Why a Word of the Year?

For me it has become a part of my yearly planning that I look forward to but prior to my mindset shift I truthfully thought having a word of the year was a bit woo woo. Man was I wrong! Now a few friends and I have a group text and we bounce words off of each other usually starting in early December - I highly recommend this sort of brainstorming & hype.

In 2019 I attended a personal development conference in Minneapolis, MN. It was life changing to say the least. Often we hear that we need to get into rooms with others whom are seeking growth. I didn't really understand it until I was in the room. Being surrounded by like minded women was epic! It lit a fire I didn't know existed......or at least had done my best to ignore. One of the practices I learned AND still do every year was to choose a word to represent the year ahead. A guidepost to filter life's choices through. That year I chose Influencer..... I wanted more of the community I experienced. I wanted to share ideas, gain knowledge from other women, collaborate creatively, foster growth and a place for women to not only have a seat at any table they wanted BUT also learn how to build more of those tables.

2020 came in like a wrecking ball though I wouldn't realize it until the end of March. First quarter Sarah was bright eyed, hopeful & excited for a year of possibility. I chose Meraki as my word, which means to do something with soul, creativity or love. I was going to change the world and pour myself into creating the life I wanted and the space I dreamed of professionally. In actuality I ended up homeschooling my youngest children and working 80+ hours a week for months and months. Turns out being a mortgage originator put me in the "essential worker" class. My husband also was an essential worker and so we worked. The creativity and love I had wanted to initiate change with shifted to my family. The events I had imagined became trips to the beach to learn about sea life when common core math had everyone in tears. It became finding a rhythm that spread my time to "teach" kindergarten and sixth grade, expertly work through a pipeline 3 times larger than I'd even handled and be a wife / mom. Dinner became down time with my family followed by late nights...early mornings originating. It wasn't pretty but we did it!

2021 I thought more carefully about my word of the year....we were still holding our breath from 2020 and I was cautiously optimistic. I chose Momentum. What I envisioned was momentum in finally getting down to making my vision from 2019 come to life. I took a podcasting course and was more intentional with my time. I time blocked. I journaled. I moved my body. I went to therapy. I spoke up. I had one of my biggest years professionally and one of my hardest personally. Turns out working through trauma in therapy isn't a one and done type thing. It's more of a roller coaster and you end up back in the same place again & again. When I look back at my word Momentum I see that it came to light in my work. Wasn't quite what I was going for but I learned that my capacity can grow and that I'm wildly capable!

2022 I chose release...... I am certain that I was not prepared for the kind of release I experienced. It wasn't even on my radar. I went into the year thinking I would release my anger and fear around my mom's death from cancer in 2015. I did work on that but that wasn't the release I found. That came from choosing me, creating boundaries, saying no more to being an enabler to someone elses destructive choices and ultimately to walking away from a job I held for almost 16 years. I released so much that year - my fear of change, the need to always be in control of everything, guilt and ownership of an addiction that wasn't mine, staying in places I was no longer valued or wanted and most importantly living my life people pleasing. In releasing those things I found my strength, tenacity, integrity, intelligence, creativity and light. That light had been dimmed over and over again - getting to shine how and when I chose has been life giving.

2023 I thought long and hard because as you can see the words I'd chosen prior showed up clearly but not how I intended when I chose them. Evolve was the word I ultimately chose and just as the years before it showed up in it's own way. I started that podcast I'd been dreaming of since 2020. Started co-hosting an empowerment group for women locally. Created an affirmation card deck and hit order from an online printer. I showed up to work every day and rather than being kept busy closing loans I found myself deep diving into product guidelines and investor guidelines, learning everything I could learn to provide accurate information. I took online courses, dove into everything CANVA, hosted classes, traveled to other islands to network, tried and failed at a lot of things. And was ok with it. Because I Evolved. It's a beautiful thing. I'm so grateful and so proud.

Looking to 2024 I am still working through my list..... Visionary / Innovate / Intentional & Ambition. I will spend this evening (NYE) looking up definitions, asking myself how each word might show up in my life, creating screensavers in CANVA, writing a few sentences for each as it could relate to the upcoming year. And hopefully land on one to be my guidepost for the next 365 days. What word or words are you using to guide your 2024 experience?

xoxoxo Sarah