Your Word of the Year with Alexa Howell (Part Two)

Embark on this second part quest with us as we reveal how a single, powerful word can illuminate your journey through 2024, guiding your personal and professional ventures with intention and focus. Alongside brand designer Alexa Howell, we traverse the terrain of self-discovery, discussing the art of selecting a personal word that truly resonates with your core ambitions. This episode promises a deep dive into the reflective practices that can help pinpoint the word that will act as your beacon for the year, whether you're aiming to scale new heights in your career, enrich your relationships, or advance your personal growth.

This conversation is an invitation to authenticity, reminding you that your path is distinctly your own. We'll guide you through strategies like crafting vision boards and penning personal letters to crystallize your word, ensuring it encapsulates your aspirations and propels you forward. Remember, the word you choose can evolve as you do, and we'll be here to support your journey to authenticity every step of the way.

In this episode, we talk about the following:
1. The importance of looking back and forward in one's life.
2. The significance of paying attention to definitions and feelings associated with words.
3. The value of involving close friends or a "board of directors" in the decision-making process.

Connect with Alexa:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexa.c.howell/

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 2:07

Are you a woman who runs the world but know you need a little support to Listen up? Through coaching clients and pursuing my own health and ambitions, I've found getting to a goal takes more than just willpower. It takes a mindset restart and learning how to adjust and not quit. In this podcast, you'll hear from women out there leading the way in momentum, and I'll be sharing impactful mindset strategies to help you get out of your own way. Whether you're on a health journey, starting your life after a big change or trying to keep up momentum towards your passion project, with all the ups and downs, this is for you. It's time to decrease the things that hold you back and increase the things that move you forward towards a life that you want. I'm Amber Bebelheimer and this is the Momentum Restart Podcast.

Speaker 2: 3:00

This is Momentum Restart Podcast, and I am your host, coach Amber B. We are continuing this journey through determining what you want your 2024 to look like. And remember these episodes can be used anytime during the year. This is a great episode to come back to middle of the year, end of the year, whenever you feel like you're ready for a refresh and when it works for you in your life and your business.

Speaker 2: 3:28

Now, last week, we started part one of determining your word for the year, and I invited Alexa Howell, brand designer, to come in and talk to us about what the importance is about finding your word and how to use it, how not to use it, and also remembering that your word is personal to you. It doesn't have to be, and shouldn't be, something that someone else expects of you. It's all yours, and we talked about the importance of having space, taking time to determine what this word is, which is why I broke up this interview into two parts, because last week, she talked about taking the time to look back at how last year went, the pieces that you enjoyed, where the joy was in those little moments that we talked through, and also looking ahead to what you want, and that takes time. That's not something that we can sit down and just crank out in five minutes. That takes time to put into action, but also it takes time to really give yourself space to really feel it and think through all of those details and get clear on them. So, before we jump into her last two steps today to help you really nail down that word for the year, I want you to pause and I want you to know that you are exactly where you are meant to be. You are in the right spot.

Speaker 2: 5:01

So often, especially if you're an entrepreneur, you're a high achieving woman we can feel like we're not where we're supposed to be yet and we can feel like we're not doing enough. I want you to know that you are right where you were meant to be. And yes, there is a next step. You're moving towards that life that you want and, at the same time, celebrate where you are today, because every step that you take leads you towards your next ultimate step the next opportunity, the next job opening, the next career move, the next relationship.

Speaker 2: 5:41

Whatever this next step is, you need all of the things that are leading you up to that to be able to have the experience, the knowledge and the gratitude that you'll need to recognize it and embrace it fully. So no, right now, where you're at, you're doing enough. And I want to challenge you if you haven't listened already, go back to last week's episode, the first part, with Alexa, when she talked about looking back and looking ahead to determine your word for 2024. And then keep listening as she tells you how to zoom in and zoom out and pinpoint to get super clear on what your word is for 2024. Let's jump in.

Speaker 3: 6:26

MUSIC I also really love in this stage. So, like, similar, looking back, we pulled up our calendar, we pulled up our phone. When we're looking ahead, this is where, like, your vision board can come in. Or if you're more of a writer writing a letter to yourself, you know, doing some of those things can really bring out who you want to be in the next year. I'm, unsurprisingly, a visual person, so a vision board is, like, always going to be my medium of choice. But that will also surprise me when I start pulling more and more photos of game nights and dinners than I am of, like, the black suit in the hustle mode, you know, like, pay attention to that too, because those are the things that you're craving moving towards. In some years I absolutely was moving towards the like, you know, the more hustle mode self and like. That's incredible, and I'm proud of those years that I had to get me to this year where I can, like you know, choose what I want to do, like we all needed those things to get here.

Speaker 2: 7:29

That's so true. That's a good reminder.

