[Transcript starts at 1:13]
Hello. Hello. Hello, my podcast people. And thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. If you're listening, watching, tuning in on the day that it drops into this Monday, December 23rd, happy, almost Christmas. Happy, almost Hanukkah, happy, almost Kwanzaa, happy, almost whatever you celebrate or.
Happy almost Wednesday if you don't celebrate anything. So today we're talking about Choosing a word for the year. I spoke about this on last Monday's episode and I was like, oh I'll make Thursday's episode, the throwback episode, I'll pull it from the archives. And then I realized I didn't have an episode in the archives about choosing your word for the year.
So I was like, you know what, let me just actually make one. Cause I'll refer to this again, moving forward. I'm sure. So a few life updates before we hop into things. Um, y'all, man, I am feeling like doing a whole lot of nothing. If you're watching this, you can see the lighting is different, uh, because I'm filming it, filming, yeah, I am filming, I'm recording this at night, it's like 8.
45 on Monday night, I usually do these during the day, but I didn't feel like doing it, like, I actually love making these, but I was like, I just wanna, I had other things to do, I got a haircut today, I went and got an IV, I went to go look at a different pair of glasses, but they didn't have them in stock, I have the most babiest, narrowest face ever, crafts I got a lot of my, a lot of my glasses from Warby Parker.
They said online, they have the ones that I was looking at in narrow. I went there, they only had them in wide. So not even like an in between, they only had them in wide. I'm like, that could put like my face behind just one of the lenses. Uh, so it just was like a long stretched out morning of doing things and errands.
And then suddenly it was nighttime, right? I sat on the couch afterwards and I, I did a lot of my work on the couch, but I In the background, I was eating bread with Rupert. He's here with us now. It's a little hard to see, but he's, he is here. He switched chairs. Um, but you can see also that the lighting's different because I'm filming it at night, and so then I have to use a different lighting setup.
So we get a little bit of a reflection. With the glasses, but there's less banding with the M and I'm happy about that. But, um, all that to say, I'm just, I'm not trying to do shit. It is middle of December. I just want to chill. And if that's you, write it down and plan for next year, because I promise you, you're going to feel like this next year.
Uh, I have one more day of calls tomorrow and then I'm chilling. I'm out. I'm done. I'm relaxing till the beginning of January. So. I'm excited. We'll fly out, Lex and I fly out on Thursday, uh, to go to her parents and we're bringing Moose, so stay tuned for the breakdown of that. I honestly, I think that it'll be fine.
Moose is a very, very good dog. Um, but. Yeah, update. I'll update you on that. Last update. I got to spend some time with some really dope people last week. So on Tuesday, I met up with Meredith Root and Alex Parker. Well, Courtney, if you could link all those episodes, thank you. Same to you, Jojo. And it was great.
I, I love them both. I respect them both so much and Mary, I'm, I'm, Definitely much closer with Meredith. She's like, you know, a kindred spirit. She is like my girl. So it was just so great to see they were in from Canada. Uh, Alex was running in, not running. She was doing a half Ironman because she does shit like that.
And so they were, it was in Palm Springs and they decided to drive over, drive over, drive out to LA and we got to hang out and it was just so good. It was just, I spent time with them. And then on Friday I drove down to Laguna. And met up with my guy, Matt McInnes Watson. We can link that episode as well.
Thank you, Courtney. Um, he's the plyo guy. If you don't know, uh, he's on Instagram, he's McInnes Watson, but colloquially known and, and also maybe formally known as the plyo guy. Um, but I met up with him in Laguna for brunch and it was just so good. He's also like 97 feet tall. I just got to tell you that folks, like whenever I meet people, I never go in being like, Oh, this is what you're going to be like, look like, don't be like physically, but like my guy is tall.
He's a big man. But he's just super jolly and super smart and super kind and super nice just super with it And it was just great like we talked for a long time Then we went and walked down like by the beach area. We walked to the volleyball course. We walked around the downtown area It was amazing and maybe it was like even nicer because like it is technically local It's 45 minutes away from me, but I was just like This is the best.
Like I don't live in Laguna, but it's not far and we have beaches. And when people come to visit, like we can go and sit near the beach and walk and do these things. And I was just like, this is the best life. And that was one of the things we talked about was just the gratitude for the moment and how that interact, that time, that, that, uh, experience really felt like living, right?
Having brunch on the coast. You could see the ocean. Beautiful beach, by the way, there. With a friend from Instagram on a Friday. None of that, oh, I gotta go to work at 7. 30, I can't even, like, eat lunch. I think about times when I was, like, didn't really have lunch. I just think about being a PT, and I was like, one of the offices I worked at when I was a PT was located inside of Queens.
Grand Central Station. It was inside of Grand Central Station in New York City, inside of the New York Sports Club there. And it was busy and like you'd go for lunch and you're still busy and you're trying to run and you have 30 minutes and you come and eat at your desk and you're trying to have like five seconds to yourself.
