This book…

Encourages you to choose a single focus word to guide your year and align your heart with God’s transformative work instead of struggling with overwhelming resolutions.

• Why this matters: Focuses discipleship on heart change before behavior modification through intentional focus.
• Who it’s for: Helps Christians feeling overwhelmed by resolutions and those seeking deeper spiritual growth through practical daily habits.
• Between the lines: Sometimes oversimplifies complex growth processes in spiritual formation.
• At a glance: 192 pages • 2012 • Evangelical • Easy • 4.11/5

Ashcraft and Olsen present an alternative to New Year’s resolutions by selecting one focus word for the year. This approach channels spiritual growth through biblical alignment, prayerful selection, and visible reminders, transforming your heart first before changing behaviors.

Heart Transformation, One Word at a Time

The overwhelm of New Year’s resolution quickly discourages most people. You have so many areas you want to improve, but you can’t keep all of the balls in the air you are juggling. For over a decade, I have enjoyed replacing resolutions with my word for the year. I came across this concept well before I found Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen’s book, My One Word, but they way the set the practice in scripture was helpful.

Structure

The book’s framework revolves around a single powerful concept: choosing one word for the year instead of making multiple resolutions. Ashcraft and Olsen develop their case through a logical seven-part progression that guides readers toward transformation. They begin by introducing the “My One Word” concept as a refreshing alternative to overwhelming resolutions, then establish a solid biblical foundation that distinguishes God-dependent change from mere self-help. The authors provide practical guidance for word selection through vision-casting and prayer, while addressing the self-deception that often derails transformation efforts. They emphasize keeping your word visible throughout the year, explore how your chosen word evolves to transform your perception, and conclude with spiritual disciplines (thought capture, journaling, waiting) that maximize your word’s impact in daily life.

Evaluation

The book emphasizes heart transformation over behavior modification, which aligns with Reformed theology. It presents sanctification as cooperative—God’s grace working through our intentional positioning (Dallas Willard: “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning”). The authors maintain that true change requires personal responsibility (setting focus) while emphasizing complete dependence on Christ’s power. Unlike some prosperity teaching, they acknowledge suffering as part of growth. The book avoids works-righteousness by framing spiritual disciplines as receptive postures rather than earning mechanisms.

Strengths

The book offers several strengths that elevate it beyond typical self-help literature. It simplifies spiritual growth by focusing on a single word rather than overwhelming resolutions, creating a manageable framework for transformation. At its core, the approach emphasizes heart transformation over behavior modification, aligning perfectly with biblical principles of inner renewal. The authors provide practical implementation tools—including visibility strategies, Scripture pairing techniques, and journaling practices—that transform abstract concepts into daily habits. Rather than promoting self-reliant change, the book creates a framework for grace-powered transformation that acknowledges our dependence on God’s work. Throughout, it encourages patience in spiritual formation while maintaining daily awareness, recognizing that genuine growth happens gradually through consistent focus.

Cautions

While powerful, the book has notable limitations in its approach to spiritual formation. It may oversimplify complex growth processes by reducing transformation to a single word focus, potentially missing the multifaceted nature of sanctification. The framework lacks robust accountability structures for community engagement throughout the year, missing opportunities for the essential role others play in our spiritual development. Additionally, it provides limited guidance on discerning authentic growth while avoiding reductionist metrics that might quantify what should remain qualitative in nature.

Quotations

• “Self-help is a popular idea and, on the surface, a source of comfort. The concept implies that we can become whatever we want to become. Without help from anyone, except perhaps a book writer. This speaks to the essence of what we long for: to be the self-made man or woman. It is, after all, the American Dream.” (p. 31)
• “When all we do is try not to do what we’ve always done in an attempt to keep from being what we’ve always been, the future goes unnoticed and unfulfilled. We walk into the future facing backwards, so afraid of what we’ve been that we never see what we actually are. Or where we can head in Christ.” (p. 65)

Takeaways

Apply the “My One Word” approach with practical action steps that transform it from concept to daily practice. Begin by choosing a specific focus word paired with a Scripture verse to memorize, creating a biblical foundation for your journey. Next, surround yourself with visual cues by strategically placing your word on your phone lock screen, desk, and mirror—these reminders keep your focus word at the forefront of your mind throughout busy days. Develop a simple daily journaling practice that documents how your word intersects with everyday experiences, helping you recognize God’s work in seemingly ordinary moments. Finally, implement a thought capture discipline that equips you for spiritual warfare by identifying negative thoughts, testing them against Scripture’s truth, and replacing destructive patterns with God-honoring perspectives.

Conclusion

My One Word offers a powerful framework for spiritual growth through its focused approach. The book excels in three key areas: simplifying discipleship through a single word, emphasizing heart transformation before behavior modification, and providing practical application tools like visual reminders and journaling exercises. Its theological foundation correctly recognizes transformation as God’s grace working through our intentional positioning.

However, the book occasionally oversimplifies the complex journey of spiritual formation. It lacks robust accountability structures for community engagement and provides limited guidance on discerning growth without reducing sanctification to mere metrics.

You can implement this approach by selecting a focus word aligned with Scripture, creating strategic visual reminders, and developing a simple but consistent journaling practice to document God’s transformative work in my life.

I have returned to this book several times over the years. I firmly believe it will help you as you continue to see God conform you into the likeness of Christ.