My 2025 Word of the Year

Have you ever felt like your life was bursting at the seams, like you had everything you thought you wanted and yet something still felt missing? Well, last year I found myself staring at my calendar, every slot filled. My phone was constantly pinging. My closet was, well, a little full, and yet something just felt off. And that's when a single question changed everything. I asked myself, "What if I could do less but better?" And this led me to choose my 2025 word of the year, a tradition that I've been doing for over a decade. And this word will not only transform how I live, but how I show up in the world. And this word is one that I feel embodies, elegance, intentionality, and the art of refined living. Today I'm sharing this word and how it's going to guide us as a community in creating a beautiful life by pursuing less but better. Let's dive in.

Welcome to the School of Self-Image, where personal development meets style. Here's your hostess, master life coach, Tonya Leigh.

Hello, my dear friends. Welcome to the podcast. I'm recording this after being on vacation for almost two weeks, which I rarely do, and it felt so good to be unplugged. I told my team at the beginning of the year, I said, "Listen, one of my wishes for this year that I want us to plan for is that I want to take Christmas off." And I say that year after year, but typically the week after Christmas I'm working low-key behind the scenes because we're heading straight into a launch. But this year I am so proud to say we all did it successfully. We all completely unplugged, no one posted on Slack, and it was divine. I feel so renewed, so excited, and so ready for this new year.

One of the things that I did while I was on break was spend a lot of time really thinking about last year, thinking about my biggest frustrations, thinking about my successes, thinking about what I wish would have been different, how I wish I would've been different. And then I thought about this year and what it is that I want to create, and most importantly, how I want to feel this year. And I asked myself, what is the one quality that if I embodied would help me the most to create those results and not repeat some of my frustrations from last year?

And this leads me to the one thing that I do every single year, and I've done it for the last 10 years that has literally helped me reinvent myself year after year. And that is choosing my word of the year. And now it's something that every member does within the School of Self-Image. And it's so fun to see the creativity of what comes up, what women are compelled to step into, and to see us actually live this word, embody this word over the year and how it changes our lives. And so I highly suggest that you choose your own word of the year.

Now, if you want some help in asking yourself some questions that will help you clarify what your word might be, I created something for you. You're going to love it. It's called the Art of the Edit, and it's five essential questions to help you curate your most authentic year ever. You can go to schoolofselfimage.com/art and get this free download and really spend some time with it. I have noticed that the years when I spend more time thinking deeply about my life, thinking deeply about what I desire and really spending time thinking about my plan for the next year, those tend to be my best years. It's the years where I don't give a lot of thought to it, and I sort of have the attitude of like, "Let's just see what happens," those end up being my years that I wish I could go back and redo. So spend some time doing this. Again, you can go to schoolofselfimage.com/art and get these five questions to ask yourself.

Now, in asking myself these questions, plus going through the curated year workshop that we hosted within the membership, I realized very clearly what my word needed to be this year. Last year was a year of really working hard. And I love working hard, just so you know. I am no stranger to hard work. I've said many times on this podcast I started working when I was eight years old in a strawberry field picking strawberries, and I have literally been working every year since. And so my self-image is of a woman who works and who works hard. And because that's how I see myself, I am really good at proving that true. And last year there were moments where I was like, "Can I just take a break? Can I pause a little bit?" But then the crazy part is, you all, I look back and I realize I created all of that. I made all of those decisions that led to me being in this moment with a lot of things to get done today.

Now, I will say that I'm very proud of the work that I did this past year, and a lot of it has not even been seen yet because a lot of it has been behind the scenes. We are completely redoing the membership, and with that comes a lot of things that need to happen in order to create this new experience. On top of that, I hosted the SOSI tour. So I went to four different cities, got to meet so many of you in person, which I absolutely love. I love being in person with you all. It's one of my favorite things. And on top of that, I moved, and the date to move in my house kept changing. So basically I was kicked out of my rental and had to live in Airbnbs and hotels until we could move into my house. And then my dad has been sick, so we've been traveling back and forth there a lot.

So it was just a lot, and I'm so proud of how I managed it, but I also realized that last year's frustrations are this year's opportunities. And that's how I want you to think about your life. Whatever has frustrated you, that is a sign, it's something for you to look at. It's something for you to figure out how you can transform and go beyond.

And so this year I have decided that my word of the year is essentialism or I like to think of it as I am an essentialist. I love choosing a word that will cause me to change my self-image, and there's no better way than to put it after 'I am'. I am an essentialist. What does that mean? It's someone who chooses less but better. So instead of trying to do all of the things and be all of the things, they focus on being and doing what matters most. That is why a singular word of the year is perfect for an essentialist because it's a very clear focus. It's not like I'm going to try to be a hundred things this year. I'm going to focus on really stepping into this one quality.

An essentialist also protects her time and energy like a valuable asset. So rather than saying yes by default or impulsively, they take a breath and they really think about what matters most, what's essential for their life. They also eliminate the unnecessary. So instead of keeping things just in case, they regularly edit their lives with intention. An essentialist also focuses on the vital few. So instead of trying to pursue every opportunity, because there's so many, it can be so overwhelming and it can be fun to think about. But when you try to go after everything, you often end up achieving very little because your energy is so scattered. Your attention is in many different places versus having a few very clear directions that you're going to go this year.