No control of your own time and like, you know, I got a lot out of those jobs, but I'm also grateful that Those days are behind me and that we could just be having brunch and sitting there for hours. And you know, just, we have the support systems around us to allow that. And I know his wife was watching their daughter and just like, it was just amazing.
And you just got to be able to enjoy another human's company. And that's what, that's what it's about. Like that's what life and living is about. So it was really cool to be able to do that. So let's segue, transition, jump into today's main topic, which is choosing your word for the year. So, I specifically and strategically didn't or rather intentionally didn't want to title this how to choose your word for the year because there's lots of different ways to choose and I really with this episode just want to discuss the idea of having a word for the year and why it's something that I've done for the past like four or five years right.
Side note when I was thinking of the title and also when I just talk about this I go back and forth and I'm like word for the year? Word of the year and it's word for the year. Like if we're looking forward, word for the year. If we're looking backwards and we're reflecting, then it's word of the year.
This year's word of the year was polarization. I don't even want to go into it. Just we are so unserious. So why do I choose a word To me, that word serves as a North Star, right? It decreases decision fatigue and it moves me in the direction that I wish to go. To that end, I prefer that it be one word. So when I'm choosing, I'm always choosing one word.
And when I suggest to people, you know, this practice, I'm like, Pick one word and have it be a verb, right? Do you, if you wanna pick fucking five words, okay? But my soft suggestion is that you pick one word, you make it a verb, right? Because again, to me the goal is to have this be a north star, and that deli de eliminates, wow, eliminates decision fatigue, right?
Whenever you're faced with a decision about how to act or what to do, the word chooses for you, right? There's literally no decision to be made. So when you don't know. Like, what to do at all, right? So there's not even a choice there, options, you're like, I don't even know what to do. Great, the word has chosen for you.
Of note, this word doesn't need to be something that you do or look to do eleventy billion times a day, right? For me, it really is a North Star. I'm very intentional with that language there. It's a North Star. I mean, think about North Star, like, you don't see the North Star during the day. I mean, someone's about to be like, but sometimes, like, but y'all know what I'm saying.
You're only looking for the North Star at night and you're looking for it when you're lost, you know, you don't know where to go. And so that's where, that's why, that's how I use it. It's not like every second, every morning, I'm just like, and here's the word and here's the word. If that's how you want to use it.
By all means, but that's not how I use it, right? So it doesn't have this me giving you permission. You don't need to have it not be some like all consuming thing, right? So I personally, y'all know this. I'm not a real big goal setter, um, perhaps because I'm in HSP. I'm sensitive as fuck, or perhaps it's because I, I just really enjoyed the process of things and, you know, speaking to Alex when she was at the.
We have our dinner. We shut that place down by the way. We say they're talking so long. It was great. Um, but she was, I was like, are you gonna do another one? Did you like it? And she was like, I really enjoyed training for it. And I was like, you are so process oriented. I love that. Uh, and for me, I'm very much the same.
Uh, so to me choosing a word, it replaces my goals because it guarantees. I'm going to move in the direction that I want to be going. And I can then trust that I'm going to get where I'm supposed to go. So to that end, when I'm thinking about a word for year, for the year, for me, it's largely about how I want to feel and how I want the year to feel and what I want to focus on.
Right. So my password 2021 was lead. 2022 is grow. 2023 was create and 2024 was. Right. So this year, W R I T E. Right. As for how, or maybe before I get into that, yes, I stuck to the words. If you listen to my last Monday's episode, you'll hear I did a little like recap of things and I don't pick things that are some stretch.
I don't think pick things that are like, I'm not sure about, like, this is a word. And I'm just like, yeah, I, I'm going to lean into this and live into this. And we'll get into that in a little bit in terms of the action items as well. But, uh, as for how I pick the word for me, this is going to be woo and I'm all for it.
I literally just opened myself up to receiving. And just letting it fall into my head out of the heavens. And this is something that is like an end of the year thing. I'm not thinking about a word for the year in January or February or March or April, May, June. This is like literally October ish and on, usually like kind of November and on.
I start to be like, I am open to having the universe send me. So that's my process. Super woo. I'm just sitting there and then it falls into my head. Literally, that's what it feels like to be like, and it falls into my head. That's not for you. That's fine. Which is why I said this episode is not about how to pick your word.
Um, Lex actually, she has started doing word of the year. Last year was her first, or this year was her first year and she really liked it. So she's doing it again next year. Uh, she took to claude. ai. So you leaning on. Uh, to set and what she did was she didn't have the word, but she had her goals and how she wanted to feel.
And she wrote that into, into Claude and then asked for words and then asked for other words and you know why this word fits better and kind of the back and forth and decided on a word for it. And I decided on her word. You could also ask friends, you could hit the dictionary, old school, right? You can do whatever you want, right?
To me, this part, this choosing of the word, how you come across this, come upon this word, how it comes to you is super personal and super individual. After, for me, the next step is after I've think I found a word, I sit with it. And I want to see if it feels good. Like it'll hit me. And I'm like, okay, I think that's what it's going to be.
