What's Your Annual Theme?

How my '24 theme went, the 'personal flaw' I'm turning into my purposeful theme, and a few tips when creating your own annual theme!

Way back in 2004, I started an activity - out of necessity more than anything - that changed my entire year. And since I’m still actively engaged in this activity 20+ years later, I guess you could say it has changed my life, too!

At the time, I was feeling pulled into 110 different directions and, achiever that I am, wanting to give 110% to each. A new business, a growing young family, personal goals, community involvement, the list goes on.

Then, within the span of a week, my basement flooded, my computer crashed, my house filled with illness, and, again, the list goes on.

And in my exhausted state, as I was bringing up load after load of stuff from the basement in an attempt to dry it out, a realization hit me:

I need focus.

Thus my annual theme was born.

The Annual Theme Has Entered The Chat

I think of the annual theme as a word or brief phrase representing your year. It’s not a goal or project or something to ‘accomplish’ per se, but more of a topic that flows alongside, or perhaps at times serves as a guide, throughout the year.

I’ll share in a moment a few helpful tips to consider when choosing an annual theme. But essentially, it all started with asking myself a couple of questions:

At the end of the year, how do I most want to *feel*?

When I look back over the year, what word do I most want to describe it?

That first year, the word that came to me was focus. I wanted to focus on what mattered most, and then be intentional about focusing more of my energy there. I wanted to feel more focused. At the end of the year, I wanted to be able to say, ‘I am more focused now than I was when the year began.’

I can share more details about that year in a future article if you’d like, but for now, suffice it to say that the annual theme worked so well, I have continued creating one every year since.

My 2024 Theme

Last year, I chose the theme ambition - but not in the traditional sense. I definitely didn’t want it to mean hustle harder, do more, or overexert myself. I’ve experienced plenty of that in my life, and I’ve learned it’s not the best way to honor my purpose.

So, in my journal, I began defining ambition for myself: