Why I Have A Word of The Year and You Should Too

I wanted to impact as many people who were stuck in jobs, in lives that weren't serving them. I wanted to create an impact. I wanted to show them that it's possible to make a change, to try something else, to get up and get after what it is that you want. And so everything that I did last year was through the lens of how can I create a greater impact? You're listening to the Circle 3 project foreign. Welcome to the Triple CE Project, the podcast that helps you gain clarity, boost confidence, build courage so you can live lifeless. I'm your host, Ryan Spence, the big Lord dropout, life coach, author, speaker, lover of hoodies, hip hop and big hairy, audacious goals. If you're tired of living the life you think you should want and ready to start living the life you do want, this podcast will help you get from where you are to where you really want to be. So now with friends, I invite you to grab a drink, take a seat, and allow me to guide you towards living a life that's lit. What's up? Welcome to episode 46 of the Triple C Projects. The first episode, 2023 Whole Brand Spanking new year. Hope your festive period was good. Hope you got some rest, relaxation, caught up with some peeps, you know, just reconnected with yourself. Life is busy. Sometimes it can get crazy and we can forget to connect, to look inward, to kind of just feel how we're feeling, see where we are and check in with whether what's happening in and around us is still serving us, still works for us. So I hope you got a chance to do that. The New Year. I've got a bit of a, I don't know, it's not really a love hate relationship with the new Year as such. It's more a love hate relationship with the new year being this whole beginning of growth, this time when we change our lives, when we do things differently. Because change happens every day. It can and should happen every day. You don't have to wait for the start of a new year. You don't even have to wait for the start of a new day, a new week, a new month. You can start from where you are at any given time. There are no rules. That's the beauty of it. It's your life. So if you want to change something, you can change it whenever you want. So New Year's resolutions is not something that I really subscribe to. I mean, I used to years and years ago and it's become quite fashionable now to, to say, oh, I don't do New Year's resolutions. And I'm not saying it from the perspective of trying to be controversial or polarizing or fashionable. I'm talking about it more from my own experience and what works for me. And resolutions don't. I used to follow the crowd and set resolutions each year. But like most resolutions, they. I never stuck with them because they were kind of rooted in subconsciously really what I thought I should choose to do or I should be better at. You know, I should be better at time management, I should be fitter, I should make more money, I should be better at my job. I should, I should, I should. But there was no substance, no foundation to the reasons why I was going to do these things. And so inevitably, I didn't stick at them because there wasn't a strong enough reason, a strong enough why for me to do that. So I ditched resolutions a long time ago. And then a few years ago, I started to hear people coming up with a word of the year. And again, I was skeptical and I refused to participate. I was like, what is this nonsense? How the hell can a word of a year help you? How is it any different from a resolution? But as I went further down my personal development path, as I went further along this quest, it started to ring a bell with me. And I thought, maybe there is something to this. And so in 2021, I chose my first word of the year. It was later in the year, wasn't in January, again, supporting the fact you don't have to wait for the beginning of the year, but it was later in the year. I think about March time, when it started to kind of call to me intuitively, I felt a need to, to come up with a word of the year to help me navigate this whole new stage of being a business owner and all the things. And the word that I came up with that year was simplicity, because I wanted to simplify the way that I was doing things. I'm very much someone who goes all in, wants to do all the things, and that can lead to overwhelm. And I know for my clients that's the same. Anyone who's high achiever, who is outwardly successful, generally will carry this trait because you want to do more, you want to earn more, you want to get more, you really want to be successful in the traditional way of seeing things and should. Success is usually seen as being able to carry a heavy load and execute flawlessly at any given time. Sometimes in order to get things done and get things done well, the best way to do that is to simplify, is to shed all the things that aren't important and focus on the things that are. So choosing simplicity helped me to do that. And I'm going to explain why a word of the year is helpful in that in a moment. But I want to move on to 2022. So last year, and my word of the year, which I did choose in January, was impact. I wanted to impact as many people who were stuck in jobs, in lives that weren't serving them. I wanted to create an impact. I wanted to show them that it's possible to make a change, to try something else, to get up and get after what it is that you want. And so everything that I did last year was through the lens of how can I create a greater impact, not greater money, not necessarily reach more people, but just create a greater impact with the people that I was reaching. And that's obviously one of the reasons that the book came out, that this podcast was launched. And through the messages that I've received and the reviews on the book, I feel that I fulfilled. I lived up to that word of the year. And the reason why I do believe in having a word of the year, why I feel that it works, is this. It acts as a lens through which to see your actions through. If you