to enjoy a slow creep into January for just a few more days and so I’ve been making the most of that time by getting on with the processes and tools that I know will set me up for the year!
These are:
Finding my guiding word/s
Creating my 25 for 25 list of what I’d like to do this year and finally
Capturing all of that into my 2025 Vision Board!
These processes work for me in a way that I’ve never found before because of course it’s all about intention and focus. The latter I definitely struggled with for many years, (unbeknown to me mostly down to being ADHD), but I had already started to put strategies in place to help with my lack of focus and not great memory!
In corporate life it was endless To Do lists and a formulated plan on an excel spreadsheet with key hard deadlines interspersed – not the most fun!
Since running my own business it is more fluid, creative and visible, however a plan still works really well for me, and I would be lost without my Passion Planner these days which not only allows me to plan the weeks and months well, but also helps me set up my goals for the year. It also has reflection space at the end of each month to keep me in check on these too.
That deep thinking about how I want my year to play out and what I want to achieve really helps, but first comes the dreaming, in the form of 3 elements and today I’m going to talk about the 1st one:
Guiding word/s
I usually start with Susannah Conway’s excellent process to get to the heart of how I want to feel / be /do this year, and if you’re interested in this, you can find it here. This is my 9th year of choosing a Guiding Word which I initially discovered via a coaching friend of mine -
.Guiding Words enable you to really home in on what you want for the year, and as a lover of words, this speaks to my soul!
You can choose all kinds of words, whether it be a ‘feeling’ word wanting to choose something emotive that speaks to you such as Calm, Energised, Healthy, Ease, or words dedicated more to ‘action’ such as Leap, Elevate, Adventure, Explore. It’s your deep connection to the word that matters.
Over the years I’ve chosen the following words, and alongside I’ve explained why these were important to me, to give you more of an idea of how this works:
2016 – Believe – This was when I left my 11.5 years corporate job in marketing, and I had to believe it would all work out!
2017 – Trust was really an extension of above, and that all the hard work I was putting in would pay off.
2018 – Value was I think a wobbly year where I was questioning my own worth a little, but this was just before things started to take off in my business, and in hindsight it is the word I felt least attracted to, I couldn’t help think of the Tesco Value Range, so this was a good example of making sure you really connect with the word and it doesn’t bring up other connotations!
2019 - Inspire – This was a great word that helped me to shift my mindset on the work I wanted to do, and focus on my clients.
2020 – Rise, RE-energise and Surprise – In hindsight these weren’t the right words at the right time, it was just after I finished Chemo and Radiotherapy for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and went all gung-ho back into trying to make up for lost time. I used these words to try and motivate me but in truth I didn’t have the mental or physical energy I’d hoped for, which is why my next year’s words were:
2021 – Balance and Breathe – Boy did I need these words! I spent a lot of time in my new cabin that year, creating art and catching my breathe from the previous 18 months – it was exactly what I needed.
2022 – Re-Imagine – Another great word that worked really well for me, this was the year we moved house to our ideal location, Holmfirth, so this was all about re-imagining our life in a community that we loved in a whole host of ways.
2023 – Diligence – This was really about digging deeper into my work and making change happen, it ended up being a great year and included me receiving Developing Your Creative Practice funding for the book that I’m writing, so this word paid off!
2024 – Elevate, Harmony and Energy – Probably my biggest year yet and elevation was definitely part of that as I connected with some big organisations last year which will have a lasting impact on my business.
Harmony was all about getting through a challenging year of 2 children in exam season and a whole host of other challenges I had not anticipated, energy was also about having positive energy to deal with all that and still grow my business.
Which brings me to 2025, and after going through the process with Susannah, I like to choose words that can have multiple meaning across my life and are therefore most useful.
I have chosen 3 words this year, and here are the reasons why:
Expression
This word links to a few things:
1) Creative expression, in my writing I want to talk more about the harder subjects that I’m interested in, such as neurodivergence, sharing my voice on topics that are important to me. I also want to get back into going to the art group I belong to and creating more art for me.
