What Is Your One Word for 2026?
Focusing your life this coming year
Several years ago, I came across the book One Word That Will Change Your Life by Dan Britton, Jimmy Page, and Jon Gordon. The premise of the book is that we are making our New Year’s resolutions, goals, and intentions for the coming year completely wrong. We make them about doing rather than being. Our normal resolutions include things like exercise, weight loss, healthy eating, Bible reading, and so on. We attempt to measure our success by what we accomplish, not by what we are becoming. Even in setting goals that are about becoming a better person (being more sensitive and loving, being more positive, etc.) we measure them by our actions, not how we are being changed. The writers present a process that is simple, yet powerful—develop one word that focuses both on your being and doing. Then make that one word your focus for the entire year. This is what they say about the power of one word.
“We’ve learned firsthand that the secret to a simplified life is One Word. Words like Serving, Purpose, Grace, Surrender, Power, and Discipline have shaped and molded us in amazing ways. By embracing, owning, and living a single word for 365 days, our lives changed. Instead of being weighed down with unrealistic resolutions and unmet goals, One Word provides a whole new perspective on how we approach our year.”
Developing one word to guide you through the year is like having a compass that directs your thoughts and actions. Your one word is at the forefront of your mind as you go through each day. It provides both direction and action. I have been following this process for several years now, and it has helped bring focus into my life. My one word for 2025 was “blessing.” My desire was to be a blessing to everyone I met and to realize and accept the blessings that God brought into my life—no matter how small. Was I always successful? No! Some days I was anything but a blessing to others. Some days my continual complaining and griping blocked my seeing how God was blessing me. But the one word “blessing” brought focus and clarity to my life this past year.
The writers of One Word That Will Change Your Life mention six dimensions of our lives: spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, mental, and financial. The one-word concept impacts all of these. There is not an area of your life that you cannot apply your one word to. They offer a simple three-step process to determine your one word.
Prepare your heart by looking in - Find time to be alone and search your heart by asking three questions.
What is my biggest need right now?
What is preventing me from realizing that need?
What do I need to let go of?
Discover your one word by looking up - Seek God’s guidance in giving you your one word and listen to how he is directing you.
Live your word by looking out - this means living out the word in your daily life. Keeping it front and center!
I know that some of you are thinking this is just too simple AND somewhat “cheesy.” But it works! Having one word to focus on everyday give direction and fulfillment. So what are some examples? I give these as ideas, not as suggestions. Love, joy, patience, kindness, rest, flexible, discipline, commitment, boldness, integrity, strength. The list is basically endless.
I want to challenge you to develop your one word for this new year. My one word for 2026 is EMBRACE. I want to embrace everything that God has for me in 2026 - both the good and the bad. It is easy and exciting to embrace the things we desire and like—the things that are pleasant. But what about those things that we do not want in our lives? The things that are unpleasant? The hurtful things? The debilitating things? Can we embrace them as well?
I firmly believe that God wants to use everything that happens in our lives to form us into being more like Jesus!
Therefore, my one word for 2026 is EMBRACE - embracing everything that happens in my life this year!
I encourage you to develop your one word for 2026. You don’t need the book to create your one word, but if you want to read it, it is a quick read (only 112 pages). You can get it HERE.
If you take this ONE WORD challenge, I would love to hear from you. Please use the comment button below or email me to share your one word. I really do want to hear about your one word, so that I can be praying for you.
Since my one word for 2026 is embrace, that will become the focus of the first few articles in my 2026 Friday posts. We will look at embracing both the pleasant and unpleasant things of life - aging, pain, complexity, each new day, self-worth, routines—to mention a few. As we begin this new year, I want to encourage you to develop your one word, keep your focus on Jesus, and let Holy Spirit continue to form you in Christ’s image.
Remember, we are always being formed! The question is how.