have a particular thing that you're trying to embody or you're trying to achieve. Setting that as your word for the year ties into clarity because it allows you to see all of the actions that you take through the lens of that word. So if your idea is to simplify, as mine was in 2021, then it allows me to look at where I'm complicating things, I'm trying to do too many things, or I'm taking on things which aren't wholly related to the goal I'm trying to achieve and cut them. And it allows me to do that relatively easily because I've given myself that focus, that that lens to look through for that year. Same with last year, impact. If I believe that what I'm doing isn't going to fulfill that word, that intention of having a greater impact again, I can decide I won't do that anymore. For example, when I launched the course last year, triple C101, within a few days of deciding I was going to launch that and putting it out, I decided that actually this isn't going to really meet that criteria of impact, because what I need to do to really get that out to more people, to get more people knowing about it, is going to take me Away from the other things which I feel are creating more impact, like the book, like this, podcast, like this, working with my actual clients. And so it became a pretty easy decision. Whereas without that focus, without that intention, I would have been struggling to make a decision. Because when you create something, it's your baby and you kind of want the world to see it. And I would have probably tried to hold on for that and spread myself too thin. But looking at the lens, looking at it through the lens of impact made it easy. So what's my word for 2023? Well, I had a couple of words bouncing around my head towards the end of the year, and the word that I eventually settled on was expansion. And the reason I chose expansion was, well, there are many reasons and I'm just going to run through a few of them and then I'm going to talk a little bit about how choosing a word of the year might help you and how you can go about that. So expansion. Why did I choose expansion? So I chose expansion because for me, I want to continue to grow, but grow beyond the realm of what I've currently been growing. I've done a hell of a lot in the last last couple of years and I've definitely grown far more than I would have believed if you told me this back in 2019. But through self reflection, through just looking at some of the things that I've done and just where it is that I want to be and what it is that I want to achieve, I realized that there is still more of me to give. There's still more I want to do. I can still, I can be bigger. I can and guess the phrase, although I distilled down to word is I can take up more space. I want to take up more space. So for expansion, there were a few strands off that as I kind of started to delve deeper into the word and why I felt intuitively that word came to me. And what came to me was expansion of presence. So as I just said, taking up space, increasing my visibility, increasing my presence. Because when you have something that is important, when you have a message to share that you really feel you can help some help people like I do, you need to get out there and shout it from the rooftops and be that person who some will perceive as annoying. Because the people who need to hear what it is that you have to say won't see it as annoying. They'll see it as a public service. And we all need to hear things multiple times before we take action. I'm definitely guilty of being on an email list, getting an email, thinking, that sounds really interesting, I should check that out later, and then completely forgetting about it. So I'm grateful when there are 2, 3, 4, 5 emails coming through reminding me because it keeps it in the forefront of my mind. And so that's what I wanted to do this year, is expand my presence. And also in relation to expansion of presence is I wanted to strip away the layers of shame and fear that can come up when you think that you're being too much. Shame is one of the things that I've been studying and I'm continuing to study into the new year because it's fascinating to me how much deep seated shame we all have subconsciously, without even knowing it, which, well, obviously, because that's what your subconscious means. And I again, in doing this work, I realize there is still there is some underlying aspects of that shame and fear around being too much, around shouting too loud, around promoting too much. Because we're kind of told to be humble, be quiet, to do your thing quietly and not shout about it. Because that can be perceived as arrogant. And for me, definitely, and I know for other people I've spoken to, you subconsciously carry that with you as you continue to progress through life so that you don't shout about your achievements. You don't, as I talked about in the last episode, celebrate your wins because you don't want to be seen as being someone who's arrogant, someone who's out of control, someone who's not humble. But again, if you've got something that can help other people, something that you really believe in and are passionate about, it's your duty. It's your job to shout about that and to tell as many people as possible until you reach the people that message is supposed to reach. And if you piss some people off along the way, that's what the unfollow button's for. Hey, I'm interrupting myself to give you this short message. Now, if you're listening to this pod, you're likely looking to change your life. Here's the thing. Transformation doesn't happen by doing what you've always done. It happens when you change your thoughts about what's possible for you. My book, the Triple C Method, helps you do that by giving you the tools and strategies to stop living a life of lethargy and start living life lit, described as a transformational toolkit, and the book I wish I'd had when I decided to leave corporate. The Triple C method will change how you see yourself and how you live