2) Expressing who I am to people I haven’t ‘come out’ to yet as ADHD – the only reason I need to do this is in order to work in this area more freely and without judgement (hopefully!)
3) Expressing myself in different ways – could I really dare myself to do some public speaking one day? I’m working on that! I’d also like to get back to doing some podcast interviews which I really enjoy doing. Speaking up on things I don’t agree with or that matter to me is also an aim.
Comfort
This is a word that many of my friends, family and colleagues won’t believe I’m choosing, because I am often stepping OUT of my comfort zone, but after such a big year last year I am ready to work less and receive more and slow down on the chasing. So this word again is about a few things:
1) Feeling more comfortable in structure and systems that I create and work within my business, I’m already working on this with someone, and trying to improve this to make it all easier.
2) In our home – we have some renovation projects coming up hopefully which will make the spaces work better for us, and we finally get rid of the red wallpapers in both the lounge and bedroom – I’m looking forward to re-decorating these spaces since we moved in 2 years ago.
3) In my body – this is a big one, but being a woman of a certain age, who has always been fairly slim, all of a sudden, the pounds are sticking, and I do not like it!
So for once I’m really committed to doing something about it, so I’m back into healthy eating and within a 9-hour window and after only a week of doing this I feel better already and have lost some pounds already which gives me the motivation that it’s starting to work!
The next challenge will be on the exercise front. I love walking, but I’ve never found an exercise that I really love (does anyone?), but I know as I age that it’s really important to get both stronger and fitter.
Bliss
So this is an example of making sure you have the exact word that connects with you. I could have easily gone with joy, but part of the process is assessing similar words and variations to see if they would work better, and I felt this was the case with bliss.
When I’ve looked up the meaning of Bliss, this is one that spoke to me:
‘Bliss refers to a sense of personal fulfilment and satisfaction derived when you serve the needs of others. Bliss brings meaning to your life resulting in a state of profound contentment.’
So this word feels more spiritual and connective in essence and part of my work is heading in that direction as I work with a new business and a subject I’m deeply interested in.
I also love the poem by Emily Bronte that mentions Bliss, so much so I created a piece of artwork around her words a few years ago;
Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.
I also like to choose words that are a little different to the standard, Joy is so commonly used these days it’s losing it’s shine a little for me.
Whereas bliss is a state I want to feel more of, and I know it will lead me to seeking that awe feeling I have when I’m at a concert, up a mountain looking at the view, or even simply reading a fabulous book that speaks to me, by the fire with a candle lit.
It doesn’t need to be complicated stuff, but I do need to make more time for it instead of sometimes over-working.
So I hope that explains the process more and helps to understand how guiding words work and that it’s not something you just pluck out of the air, there’s so much more too it if you are willing to go deep and really connect with how you want your year to shape up.
Guiding words can also really help with decisions, check in with how your choice aligns with your words and if it doesn’t maybe have a rethink.
That said don’t always stick with a word if after a few months you find you no longer relate to it (like ‘Value’ for me), or life circumstances have changed. In order for them to work, they have to be relevant so don’t be afraid to change them, they are YOUR words!
I’m looking forward to seeing how Expression, supported by Comfort and Bliss play out for me, I’ll keep you posted throughout the year!
If you do have a go at finding your guiding word/s, I’d love to hear about the words you’ve chosen and why, please let me know in the comments!
Next up I’ll take you through my second process – 25 for 25 - 25 things I want to do, be, feel or achieve in 2025!
It’s all about setting myself up for a great start to the year, especially in cold, dark January, it feels good to go inwards on this stuff, to let it all percolate and then head out in the right direction feeling confident because you’ve done the inner work.
With love and light
Juliet x
Ps If you haven’t seen my previous Substack about the new writing competition we have launched in collaboration with Alnwick Story Fest to celebrate the life and fearless writing of my friend
then you can read all about it here.The deadline is 7th of February, and we can’t wait to read everyone’s stories.
And if you’d like to read more about Guiding Words, you can find my past blogs on the subject here
Fabulous read and a great reminder! Thanks Juliet x
Loved reading about your past words and what your words for this year mean for you, thanks for sharing this insight with us, Juliet x