My one word for 2025: Joy
Hardship is overrated
Happy New Year! And welcome to this bi-weekly-ish newsletter hand-typed by Valentina Thörner, the Empress of Remote. I talk about product leadership, process design, and people (and their relationships). Proudly non-AI, and proudly all-opinions-my-own.
At the beginning of every calendar year, I choose a word to influence the upcoming 12 months. [Here’s the origin story and how-to.] This year, I am choosing joy to set the tone for this crispy new year.
Joy - that bubbly and whimsical sensation of positivity when I run down a slope at full speed, when I get lost in the wonderful world of balloons, when a book makes me giggle, a song makes me want to get up and dance. I am pretty good at being dedicated, hardworking, driven, and ambitious. So this year I want to add some sparkle.
Wait - no SMART goals? No 1% better every day? No roadmaps to perfection?
Well…
Joy: before, during, after
For me, there are three distinctive parts to joy.
There’s what we call “Vorfreude” in German. It’s when you look forward to something. The feeling kids have before Christmas, or when you were counting down the days to see Taylor Swift.
Then there’s the act of actually enjoying the event itself, and realizing that you are enjoying it. “If this isn’t nice, what is?” to quote Kurt Vonnegut. It works for both big and small moments.
And finally, you can derive additional joy from remembering those joyful moments. That’s why people buy fridge magnets during holidays and take pictures. Just remember to actually look at the pictures from time to time.
And then there’s a bonus subcategory of joy: the joy of things that just work! This one is about removing small irritants from your life - like the knife that you’ve been wanting to replace forever, or the light bulb in the storage room that’s flickering.
Planning for joy - because things don’t just happen
Reviewing last year’s calendar I took note of the things I particularly enjoyed: opera and musicals with friends, food and wine with friends, fine dining dates, dancing with friends, hiking with friends - oh, there’s a theme!
I recharge in solitude, but I actually have more fun with my people. And people (especially when there are parents in your group) have complicated schedules, so you get more done with advanced planning. Also, advanced planning allows for really creative calendar decorations.
Vorfreude: Every time we get tickets for a musical, when we book a special dinner, or when a birthday is coming up, I put it into my huge wall calendar. I use colourful pens and stickers to mark the occasion - so as time goes by the calendar looks ever more happy.
Enjoying the moment: I made it a habit last year (topic: presence) to say out loud when something is nice, feels good, or just makes me happy. I want to acknowledge it for myself and for those around me. That’s something I’ll keep doing. Sometimes I’ll also snatch a photo, just in case.
Remembering: There’s a dedicated photo wall in my room that gets updated once a year, roughly, with new selfies-with-friends. Then there’s the birthday calendar with photos from last year’s adventures, and yes, I use my photo app’s throwback function to discover past joy.
Making things work: This one isn’t so much about creating joy, but about reducing annoyances - which in turn makes it easier to enjoy the good things in life. Keep only the good knife (or wine opener), get a cosy blanket for your couch that doesn’t shed, repaint your chairs, print art for your wall if you think they look bare. Make your life beautiful and easy. Suffering is overrated.
Sun, colours, plants
There’s also a more personal approach to joy. My living room is overflowing with plants. I enjoy colourful accessories, jackets, dresses. I go into the sun whenever possible (OK, that one might be easier for me than for others). I only keep the good knife (or the good wine opener). I buy the nicer cheese. And it turns out that joy attracts joy.
There’s even an entire book about how to add more joy to your life, if you need some science to validate your longing: Joyful. The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, by Ingrid Fetell Lee.
So - what’s your word of the year? What do you want to buy your North Star for the next 12 months? And how can this shape what you actually DO during the year?
If you need inspiration, here are my past words:
2024: presence
2023: ambition
2022: rhythm
2021: prosperity
2020: balance
2019: intention
2018: conscience
I’d love to hear about yours!