Hi, Friend.
Have you ever heard of this concept → “word of the year”?
Let me guess - you saw it mentioned in a FB group somewhere, yes? Someone shared a close-up of their vision board? There was an IG post about choosing your intention for the year? Something like that?
You might have even picked a word, but forgot what the word was by the time Valentine’s candy made its way onto the shelves.
It’s a lovely idea, really. And as someone who is super into words generally, I’m all over it.
The hard part is knowing what the heck to do with this word once you pick it.
Do you… print it out, and hang it in your office? Write it at the top of every page in your journal? Do you tattoo it on your inner forearm? [Actual idea I had → lemme tattoo word of the year every year in tiny font, and have this mystical looking tattoo grow over the next three or four decades. Don’t tell Italian.]
Today, two things for you:
– some questions to ask yourself as you ponder the word of the year (IF you choose to do such a thing)
– an actual DEMO coaching call where I walk someone through finding their word of the year, AND help them translate the word into actionable behaviors
First, the questions.
Settle in. Take a deep breath. Take out your notebook.
Or, keep standing over your kitchen sink, sipping on an espresso.
In other words, do whatever you do before a thinking exercise.
1. When was the first time you first learned about “word of the year”? What was the context?
2. Have you picked a word of the year before? What was the word? Do you remember? What did you do with that word, if anything? Was it helpful? If it wasn’t helpful, why not? What would have made it more helpful? [My guess is connecting the word to specific actions would have made all the difference, and if this is the case, definitely check out the video!]
3. When you consider the word for 2023, are there any candidates coming to mind? Are any words already popping for you?
4. What do you want 2023 to feel like? What do you want the year to be about? Jot down some ideas.
5. What was your 2022 like? If you had to retroactively come up with the word of the year for 2022, what would it have been?
6. When you think of THIS year, how do you want it to be different than last year? In what ways, do you want it to be the same? Were there any things that you’d want to carry through to this year?
7. Now look at your notes, and come up with a short list for your words. Can you strike any words off?
8. What ONE word is pulling you? Is that the right word? Or is it almost there, but not quite? Play with parts of speech (think “honest” vs. “honesty”, or “grow” vs. “growth”).
9. Land on one word that feels like the best fit for now, and park it for a bit. Walk around with it for a day or a week. Marinate. Chances are, you’ll fall more in love with this word, OR you’ll come across a different word, that will FEEL right.
I have led a number of awesome folks through this exercise, and I might be sharing those videos at some point, as I go through them and edit, meanwhile, here’s ONE conversation you can check out where I walk someone through this process.
Is this helpful?
Oh, and I have been sharing my thoughts in the form of those ubiquitous squares lately. Yes, yes, I've been playing with posting on IG - the sky is falling. What's next??? Tiktok???? Goodness.
Are you hanging out on IG already?
Come find me at @k_solovieva
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