There’s something magical about the start of a new calendar year. Perhaps it’s the sense of a clean slate or the chance to shift one step closer to our goals. Over the years, my perspective on a new year has evolved. It’s less about “new year, new me” and resolution energy, and more about the bigger vision for my goals and what success truly looks like in my world. We can still set micro-goals, while recognizing that what becomes sustainable enough to get us there is cultivated each day of every year.
Still, the one new year trend I have latched onto is selecting a “word for the year”. That’s not to say my vocabulary for striving to be better and living joyfully won’t expand beyond one word over the course of a year, but one word is powerful enough to set the pace. Last year, my word was “perspective,” and it turned out to be a great choice. Perspective, even the willingness to incorporate frames of reference beyond my own, helped to navigate challenging moments and ultimately paved the way to clarity and acceptance.
This year, I’m choosing two words: one personal and one for my business. “Expansion” tops my personal word list. 2025’s focus on perspective led me to not only realize something I’d known for a while but actually “feel” it. Feeling it deeply is an entirely different perspective from consciously knowing it.
I’ve got quite a few irons in the fire, both personally and professionally. Over the past decade or so, I’ve been busy building. If you’ve followed my blogs or know me personally, you’ll likely recall that I’m an adult learner who returned to college after becoming a single parent. While that opened my world in ways I never could have imagined, I can’t deny that for a good number of these building years, I often felt like I was playing catch-up.
There is something very special about forging a path in a non-traditional way. Though in the spirit of the adult learner, many would likely agree about the “catch-up” feeling. When there isn’t a traditional path to follow, we are gifted the opportunity to navigate our own. A shift in perspective encouraged me to realize, and even “feel”, that building isn’t quite the same as expansion.
Building is about creating foundation and capacity. There is a stability instinct attached to building, which has served my family and me and continues to do so. However, there is a juicy expansion just waiting for me to show up and tune in. It calls me to not only support the foundation I’ve built, but also to establish a broader reach and embrace new possibilities, while setting down the quiet, yet sometimes heavy, weight of building.
Along the way, especially when building non-traditionally, we start to evolve in ways we never imagined. Most of the time, this is a great thing. And at other times, it comes with the realization of, “Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Taking a minute to recognize that building and expansion require different energy is powerful. Building taught me how to create and sustain. Expansion asks me to release control, trust what’s been built, and step into a broader version of myself and my work.
For Level Up Solutions, the word I’m carrying into the year is “humanness.“ It’s a word that I’ve been using a lot lately. Unlike humanity or human nature, which can come off as theoretical, humanness feels genuine and lived-in.
One truth I’ve picked up along the way in my career and business is that organizations develop only as far as the people within them do. Even as AI and technology continue to reshape the way we work and interact, leaning into our humanness remains the foundation for adaptability, lasting impact, and expansion. Systems, strategies, and goals matter, but they are only as effective as the humans expected to carry them forward. Tapping into humanness encourages development and growth that is grounded in reality, not just presumption.
Looking back, our words of the year tell a story. My story began over a decade ago, and even well before that. It took a bit of perspective to realize that I wasn’t watering the seeds of expansion, even after roping off and tilling the garden. This year, I’m excited for the ways we can all expand and embrace our humanness as we learn and grow in ways that feel authentic and create fruitful waves for ourselves, our tribes, and the organizations we partner with. Along those lines and in honor of my word, expansion, I’m looking forward to sharing an exciting announcement with you in the first half of 2026. Stay tuned!
“Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.” ~ Bruce Lee
