"Surprise!" Word of the Year 2026
Every year I see people choosing a "Word of the Year." The idea is to pick a theme for the year, identifying a general area of personal growth instead of a specific goal or resolution. In general, this can be a helpful practice. It's certainly more beneficial than setting resolutions that are impossible to follow through with. But there are two major problems I see with picking a word of the year. First, they are usually cute and comfortable words. Common ones are "love," "joy," "compassion," "hope," etc. No one picks words that are uncomfortable but ultimately helpful like: "humility," "refinement," "confession," "blood, sweat, and tears," etc. You get my point. Second, picking a thematic word of the year is problematic if you believe you're in control of setting the course of the year. In my experience, when I have picked a theme for the year, even if it ends up being appli...