your life. Available now as paperback, ebook and audiobook read by yours truly. Head to iamrinespence.com book or over to your favorite bookseller to grab your copy today so you can stop living a life of lethargy and start living life next. Okay, the next round of expansion was expansion of thought. So I want to continue to be curious and to go beyond, go further beyond even the realm of conventional thinking. I talk a lot about conditioning, about how we're conditioned to act a certain way, to believe that a certain path is the route to success, to believe that success is a particular thing. And my mission is to push back against that. That's where I began. But again, I want to continue doing that, because as I push back more and as I learn more, as I go deeper, I become more fascinated by concepts which aren't widely talked about, particularly a lot of the Eastern concepts, concepts that people might refer to as woo woo or mystic, which have actually been around far, far longer than Western consciousness. And so think things like, as I say, mystical, magical, spiritual. As you may know, I'm also a yoga teacher, and that definitely started me off down that path. But as I sort of branch out and as I go deeper with my training as a coach and to be able to deliver even faster results to my clients, I'm discovering even more that's out there. And so expanding my thought is another strand off that word of the year, expansion. Continuing to be curious. I think it's always important to be curious. If you can lead with curiosity in whatever situation you're in, you're going to learn a hell of a lot more and go ahead of a lot faster. And I guess the final strand that I'll share there probably will be more. But the final one I want to share with you today is expansion of this podcast. This podcast, as you know, and if you've been listening from the start, is the Triple C project, based upon the three foundational pillars of the Triple C method, clarity, confidence and courage. But the overall aim of the show is to help you stop living a life of lethargy and start living life lit. And if you're new here, you can go back to previous episodes to learn about what I mean when I talk about living life lit. Or of course, you can also go and read my book as well, the Triple C Method. And so what I want to do with this podcast, having gone through the first year of putting it out there, is expanded on previously explored topics. Because as I grow, going back to the previous point, expansion of thought As I grow, as I learn more, as I continue to be curious and discover more ideas, more concepts and how they. They can be applied to my life and the lives of my clients. And also as I coach more clients and I learn more of the similarities between them, but also more of the differences, more the individual issues that arise for them, it allows me to grow as a coach. And in growing as a coach, I then deepen my beliefs and my thoughts and my understandings, which allows me to then come up with new concepts or expand on existing concepts, to distill them down even further so that you can take them away when you listen to a show like this and immediately start to integrate them into your own life. Because this podcast is supposed to be something that you take, listen, you take, and you integrate. And so that whether you work with me as a coach or not, you can still get the value that I deliver to my clients by this podcast, just without the personal interaction and the bespoke way of doing things. And so I'll be expanding ideas on this podcast, as I say, expanding previously explored topics, diving into new ideas and introducing guests to kind of get different perspectives as well on some of the things that I've already covered and new things that they bring to the table. So the podcast will broaden slightly, but it will still be focused on delivering you tools, strategies, hey, entertainment, inspiration that allow you to live your life. Lit. That's it. That's the basics of it. Okay. So I hope that that has been useful in terms of why I chose my word of the year, what it means to me, and the sort of work that I did to kind of get clear as to why that was important for me this year. So how do you go about choosing your own. Well, it's one of those things which you can always think, I'm doing it wrong. I need to do it this way, I need to do it that way. And because I see that all the time, I mean, when you're, when you're a lawyer, when you're in corporate, when you've kind of been through that process of always being a high achiever, of always playing by the rules, you kind of want to be told how to do something so you can go away and get top marks. And this work that we do here, that that's not how it works. You do the work, how the work feels good to you, how you feel it should be done, not even necessarily how it feels good, because there will be some resistance. But how to kind of get to a place that works, that serves You. And so choosing a word of the year, I think starts with intuition. The words will intuitively come to you if you give yourself time and space to just be and not do. So whether that's you sitting and meditating 15 minutes each day, whether it's just sitting in silence, whether it's going for a walk in nature without headphones and alone without conversation, and just allowing your mind to wander, I'd like you to. When in those moments, just allow your mind to drift and just see what comes up. I know we're not very good at just seeing what comes up. We always kind of want to have something and then act upon it, but this is a process that can't be rushed. As I say, words started to come to me sort of in the last quarter of the year, back and forth, and you know, they came and they went and they just didn't feel right for whatever reason. But once, once I had a couple and I kind of drilled down into them a little bit more about what they would actually mean and try to explore why they were coming up for me, then it became easier to choose one because I could