Fun Business Fun Money Podcast
EP 097 – How to choose (and use) your Word of the Year
Word on the street is you need a word of the year.
But this isn’t just some trendy, cool buzzword that you post about on social media and then ignore for the next 12 months.
Your Word of the Year is far more powerful than that.
Join me for this coaching episode where we explore what your Word of the Year is, what it isn’t, and how it can help boost your income in 2024.
TRANSCRIPT
Hey there, and welcome back to the Fun Business Fun Money podcast! I’m your host, Deirdre Amies 👋
If you’re listening in real time you’ll know we’re at the pointy end of the year, its the end of November 2023 (had to think about that for a moment!)
Got goals?
This is often when people are making plans and turning their thoughts to the coming year. So thats what the next few episodes are going to be focused on – goals!
You might already have your goals mapped out for the next year or two, which is great! That Ruler archetype energy is something I so admire in entrepreneurs, theres a laser focus on what you’re doing, where you’re going and how its happening.
If you don’t know what a Ruler archetype is, or any other archetype for that matter, I covered all 8 of the money archetypes back in episode 3, Unlock the Power of your Money Personality. Go check that out when you’re done with this one!
But you might be someone who hit play on this episode because it sounded alright, and you’re only just thinking “Oh yeah! I should probably get something sorted for 2024, shouldn’t I?” This episode is DEFINITELY for you!
In my experience, goals always work better when you do some mindset work first. You can’t just throw things out there and go “I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that, these are the logistics and all the practical things.”
You’ve got to lay the foundations for it all, with your mindset.
Word of the Year… popular trend or useful tool?
A really popular thing to do, especially in recent years, is to choose a ‘Word of the Year’. Which is what we’re talking about today.
But I’m throwing in some special entrepreneur-minded sauce to spice it up a bit and turn your word for 2024 into something that yields real results.
Its not just a piece of fluff you find under the sofa months later and toss in the bin with a shrug! Which is also why this is a longer episode.
(I mean, I really could have just written a social media post, a really short one, and be done with it! Like “Hey, heres my word of the year, boom! Whatcha think about that?”)
It may seem like this is a LOT just to get to one word, but stick with me and you’ll find the REAL power of your word of the year.
I’ve been choosing a word of the year for myself for probably the past 10 years or so. And yes, initially it WAS a piece of fluff that came from a fun exercise, and was quickly forgotten.
But now? Its something that has way more impact and power to guide my mindset throughout the entire year. Lets get into the details so your word for 2024 can do the same for you!
If you use it the way I’m going to share with you, it can help inspire and lift you above the online noise, like you’re putting on blinders and focusing solely on your own path ahead.
It helps you cut out that mental chatter so you’re not distracted or doubting yourself so much.
Your word of the year can help you achieve your revenue goals AND make every decision in your business easier.
There are a couple of misconceptions about your Word of the Year that we need to clean up first. And I’ve also got some insights into how it can impact and support your income goals and your money flow.
WHAT IS YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR?
1 – A CLARITY TOOL
The main purpose of your word is to give you a whole new outlook on who YOU are, and what your business is all about.
This is a new way of thinking about yourself.
Who do you need to be in order to embody this particular word?
Who is the person you’ll grow into and evolve into over the next 12 months?
Think about the skills you’re going to learn, the achievements you’re going to celebrate along the way. THAT person is amazing!
2 – IT’S SOUL DRIVEN
Your word of the year should come from your intuition. We have resolutions and goals which tend to come from our head, they’re based in ‘shoulds’ and trying to keep up with others. Thats not where this word comes from.
Your word of the year…
✅ Has power, energy and emotion.
✅ Its an adventure, something you’re yet to discover.
✅ It can help you to let go of non-productive habits, people and things that don’t fit with where you’re headed.
In that respect it can help you strengthen your boundaries in all areas of your life.
3 – RELEASE OBSTACLES
Your word also helps you spot the opportunities and create success from a place of flow, rather than a place of force. Its mean to teach you about YOURSELF and help you find the easiest path to those goals you want to achieve.
WHAT YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR IS NOT
1 – SET AND FORGET
Its not an exercise where you grab a cool trendy word and post about it on social media come January.
