GOT A WORD OF THE YEAR? I’LL SHARE MINE EVEN IF YOU DON’T SHARE YOURS!

Have you or do you consciously choose a word of the year to help or guide your goal(s)?  Whether a resolution or goals broken down by milestones I believe most of us are intentional when setting them, myself included.

This year my Q Sciences business group challenged us to choose a word for 2023.  It doesn’t stop there.  We were also asked to (voluntarily) write down as many affirmations to help remind us of what powerhouses we are and finally, pen a letter to ourselves that we’ll read again at the start of 2024.  I’m still working on the last one and stopped at 34 affirmations – that just filled 2 pages of my notebook.  No strategy there.  The action from that exercise is to place your word + affirmations in a place you can see it everyday.  This little write up is about the WORD I chose for 2023 and perhaps I’ll write another listing all the affirmations :).

My word for 2023 is GROWTH

I’m learning and growing every single day just like you are and I thought that after a few days I may find this word to be a little too generic or cliché even but not so much.  It stuck and is still sticking hard!  Most of all, it aligns with where I am right now.  I’ll proceed to share two things with you:

1. Why I chose to participate and
2. How I chose my word

WHY I CHOSE TO PARTICIPATE

The “why” I will further break down into why I chose to participate as well as why I think it’s important or beneficial for the year ahead.

I chose to participate because for one I’ve never intentionally chosen a word of the year but when I look back, I’ve always had one in the background driving my every move.  To use 2022 as a fresh example, my business goal was drive brand awareness and to succeed, I had to get uncomfortable – and not just a little!  I’ve posted and shared before, but I had to put thought & strategy behind most posts and still remain true to myself and my brand.  My success in all areas needed me to show up hard and consistently and almost all of it was on the social platforms.  I did that, got uncomfortable I mean so that was my word even if it was subconscious.

I can really laugh at myself when I look back at my content and even cringe sometimes, but you know what, I won’t delete or edit any of it.  That new “comfort” made its way into every other area of my life throughout the year and I am better for it.  In fact, I have encouraged a handful of others to do the same or at the very least, plan to start and that part drives back to my purpose.  #allinterwined

That begs the question as to why it’s important to have or choose a word for the year.  My personal opinion is that it is at the center of all your goals regardless of which area in your day-to-day. It’s a word that will hold you accountable and keep you on track.  Think of a big project – in my marketing days, when I was stuck or felt like I was going off the rails or spiraling, I always went back to the primary objective to get back on track.  Why are we doing this?  What are we trying to solve and/or achieve.  The word GROWTH for me will be and do just that and believe me, I know that I’ll need to get WAY more uncomfortable this year.  Ya girl is ready!

HOW DID I CHOOSE IT?

Don’t hate, but I think the word chose me.  100%!  It was the first word that came to mind when I was presented with the option – it was immediate and 5 seconds after the team call ended, I was jotting down alternative options.  I didn’t and couldn’t FEEL any of them though.  Nothing resonated like GROWTH so what did I do?

Yup, I went back to 2022 to evaluate my goals and my successes.  All the metrics I measured proved I was successful in creating that brand awareness I was chasing so it was a no brainer.  This is the year to really grow in all my businesses!

Sidenote but relevant:  I recently attended a vision board party.  The the invite was timely as I was still hoping to “feel” another word.  I enjoyed the intimate gathering but as I built my 2023 vision, GROWTH was eminent!

That said, you can go through a more formal-ish process of choosing a suitable word.  I still believe it will entail looking back that the previous year as a starting point.  Listing wins, lessons, and areas to improve or even new tactics to add into the mix.  At the end of the day, YOU must feel it somewhere on the inside and feel it so hard that every goal you set has your word at the forefront.

What’s your word?  If you don’t have one, will you choose one?  Just in case you were wondering, it’s not too late.

Have fun with it.