settle on, yes, this is kind of what I want to do this year. This is kind of where I want my focus to be. So it's as simple as that, really. I'm sorry, there's no step by step process. There's no sort of rigid outline of do step one and then do this and then do that. It is literally allowing yourself time to think, allowing yourself time to breathe and seeing, trusting your intuition and seeing what comes up. And when the words come up, it may just be one word that smacks you around the face and you're like, that's the one. Or there may be a few. Sit down. Piece of paper and a pen, journal. Just jot down why you think those words are important to you. What does the word mean? What does it mean to you? Why do you feel that that might be an important focus for you this year? And as you do that, you'll start to see themes come up and you'll see one will slowly start to stand out as a real area of focus for you for that year. And then when you've chosen the word, when you, when it feels good in your body, in your soul, stick it somewhere, have it come up as a reminder on your phone, stick it on your desk by your computer, have it on the bathroom mirror, have it all those places, whatever you need to do to keep that word in the forefront of your mind. Because in doing that, it will allow you to take actions in accordance with that word. Because that word will be a representation of how you want to show up that year, who it is you want to be, what it is that you want to do. And if you need any help, any assistance with this process, drop me a line, send me an email at hey am Ryan Spence.com or send me a DM on LinkedIn or Instagram. And I'd love to hear what words you choose, if you choose one. So just send me, just send me a message and let me know what word you choose and a little bit about why. Really interested to see what comes up for you and just to maybe cheer you on throughout the year, sends you the odd note of accountability, of encouragement, and just to kind of see how you're getting on, if that word really works for you, if you're living in accordance with it and what it feels to be living in alignment with an intention. Because for many of us, we don't do that. I didn't used to do that. You just get up and get on with the next thing and move on to the next thing. But taking that time to do the work, to come up with, in this case, a word and to intentionally try to live in alignment with that throughout the course of the next year or beyond, if you wish to, is something new. And sometimes we just need some help with that and some support and some encouragement. So as I say, I can help you with that, drop me a message and yeah, I'll be there to cheer you along as you go from living a life of lethargy towards living a life that's lit. That's all for me this week. Thank you for being here, as always. I look forward to hearing more from you all as we progress through this new year 2023. There's a lot going on for me, both challenges, obstacles, and also some great things coming up this year I can see on the horizon. So as much as I'm able, I'll fill you in on those in the hope that by sharing my experiences, they will help you work through whatever you have going on this year, too. My calendar is now back open, so if you want to see how I can help you with anything that I talk about throughout this podcast, anything that's in the book, the Triple C Method, or you're just feeling stuck where you are, you're trying to decide what decision to make. Should you stay, should you go, should you move sideways, should you jump ship, should you do something else? I mean, whether you're struggling with just feeling exhausted all the time you're struggling with burnout, you're struggling with overwhelm, with feeling like you have to do all the things and you just don't know where to start. All of these are things that I've experienced myself and come out the other side. And they're all things that I've helped my clients with, too. And so why not give book a call and find out how working together can help you with that? You can head to imryenspence.com coaching and book a call. Consultation call is free, but it's being described as the most, if not one of the most transformational experiences by a couple of clients. Because on that call, we'll look at where you are, what you're going through, the issues that have come up, and I'll just poke a little bit and ask a few questions and sort of check out where you are and try and help you reframe some of the thoughts you have going through your head. And if we work together, fantastic. We can go deeper. And even if we don't, you're going to leave with some actionable things to go ahead and implement and integrate in your own life to help you go from living a life of lethargy towards living life. Thanks for tuning in. But before you go, the weight of limiting beliefs is heavy. It literally weighs you down and keeps you stuck in that life of lethargy. I know. It's why I stayed in Big Law for so long, and it's why so many of my clients don't believe they can do the things that they want to do. But what causes those limiting beliefs? It's a lack of confidence. Lack of confidence in the belief that you can do the things that you want to do. And I've got something for that. It's my confidence journal. It's six journal prompts that I created that I've used to help me get from where I am to where I want to be, to help to give me the belief to do the things that seem outside of my control, outside of what I can do. If this sounds like you, you need to get your hands on the journal. Best thing about it, it's free. All you have to do is head to iamryspence.com, hit the button for confidence journal and get your copy today. It's gonna help you start to reframe your thoughts and get you thinking about what you can do instead of focusing on what you can't do and shed that load of limiting beliefs that you don't need to be carrying. See you again next week. And until that time, stop living a life of lethargy and start living life lit.