In fact, within the School of Self-Image, we choose a singular focus for the year. Not only do we have a singular word, we have a singular goal. And year after year, I see women do extraordinary things because finally they stop trying to do it all and they focus on the one thing that's going to move their life forward, the one thing that's going to change them. And then what happens is it spills over into every other area of their life and they end up attracting all of these other things versus trying to do it all at one time. An essentialist also values the white space, space to breathe, space to think. Instead of filling every moment, they create room for thought and creativity and rest.

I was introduced to the concept of essentialism through Greg McKeown's book. If you have not read it, go and get it immediately. It is such an expansive way actually of looking at your life. I know we think, "Oh, if we're taking things away that can feel like it's contracting your life. But the opposite is true. It's often when our lives feel so stuffed and we have so many choices and we have so many things and we have so many people and we have so many notifications that we begin to feel the weight of the world. And so this book really opened my eyes to what he calls the disciplined pursuit of less. It isn't about deprivation, it's about elevation. It's the art of elegant elimination. It's the art of the elegant edit, editing your life meticulously of what doesn't serve the future that you envision for yourself.

Think about it as the most exquisite French meal. What makes it special isn't the quantity of the dishes, but the perfect execution of each element. That's essentialism and practice. And especially in today's world, it is such a transformative practice. It's a quality that will elevate your life experience, because again, we're inundated with more quantity, and I feel like we are suffocating under the weight of all that we are choosing to bring into our lives. And I want us all to think about that. It's all a choice.

When you edit your life like a beautiful capsule wardrobe, something magical happens, you stop drowning in options and you start truly swimming in possibilities. And your self-image transforms when you're no longer trying to be everything to everyone, but rather the most essential version of yourself. And that's what I'm going for this year.

Barry Schwartz's research reveals something counterintuitive. The more options we have, the less satisfied we often become. I think about two very different experiences. Experience number one is you walk into a T.J.Maxx and you are so inundated with things visually. There are clothes and gadgets and accessories and body wash. There's so many things and it doesn't feel as fulfilling as, let's say, experience number two, which is walking into an Hermes store. Hermes doesn't have endless handbag options. There's space between their items. You feel expansive when you're in the store because there is less, not because there's more. It's this carefully curated collection. And this brand understands something crucial; luxury isn't about endless choice, it's about perfect choice, perfect choice for you. I think about in our modern world, this principle becomes even more crucial because we're faced with infinite scrolling, endless notifications, constant demands for our attention. And the result: we have decision fatigue that drains our creative energy and dims our potential.

And that's why we've been working so hard behind the scenes for the membership because one of the things that women were saying is that, "Oh my God, there's so much in this membership and I'm overwhelmed." Because basically when you join the School of Self-Image, you would get access to every class I've ever taught, all of the bonuses, all of the workshops. And I realized what I thought was a gift was actually walking into T.J.Maxx, if we're just being honest here. There were so many choices. And I really started to spend time thinking about how I want my life to feel, thinking about a luxurious experience, thinking about how to create possibilities versus create overwhelm.

And I'll have to say, and this is for all of you business owners out there, you have to experiment. You have to try things. You're always going to want to refine. There's always going to be opportunities for the next level. And I love sharing this with you all because, again, I don't think these conversations are had often enough of, what's really going on behind the scenes of a successful business? And behind the scenes, I was realizing that I had created the T.J.Maxx of coaching, meaning you had so many possibilities, you didn't even know where to go.

Now I'm very proud, also, we support our members, we have lots of calls, we coach people through this. And year after year, our members still get incredible results. And I'm excited to take it to the next level because in my heart, I love luxury. If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that luxury is something that I appreciate. And I suspect if you are attracted to my work, it's something that you appreciate as well. Now, luxury is different for all of us. It does not mean designer handbags, it's a feeling. It's a feeling of space, it's a feeling of quality, it's a feeling of intentionality. And that's what I want to create for the membership, which is why we are completely redoing the entire thing. And it's been a work in progress for the past year, and we are going to be unveiling it this month to members.

I am so proud and so excited for what we have created for you. We are taking this experience to the next level. We are simplifying and doing it better. And now I'm excited to take this concept of essentialism even deeper into my life, into my finances, into my relationships, into my health, into my style. Even over the past week, I've been thinking about the essentialist mindset, what that is going to look like for me to really apply this concept to my thoughts and how I approach thought work.

So stay tuned, my friends. I'm really excited to see how this word changes me this year. And if you're in the membership, I will be sharing more for sure, because I don't think I've ever had a year where I have felt this intentional. I mean, I'm a pretty intentional person, but there's something about this word that has convicted me at the deepest, deepest level.

If this is a concept that you are interested in exploring for yourself this year, here's some questions that I challenge you to ask yourself. What in your life is truly essential? Meaning what's most important to you? Think of it as your non-negotiables. What can you eliminate? Now, if your brain says, "No, I can't, I have to do everything," that is the non-essentialist mindset. There are things that can always be eliminated. What deserves your deepest attention? I bet it's not social media. It may not be that relationship that you keep trying to make work. It may not be certain projects that you're working on right now. Be open to what comes from the truest part of you, listen to your intuition. And then finally, how can you do less but better?

I highly encourage each of you to choose a word of the year, and I would love to hear what yours is. So please come and find me over on Instagram @TonyaLeigh and leave me a message. Let me know what is that one word that you're going to choose to guide you over the next year. And again, if you want some questions to help you get clear, head over to schoolofselfimage.com/art and download the five essential questions to helping you curate your most authentic year yet. We are going to have a good one, my friends. Let's make it happen. Thank you all so much for tuning in, and I will see you on the next episode. Cheers.