I've never had it like come down to two words. It's usually that word comes in and I'm just like, let me see. Let me say, um, this year was quite the Bader, what we call the Bader, what is called Bader Meinhof effect where it like, You start seeing it everywhere, but it's also cause you're looking for it.
But I decided on the word or decided to sit with the word. And I was just like, this word is coming up everywhere now. And, uh, Rachel Strickland and I were having a conversation and she said it. And I was like, Oh my God. Okay. The word has been decided. And when, when we had that conversation and she said it, I was like, Hey, the word that, that actually solidified.
I'm like the word, this is a word. Uh, but part of the time that I'm sitting with this and deciding how it feels and how it fits. Is I'm trying to identify action items and ways to show up in alignment with the word. So my word was right for W for, for W for this year, it was right. W R I T E. And that was like, I didn't have to sit with it.
I was just like, yeah, I know I want to be doing this. I know that the communication side of it, I'm going to do working on written communication, like that was simple. And so I didn't really need to sit that long with like what the action items looked like this year. I was like, this is a little bit more nebulous.
And I need some assistance. And so I actually leaned on chat GPT, um, for this because the action items weren't as clear to me. And I put it in and asked, you know, I did it. We know the better the input, the better the output when it comes to AI. And so I did, I give it background about myself and what, why I was asking it for this and it's my word for the year and how that word serves me.
And again, like my background, like what I look like, what my life experience has been like in general. And then asked for ways that I could like live into this. What would action items look like? What would this look like practically? You know, what would this like emotionally? I was all the different ways.
And then you can, and then I actually, at the end of it was like, if you want to ask me more questions to help clarify, I, you can do that as well. So, uh, that to me is a big thing. Again, having this word be a verb so that you can actually act into it. It doesn't have to be, but again, this is how I do it. So in terms of acting into it.
I wait until the new year, January 1st to jump into things for no other reason than I currently have a word. So I'm not trying to be like, okay, I've picked my word in October, November, and now I'm going to start it. I'm like, no, cause I need to finish this year with this word. Uh, so once it's solidified, I do fully solidify it with a, one of those, my intent bracelets.
Like, yes, I bought the set, the little kit. And I'd be out there on my table, hammering the things in. And I wear, I have one on right now, right? I have this year's on. And I'll make it probably on Jan, on January 1st, which is my birthday. Uh, I will make the bracelet for 2025. Allison, my mentor, she also sends me a rock that it like has it written in there that they do at Fringe and I love it.
Um, so, yeah. That's my process. That's why I do it. That's how I come up with the word. Uh, that's how I live into the word. That's how I show up in alignment with the word. And if you're wondering what 2025 word is. It's going to be, drum roll please, Root, R O O. The word fell into my head about two months ago, and I've really been sitting with it, like I said, you know, in the episode and thinking about action items and then, you know, called on chat GPT to, to give me the old, uh, assist alley oop.
And I'm really happy with what turned out and I'll probably do some more refining of it. But I know that it is a word and I'm excited to lean into it and to, uh, So, I'm going to finish out 2024 with W R I T E, sending my weekly emails, leaning into that form of communication. Um, I already did two, an email yesterday, and I just did an email today before I hopped on here.
And then come January 1, which will also be my 40th birthday, it'll be time to root. All right. That's all I got for you folks. I would love to hear your word, if you want to share. Our mafia, we had a dinner last week and we'll be having one in, again, next week. Next week, I guess, or is it, we had two this month.
Usually we do one, but we have two the final month of the year and we're going to go over our words and I just love hearing what people's words are. So if you want to share, I would love to hear, you could text me 5. You could send me a DM at the Boomer Maestro. Let me know. And I'd love to hear from you.
Also, speaking of, thank you for the kind words. I got some good feedback from a handful of handful of you, um, about the episode I did about running your business your own way, and you know, the folks of each hour, like I know this and you say it all the time, but there's just something about hearing it again.
So thank you. If that was you that reached out, if it helped you, I love that. All right. Gonna wrap it up here. And then we got one, we have a Thursday episode and we have one more episode after that for the year. And then it'll be just one time a week. So I'll make sure I go over that again in next Monday's episode.
But that's all I got for you for today. As always, endlessly, endlessly, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. Until next time, friends. Maestro, out.
Watch this episode on YouTube!
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MOTM #076: New Year’s Resolutions, Nutrition Coaching, and How To Get A 6-Pack with Tactic Functional Nutrition
MOTM #172: Automating Your Goals with Meredith Root and Alex Parker
MOTM #270: Motivation, Exploration, and Removing Temptation with Meredith Root and Alex Parker
MOTM #346: It's Never Too Late to Begin with Meredith Root and Alex Parker
MOTM #436: Building and Creating A Life That You Want To Be Living With Meredith Root and Alex Parker
MOTM #540: Cheers to the Best Life
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