You can’t control the word, where it comes to you and you assess or judge it as not sounding fun. Maybe it doesn’t sound big enough, or fancy enough. Thats not true – stick with the one that speaks to your intuition.
An example of this is my word from 2021, which was THRIVE. Thats what I WANTED, but thats actually not what I NEEDED.
In hindsight it should have been something more like RELEASE because that turned out to be a big year of releasing old ways of thinking, releasing control, all kinds of letting go and releasing.
2 – ITS NOT MULTIPLE WORDS
Its not WORDS of the year, its one word, period. And its not word of the MONTH either.
Multiple options split your attention and they lack power because you’re always thinking of the other word, or the next word. This is a single word that you stick with for the entire year and allow it to work its magic on you.
You can have the same word several years running too, theres no rules around that.
This is especially useful if you get to the end of the year and you feel like you’re only just starting to step into the power of it and see or feel the results.
If that feels right for you to do, you can amplify your results if you stick with that word again.
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR WORD?
Now that we’ve clarified what it is and isn’t, I’ve got two simple steps to help you actually choose your word of the year.
You might already have a word coming to you now, whether its been in your mind for a bit or maybe its just come up as you’re listening to this.
Whats that word? It’ll be something that comes through as your first instinct, thats your intuition talking. Pay attention to that.
If you haven’t got one already whispering through your mind, thats ok too.
STEP 1 – Get emotional about what you WANT
In a business context, what do you want?
What’s the compelling emotion, or emotions, behind that desire? Write those down and give them some acknowledgement.
At its most basic, what do you want for your business? More time, more money, more clients… what is it you want?
An example of this is my word for 2023, which is FREEDOM. I wanted growth in all areas of my business, but not at the expense of my own energy and mental well being.
I knew exactly what I wanted to do in my business and how it would feel, but that meant there had to be more balance between work and play.
I could have chosen BALANCE as my word, but FREEDOM had a much stronger emotional pull for me. Freedom to choose what I work on, when I do it, how I do it, WHERE I do it. Freedom to go with the flow and play when thats what I’m feeling called to do.
I had no idea what would happen as a result of choosing FREEDOM, but that emotion was VERY strong, like a cool breeze on a hot still day. Or calm amongst chaos and busyness, it really stood out.
STEP 2 – Let your word choose YOU
You can’t force it! Its one word that calls you out, pulls you forward.
When you allow it to come to you its like your soul is showing you the easiest path to up-level. Your intuition whispers, it doesn’t shout, and we really need to give it more credit for that.
Trust that when the word comes to you its from your soul, and its meant especially for you over the next 12 months or so.
Start playing with the word when it shows up. Think about it for a few days and ask yourself –
“If this is my word for 2024, what could this look like for me in the next 12 months?”
The ideas should immediately come through. You’ll have clarity, you’ll see the things that need to change and what you can let go of.
That stuff is going to continue to unfold over the full 12 months so don’t worry if it doesn’t show you the WHOLE picture like a lightning bolt of power that instantly charges you up and kicks you into gear. Thats not how it works! It might in some cases, but not for most people.
One thing to note is that your word doesn’t always have to be a verb. It can be an identity, like communicator or leader. Leader is such a POWERFUL one. Thats simply telling you what you can become when you focus on this word.
What do you want to become in 2024?
4 WAYS TO USE YOUR WORD TO BOOST YOUR INCOME
Even though this is a mindset focused episode, there are some practical benefits to your word of the year as well – one of which is boosting your income!
1 – IT’S TIME TO GO, FOMO!
When you choose a word, there are probably some things you’re going to have to let go of.
For a lot of people thats FOMO – what if another word is your REAL word and you just don’t know it yet? You’ve just gotta let that shizz go! You’ve got your word.
And you can probably let go of thinking that your word is boring or too common as well. It doesn’t have to be some trending cool buzz word. In fact, the simpler the better in my opinion, theres no mistaking what it means.
That boring or common word? Thats exactly what you need.
Whatever it is you need to let go of – fear, doubt, all the things – take note of it! Theres always a gap between where you are now, the person you are in this moment, and where you want to be, the person you will become. Future you!
Identifying the gap helps you spot the resources, opportunities and ALLLL the good stuff out there waiting to support you in reaching those goals.