Speaker 3: 7:31

So find those visuals write that letter to yourself, do what you need to do to look ahead. And then in the third stage I have you zoom out and research a little bit. So one of the things, one of the parts of this phase, is to go back and look at those first two sections and highlight or circle feelings or things that stuck out to you. So if you're looking back and you noticed a lot of, like, the big highlights for you were like small moments with friends and family, like circle that or like how you felt in those moments that you want to make more of. So circling the feelings and really like thinking on those and then taking yourself and dreaming a little bit.

Speaker 3: 8:14

So this is where, like it's like if I had a handy dandy thesaurus I would absolutely pull it out. But I'm going to go to the inner webs because that's where I'm going to go and I'll like plug in words. So I will like, I'll pull up the definition of a line, I will pull up the definition of present. I'll start, you know, pull up those and then I'll probably flip over to the thesaurus and see, like, what other words am I not thinking of? Because sometimes, like, we get so stuck in our box that we can't see what's possible. So you know, going thesaurus and dictionary. I also love a good Pinterest quote. So like looking up inspirational quotes and being like oh, that feels good or like, no, that doesn't feel good, that doesn't feel aligned. So doing the research.

Speaker 2: 9:02

We did that last year with the, when, with my sisters, we would look up um, probably because you told us to that researching what the word looked like. And it's so important at that point when you said that, because then you're thinking through how it makes you feel. Yes, we've got like that. When we talked at the beginning about how we can't push this process, we can't make this process happen, we have to be able to be in a place where we can notice how do we feel in our body, how do we feel? How does that make us? Does make us excited about something, or does it make us dread something? And so that's not something you can just power through. You really do need that space to think through how does that definition make you actually feel? And it's going to be really important to slow down to make it really clear. I love that.

Speaker 3: 9:51

I love that. Yeah, paying attention to those definitions can be so important also because, like there are many words that we'll use on a daily basis that you'd be like I didn't realize that's what that meant, both good and bad. You're like, oh yeah, nope, that's not what I want and that's okay, like you need that.

Speaker 2: 10:07

That's not what.

Speaker 3: 10:10

I want just as much as you need to. Oh, like I really do like that, yes and yeah, I love that.

Speaker 2: 10:17

So true, okay, so we've looked back, we've looked ahead, we've zoomed out and researched.

Speaker 3: 10:22

Yep, and then we're zooming in. So that's where, like, hopefully at this point I like to keep it almost on like the side of my journal, like, as things are popping up, as I'm thinking about those words, like I'll maybe keep a short list on the side of my journal just to be like, okay, like this word felt good. This is a maybe. I think I like this feeling as we zoomed out to research those words and to like look up the actual definitions, I might like circle or underline or cross out words that no longer feel good and as we zoom in, we're really narrowing in on that word and trying it on. So this is where I want you to take kind of the practical side of it and say you chose, you know you've narrowed down to words like present and grounded or fire. You know, like maybe those are your words and they're vastly different. I want you to think about like, okay, you know what you wanted in this year. What do those words look like in application? How do they actually apply to your life? If that word is present, what does that mean to you? So you know the definition, you know what it means to other people, but if we're making this process for us. What does it mean for you and how will that show up in your life this year? Because it also kind of gives you that like roadmap for rules of the road for that word, of how you want to take it and use it. So you might have, you know, you know two to three words at this point that you start to make that roadmap for. And this is where, like you might quickly realize that one of those is like yeah, yeah, I'm super excited about that. That feels really good.

Speaker 3: 11:56

The other way you can take these is to take them. I call it my board of directors, but it's your close friends and family. Like I love that you do this with your sisters every year because, like you know, you have your board of directors around you. That can you can be like hey, hey, I think that I might need the one year I was choosing between breathe and fire and they couldn't have been more different words, and I remember sending them to my friends and being like hey, what do you think I need?

Speaker 3: 12:21

In this year? You've gotten to see me. I'm leaning towards these words. What do you think? And it just gives you some insight and I love sending it to people who I work with closely in business and also people who I spend my every day with. So I might send it to Kevin and Olivia, and then a couple friends in between, just to be like these are the things that I think I want to show up with this year. How does that feel to you? And just seeing their insight can really help Again. Ultimately, this process is for you. So if you've already landed on a word and you're sending them out for kicks and giggles, then remember that you're really detached from that outcome of what they say, because you have to trust your gut, and if you're already landing on a word, then really trust that you could skip the step altogether.

Speaker 2: 13:12

That's a good reminder.

Speaker 2: 13:13

And you're right, it is important to trust your gut, and it's so true when you have that board of directors or you have that, those trusted people close to you that you can bounce ideas off of, like when Ashley and Alina are together. We it's so much easier to see in other people what other people, what they need or what their strengths are or what we want for them, and it's so hard sometimes to see it in ourselves, especially if that word is kind of pushing us a little bit or maybe it has a little more abundance than we can even see that we dare to see. And but other people can see it for us. That's when I've seen this be really powerful, when we've given in that situation with Ashley and Ali will say one of our words and they'll say, no, you can do this, you can absolutely do this, but there's this part in you where you're like I don't know, can I really do this? Yeah, so having that board there to kind of just lift you up a little bit is really helpful.

