It’s time to choose the BIG words that guide me throughout the year. If you have been following my journal for the last ten years (Wow! I can’t believe it’s been that long!), you may be familiar with my BIG Words. If you’re not, you may find this creative take on New Year resolutions will inspire you to try keeping a journal focused on writing.
WHAT IS A BIG WORD?
Instead of making resolutions at the start of a new year, I choose twelve meaningful words to guide my thoughts and feelings about writing over the next 12 months. In recent years, I haven’t always posted my choices every January, but I have often used them to shape my entries on this blog.
Here is the master BIG word list I created and have been drawing my words from. Most are verbs that reflect an action you can take or concept words. I have found that choosing them randomly provides an extra level of inspiration. I have also reused words and found I can go deeper each time. I have linked a few of the words to relevant blog posts as examples.
Zara’s Master BIG Word List as of 2025
- accept
- act
- adapt
- admire
- amaze
- anchor
- attempt
- authenticity
- awareness
- awe
- balance
- believe
- bloom
- bound
- brave
- breathe
- build
- calm
- care
- catharsis
- center
- challenge
- change
- clarify
- cheer
- cherish
- comfort
- commit
- cooperate
- confidence
- connect
- consistent
- contemplate
- courage
- create
- curiosity
- dance
- dare
- declutter
- dedicate
- delight
- delve
- determine
- devote
- discern
- discipline
- discover
- dive in
- donate
- dream
- edit
- educate
- embrace
- empathize
- endure
- energize
- engage
- enjoy
- enthusiasm
- evaluate
- evolve
- expand
- experience
- experiment
- family
- fearless
- fierce
- fit
- flex
- fly
- focus
- follow
- forgive
- forward
- free
- friendship
- fuel
- generosity
- gentle
- giving
- gladden
- gratitude
- ground
- gumption
- habituative
- happiness
- harmonize
- help
- hopeful
- imagine
- imitate
- immerse
- infuse
- inspire
- intend
- introspection
- joy
- judge
- kindness
- laugh
- leap
- learn
- liberate
- listen
- love
- measure
- mindful
- motivate
- move
- notice
- nourish
- observe
- onward
- optimism
- organize
- overcome
- overhaul
- passionate
- patience
- pause
- peace
- persist
- pivot
- play
- plan
- please
- positive
- process
- produce
- progress
- prove
- purge
- purpose
- reach out
- reboot
- rebound
- rebuild
- recalibrate
- recharge
- reclaim
- reconcile
- reconnect
- recover
- redeem
- read
- re-evaluate
- reflect
- refocus
- reframe
- refresh
- rejuvenate
- relate
- relaunch
- release
- renew
- renovate
- reorient
- repair
- repurpose
- research
- resolve
- restore
- revise
- revitalize
- strengthen
- test
- value
- watch
- wish
USING THE WORDS TO INSPIRE
Each month, I use my BIG word of the month to inspire my morning journal entries. Here are some thoughts and questions that get me started.
1. How is the word defined?
2. What does the word mean to me?
3. How does the concept embodied in the word make me feel?
4. How does it relate to my writing?
5. What does the word inspire me to explore or research?
6. What are the word’s positive and negative sides?
RECORDING MY THOUGHTS
In general, I try to keep all my tasks and notes in my bullet journal. The one exception is my BIG word Journal. I love using a beautiful journal and writing in fountain pen. But I also think using my Rocketbook may be an exciting alternative to try. The texture of the page and the Pilot rollerV5 have a similar feel.
Here is my first entry of 2025. The word is PLAN.
MY WORDS FOR 2025
Here are the words I have chosen for this year. Be looking for posts focused on them.
Do you think you’d be inspired by BIG words?
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