Quit doing things out of ‘should’ and start doing things that feel aligned, things you actually need.
2 – COMMIT TO YOUR WORD
Don’t be changing your word mid year! Theres no way you’ll get the true value of it by not committing to the process for AT LEAST a full year with the one word. Like I said, its not word of the month!
Change can happen in a flash, other times it takes a while to unfold and see the results.
Thats absolutely whats happened for me through 2023, but by staying focused on my word FREEDOM the results I want are now showing up everywhere.
If you abandon your word mid year you haven’t fully transformed yourself or your business results. Thats an avoidance tactic that’s usually driven by ego, not intuition.
Don’t quit the magic halfway through the spell!
3 – APPLY YOUR WORD TO CREATING INCOME
Even if it doesn’t seem to fit, trust me, it fits. Look for the ways your word can direct your decisions and actions.
It could be that your word is FOCUS.
You focus on marketing a high ticket offer to a very specific niche for at least the next 3 months, instead of ALL the generic things, of course you’re highly talented and of course you can do them.
That ultimately confuses your audience because you’re being too general about everything and not showing them exactly what you do and how you help.
You can focus on audience building, making frequent offers for the same program and speaking the right way to exactly the right people. FOCUS. Its not just a productivity word!
4 – NEW DECISIONS, GOALS, ACTIONS AND HABITS
Your word of the year can help you make new decisions, create new goals, establish new habits and take inspired action.
It shouldn’t just be a fun thing you stick on the wall, and there it stays. Although I highly recommend you DO get something up on your wall, stat!
I always make something in Canva that I laminate and stick on the wall so its in my line of sight every single day. Its also got my personal and business objectives for the year on it, so it becomes this very useful tool that I promised it can be right at the start of this episode.
Make it a motivating and inspiring thing so 2024 can be your year of exponential growth. Use it to create a year that you’re proud of, full of achievements, big or small.
Its something you can reflect on in 12 months time and see how you closed the gap between who you are right now, and that future amazing version of you.
Thats what I’ve got for you today – get your word of the year working for you in ALL areas of your life, business and money.
Stick to it, even when it seems hard. Release the need to control and just SURRENDER to it. Thats a good word, if that’s what you need!
Don’t let your ego take you out before you’ve given your goals a real shot at becoming reality.
What’s your word for 2024? I’d love to hear about it!
Send me a DM and tell me what your word means for you. I get goosebumps when I hear people’s stories!
And thats what I felt when MY word for 2024 came to me – RECEIVE. I am open to receive on all levels. Personal, business, everything. Open to receive!
If you’re on LinkedIn you can send me a DM there, just search for Deirdre Amies and lets get connected!
If you prefer email, hello@deirdreamies.com is where you’ll get me.
And if you’re on my weekly FUNday email list, you can hit reply to ANY of those and its me who answers, not my VA.
SIDE NOTE: If you’re not on my weekly FUNday email list, what are you waiting for?? Get on it pronto! Just click the link in the description and get yo’self on the fun list!
You’ll find the links to all those ways to get in touch in the description and in the show notes.
For my IGNITE clients, you’ll find the ADVANCED Word of the Year strategy and template in the bonus section of your client portal.
We combine your word with some powerful growth values in specific areas of your business to help you focus in more detail, STAY focused, make decisions easier and basically tune out whats not important.
For everyone else, you can GET your hands on that advanced strategy and template in two ways –
1 – you can become a client! Either through IGNITE, my 6 month 1-1 business and money coaching program, or by booking an IGNITE VIP Day.
2 – you can purchase the standalone training from the Powered By Personality Hub. You’ll have the template, instructions and a full explainer video to walk you through this super powerful process that you can repeat year after year.
You’ll find the links to more info about IGNITE, and to get the advanced Word of the Year template and strategy in the description, and in the show notes.
Get your word. Play with it! Implement it in your life and business, and watch what happens over the next 12 months.
Take care, have fun with your word for 2024 whatever it may be, and I’ll catch you in the next episode.
Want my ADVANCED Word of the Year strategy?
You can amplify your word of the year when you apply it to your business growth, money and lifestyle goals. Let’s make it something truly special and powerful for many years to come!
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