Prefer to listen?

If you’ve been following me for long, you already know that I love the practice of choosing a single word to focus on each year. One of the reasons I love this practice so much is that I’m a high-achieving woman with multiple goals and choosing a word that will tap into each of those goals helps me to make progress in multiple areas of my life. Not to mention, it’s much easier to remember a single word.

It took me some time to figure out my word for this year. I had some goals, most of which centered around my health, but the word “health” just didn’t spark a sense of excitement or motivation. So, I sat down and spent a few hours mapping out my goals and getting very intentional about choosing a word. If you want to go through this process for yourself, I’ve previously shared it in this episode.

One thing that I did differently this time around was that I enlisted the help of AI (i.e., Microsoft CoPilot) to come up with my word. And it was so much fun! If you’d like the specific prompts I used so that you can go through the same process and find your word for 2025, you can grab them here.

After some debate between words, I finally arrived at the word “Flourish.”

To flourish means to “grow or develop in a healthy and vigorous way; to suddenly perform or develop in an impressively successful way.”

Like I mentioned earlier, I have several goals for this year and while the main focus is my health, I also have family, career, and spiritual goals. I love how the definition for the word “flourish” taps into each of these areas. It’s not limited to my physical health. Hence, the power of choosing a single word.

So, I’m on a journey this year to flourish in all aspects of my life and I’d love to share some practical steps I plan to take and invite you to flourish right along with me.

How to Flourish in 2025:

1.      Spend More Time with God

In order to truly flourish this year, I need to be intentional about spending time each day with God. I chose Psalm 1:3 as a guiding verse for this year:

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

I want this year to be one where I am like this tree – rooted in the streams of living water. This will require that I read my Bible more often and spend more time in prayer, but true flourishing (the kind that matters) will not happen if I don’t start here. Another thing I love about this verse is that while it gives us a picture of flourishing, it notes that flourishing happens in its season. I want to apply this to my life and accept that whatever my flourishing looks like this year, it may not happen as quickly as I’d like or go the way I’ve planned, but I can rely on the promise that it will happen (i.e., “In all that he does, he prospers.”).

2.      See Self-Care as an Investment (Not a waste of time)

This is a constant struggle for many of us busy women – there always seems to be so many things on our to-do list, that taking care of ourselves gets put on the backburner. I know I’ve been guilty of that over the last few years. However, self-care truly is an investment that will pay off in the end. You see, when we take good care of ourselves by eating well, moving our bodies, getting enough sleep, making that doctor’s appointment, the result will be more energy. We can then use that energy to show up as the best versions of ourselves in each role we play. Maybe we use that energy to play basketball with the kids or go on a family bike ride. Maybe we use that energy to pull off a stunning presentation at work or negotiate a raise. Maybe we use it to reconnect with our spouses. The options are endless! But to me, a truly flourishing life is also one where I’m filled with energy to do the things I love and I invite you to consider investing in yourself this year too.

Some specific ways I’m investing in myself include:

• Scheduling the check-up that I’ve been putting off for over a year to get my hormones and vitamin levels checked out.

• Enrolling in a PureBarre monthly membership so that I have some extra motivation to follow through on moving my body more.

• Going to bed each night around 9:30pm so that I can ensure that I get enough sleep.

I hope that gives you a spark of inspiration!

3.      Make a Plan

I can talk about spending more time with God or engaging in self-care all I want, but until I’ve actually made a plan to accomplish those things, it’s just wishful thinking. Effective time management and scheduling are going to be key to flourishing this year. We can start by writing down our goals and breaking them into bite-sized pieces. I like to use a combination of my Elegant Balance Digital Planner and Google calendar to ensure that I’m taking the necessary steps each month, week, day. Inside the Elegant Balance Academy, I teach about the importance of resources and how we need to utilize our resources effectively if we want to create work-life balance. Time is one of our most valuable resources! Intentionally planning out where we are going to spend that time will be key in flourishing in 2025.

Some specific things I’m planning:

• Booking and committing to 3 PureBarrre workouts each week

• Planning healthy meals each week

• Setting aside time for writing each week

4.      Build a Support Network

Another vital resource when it comes to achieving goals and creating work-life balance is social support. When we have someone who will hold us accountable for our goals, we’re more likely to show up on the days that we don’t feel like it. Think about the different goals you have this year. Now think about who might be able to serve as your accountability partner. It could be a mentor, coach, spouse, or friend. I plan to leverage multiple people in my life to help me achieve my goals.

My husband is cheering me on as I pursue my fitness and health goals. Not only does he encourage me to schedule my workouts but he is counting on me to plan healthy meals for our family because he is also focusing on his health this year. He enjoys health and fitness way more than I do, so he’s been a great cheerleader.

I’ve been inviting friends to attend the PureBarre workouts with me and this adds another level of accountability (and let’s be honest – makes it more fun). If I know a girlfriend is planning to attend a workout class with me, I’m not going to skip it!

My colleague, Stephanie, and I plan to schedule a block of time each week to meet and work on our research papers. This will ensure that I make progress on my career goal of publishing journal articles (and possibly writing a book).

My leadership coach is helping hold me accountable to all of my goals this year. We meet at least twice a month, and I have to report to her each time about the progress I’ve made since our last chat. This is so helpful in ensuring that I take at least some small action each week.

As you can see, it definitely takes a village to make these big dreams of mine a reality. I cannot help but get excited when I think about where I’ll be on December 31st, 2025 if I commit to flourishing all year long.

If you’re ready to flourish this year and would love some extra social support, encouragement, and guidance to make your dreams come true, I invite you to join me inside the Elegant Balance Academy. This is my signature program designed to help you create a work-life balance you love. Inside, I have lessons and worksheets that will help you identify your word of the year, set goals, and even build your social network. Together, we can flourish in 2025 and beyond. You can learn more about joining us here.

Cheers to 2025, friend!