Speaker 3: 14:12

Yeah, oh, I love that I've definitely had friends. Be like Alexi, you already do that, like you are already there, even if you don't see it in yourself yet, which is also a powerful reminder. And then like what we see is scary Somebody else might look at and be like, no, you absolutely got that. You like you absolutely should show up in that way this year, because I can't wait to see what you create and like that's so powerful. And, yeah, I love that you do it with your sisters every year, because that's it's so cool to have them so close.

Speaker 2: 14:42

It is yeah, and we need it. We need that. We need some inside trusted people. We need inside to be able to pinpoint and challenge us, but also lift us up too when we need it as well. And it's so interesting too.

Speaker 2: 14:56

I know you're in any gram three and you mentioned that a little bit ago too, but I love how beautiful you approach things, because you have this any gram three side, where you are like give yourself a goal and you're going to get it for sure, and you love to plan things and you love this step by step and you also have this beautiful, soft, incredibly creative side too, and how you're able to bring the two together. I think that is such a powerful, powerful way to do things, and it because you're not missing any pieces. It's so balanced between all the different things, and I think that's a part of two with each of these four steps and that zooming in with the looking at the word and how. You even mentioned putting the word on the side of your journal and taking time to do that as well. I could see that being hard to do, hard to give yourself time to think, and there's a part of you that might want to. Let's just pick the word and go for it. Let's do this. Oh my God a thousand percent.

Speaker 3: 15:52

Well, thank you for that and like I think that's helped me refine this process a little bit over time, is that like the any a gram three side, probably ward for a small time with the like softer, like need for balance and need for a slower approach when, like I've definitely picked words in the past where, like I got a couple months in, you know, I was like so excited to set a word and run and that's, you know, the any a gram three was like let's go, and then a couple months in I was like wait a minute, like that's not what I wanted for myself and like that's a totally okay thing to do, to, like you know, pause, reflect and be like wait a minute, like we, we ran.

Speaker 3: 16:34

we ran with a word that didn't feel good a month in I did this last year I like ran with the word and I was like wait, this doesn't feel like I'm going to slow down enough to enjoy.

Speaker 3: 16:44

you know, my word started as vibrant because last year was going to be, a big, vibrant year and I was like, yes, I like want this big, beautiful life and then a couple. You know, it was probably about two months in, when we were in the weeds of the wedding planning process, I was like no, no, I need to embrace this. I was like this year is all about embracing these small, powerful moments. What am I doing? Trying to like make this big, explosive year, when all I want to do is just like slow down and savor, and so it's. You know a lot of being honest with yourself and just not being afraid to pause, do the process in the start of it, but also like pause throughout the year to be like how is this serving me? How am I showing up because of this word and how do I want to be showing up? Does this still feel good to me? And it's okay to change your word, like it is okay to adjust, you know, really find things that work for you.

Speaker 2: 17:42

Absolutely it does, and I really appreciate you walking us through this process and there's so many wonderful questions that you asked in every one of those steps of the process so that you can even you could spend hours on, you could spend you could ask yourself the question, go on a hike and come back, and you'd have 20 different thoughts for it.

Speaker 2: 18:01

So take your time when you guys are listening to this and really take your time to allow the word to come to you. As Alexa says, I love that and be open to it. And so anyone listening today, if they want to reach out, they want to learn more from you, and if they want to go through this experience with you too and branding themselves as well in their business because you are incredibly gifted in that how can they find you?

Speaker 3: 18:25

Come find me on Instagram. I love, love, love when people slide into my DMs with their words it's Alexachowl and your name my new name.

Speaker 2: 18:36

I know I was like every time I have to feel like pause this one.

Speaker 3: 18:41

This is it. No, this is it. Yeah, please slide into my DMs Like I love talking, and from there we can always top on a coffee chat. I'm a sucker for a good call. I would love to talk to you to see where your business is headed and we can always find, if you know, if branding is a great fit for you, we'll figure that out, and if it's not the right time yet, I'm happy to send you resources to you know, help point you in the direction in the interim.

Speaker 2: 19:05

Yes, absolutely. I love that. Well, that was so fun talking with you today, alexa. I really appreciate you taking the time to share all this with you, and we'll talk with you soon Awesome.

Speaker 3: 19:15

Bye friends.

Speaker 2: 19:20

Thank you for listening to this episode of Momentum Restart Podcast. I would love to hear what you think about it. What were your takeaways? What action steps do you now want to take? Dm me on Instagram at CoachAmberBee and let's keep this conversation going. I promise I respond to every message I get. Talk with you soon.