Word of the Year 2020

     On Monday evening, I held my word of the year workshop. I went in thinking my word would be GROWTH. I want to grow my business and continue to grow as a person and coach and parent. I mentioned this idea to a friend and his reply was, “Wow. That sounds heavy.” He was right, of course. But I think that choosing any word to guide your year comes with some weight and commitment. I didn’t end up with growth as my word, however. As I went through the process, I changed my mind.
   The process entails answering some important questions, meditating on your best day, brainstorming a long list of words and then narrowing down to three and contemplating each one before choosing your final. My three finalists were EXPLORE, CONNECT and CONTRIBUTE.
        As I spent some time focused on each word, I realized that I already explore a lot and to be honest, my proclivity to explore has gotten me spread a little thin. If anything, I need to explore less (I won’t) and focus more (I’ll try). When I focused on connect, I felt a little spark and immediately came up with a half dozen ways to apply this word to my life. When I wrapped up with contribute, I realized that to do so, I had to first connect, so I chose CONNECT with confidence. Unlike last year when I settled on DECLUTTER, I feel excited and ready to make this my mantra.
      Here are just a handful of ways that I will work on connecting this year:

• I will connect with my younger daughter when she is dealing with big emotions and needs an anchor.
• I will connect with my older daughter who heads off to middle school in the fall and has some anxiety about this big change.
• I will connect with my husband. We have been married for over 17 years and I don’t want complacency to seep into our relationship.
• I will connect with friends and family. I am fortunate to have an amazing community and support system, and I want to continue to nurture those relationships.
• I will connect my passions to create a career of which I am proud. 
• I will connect with clients during coaching sessions. The power of coaching depends in large part on the relationship and my ability to listen and connect. I want to get better.
• I will connect with new clients. I want to serve more people and help them live more intentional lives. This will take some work, but I am determined to reach a wider audience.
• I will connect to Earth. I need time in nature to feed my soul and feel human. I will continue to prioritize this for myself and my family.
• I will connect to animals. ​I have a lot of pets, I ride horses for fun, and I work with horses through my equine-facilitated coaching practice.  I have always loved animals and they bring me joy and comfort. I want to return that by connecting with and caring for them.
• I will connect in real time which means I will disconnect more. I notice the positive difference in myself when I loosen the tether my phone has on me. I want to focus on real life connection and interaction and model this for my children.
• I will connect to the moment. Being present is a gift to myself and all those around me. 
• I will connect to those who think differently than I do. I have realized that I can be judgmental and dismissive when people fundamentally disagree with me (or when I assume they do). I need to remind myself that everyone comes to their beliefs honestly and they are equally attached to their ideas. Only authentic curiosity will allows us to find common ground.
• Finally, I will connect to myself. I have talked with several friends and clients lately about the word selfish. It gets a bad wrap. But think about it: During the airplane safety pitch, you are told to put on your own oxygen mask before helping anyone else because you can’t help anyone if you can’t breath. Likewise, you can’t help anyone unless you are whole and content. I am pretty good at making time for myself and I will continue to prioritize this.​

     I am excited about the year ahead and all the connections I will make. I would love to hear about your word of the year.

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