Her Next Chapters

52. Guiding Word for 2024 Revisited

• Christina Kohl

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Have you ever considered abandoning traditional New Year's resolutions and crafting a "to-don't" list instead? As we approach the final stretch of 2024, this episode of Her Next Chapter invites you to explore alternative ways to spark personal and professional growth. Dive into the concept of choosing a guiding word for the year—like my 2024 word, "light"—to provide inspiration, direction, and a beacon of clarity in your journey. Whether you're on the brink of a career transformation or redefining your identity beyond motherhood, this episode promises practical strategies to set manageable goals and celebrate incremental wins without the burden of long-term commitments.

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Christina Kohl:

Hi and welcome to Her Next Chapter's podcast. I'm your host, hristina Cole. I'm a mom of three and soon to be an empty nester. I'm also a certified HR pro who restarted my career after being a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. I created this podcast to connect with moms who have an empty nest on the horizon and are wanting to redefine their identity outside of motherhood, which might include a job search. On this show, we'll have raw conversations about our ever-changing roles as moms. We'll hear from women who restarted their careers and share tips for a job search after a career break. So if that's you, you're in the right place. Friend, let's get started.

Christina Kohl:

Hi everyone, this week I'm replaying an episode from the end of 2023. And this is where I talk about my word for 2024. And my word is light, and you're going to hear me talk about all the reasons that I chose that word and what it means to me, and I kind of wanted to jump in and revisit that. I had a client not too long ago tell me that I was the light in the darkness of her job search, and she had no idea that I chose a light as my word for the year, so it was just really extra meaningful to me to get that feedback that I was the light for her, because that's exactly my intention, and, as we are now in the fourth quarter of 2024, oh my gosh, where has the time gone I thought it would be good to revisit the origin of the word light and why it is meaningful to me for this year and I don't have my new word yet for 2025, but it's something I'm starting to think about. If you have a word of the year that you've used that has been really transformational or inspirational for you, let me know. I'd love to hear it because, like I said, I'm trying to get some ideas for what I'm going to choose for next year. All right, well, with that, here is the episode about my word for 2024. Enjoy, I cannot believe it is the end of 2023.

Christina Kohl:

If you're listening to this episode in real time, it is being published a few days until the new year begins, and I don't know if you're like me, but throughout the years, I tend to create a new year's resolution and maybe have several of them, and I can't even tell you what they are because I usually forget them and usually don't follow through with those resolutions. It's an arbitrary date and don't really set up. It's a like it's a casual conversation oh, what are your goals, what are your resolutions for the new year? And so you have, you know, something like oh, I want to get healthy, I want to lose weight, I want to get my finances in order, or maybe I'm going to change jobs. You know, I'll whatever kind of, whatever kind of different things come up in those conversations, but how many of us actually commit to New Year's resolutions? Well, I asked that question of the internet and what I learned from a Forbes article is that only 1% of people who make New Year's resolutions keep them for good and for good I mean beyond a year, you know, like the entire year, and they're still they've made a life change Only 1%. That is crazy. Most resolutions fail by mid-March. So that's that's also very telling that resolutions aren't really that helpful. So I resolved to not have resolutions anymore. No, I'm just kidding, I'm still going to be like setting goals and all of that.

Christina Kohl:

But in also doing some research, I wanted to look and see like what are some other ideas, because it is the first of the year, we've got 2024 coming up and you know it's always an opportunity to reflect and and look at some you know what we want to do in our lives and maybe some self-reflection and change and natural growth. Well, in looking at psychology today, they offer a whole bunch of different ideas of how to approach the new year and goal setting and resolutions. One that I thought was interesting was to come up with a to-don't list. It's something that you decide ahead of time that you won't do anymore. So something like you're not going to automatically say yes to when you're asked to do something. You'll say something like I'll think about it and get back to you. Instead, maybe you won't schedule more than one appointment or event per day, so you will say no to overstuffing your calendar. Or maybe, if you're watching a movie or reading a book or something and you don't like it, don't finish it. So it's a different perspective of having a don't list. I thought that was really interesting.

Christina Kohl:

The other idea that I found interesting and achievable is a one month resolution instead of a one year resolution, just a one month resolution. So if it's um, I'm going to go to the gym two times a week during January, um, you know, that's something I can probably keep and it, you know, feels good, and maybe it's not even go to the gym, maybe it's um walk the dog more often than I do now. So what my baseline is, now to what I want it to be in the future. So just simple things. And they even mentioned maybe doing a series of one month resolutions. So back to the going to the gym. Maybe it's well, I'm going to work out twice a week in January for at least 30 minutes each time, and if I keep that resolution, then maybe in February, at the beginning of February, you think well, I did that. Now for February, I'm going to increase it to three times a week. Or maybe you increase it to 45 minutes instead of 30 minutes. So you get the idea smaller, more bite-sized goals, rather than a big thing of I'm going to lose 20 pounds this year.

Christina Kohl:

And then another idea is to do things, sometimes resolutions, I don't know. It could be. I think of what I just said. You're going. It also might feel like you're not enjoying the process. So I love this idea of adding fun things into your resolutions, like I'm going to have a pedicure once a month. Obviously, if you can afford that in your budget, that'd be awesome, and if you can't afford to pay for a pedicure, then maybe you give yourself one once a month, or maybe it's going to a movie, you know, like actually watching a new movie or reading a new book, or I love this idea. For me, anyway, is to get together with a friend at least once a month, because sometimes it's hard to plan those things, and that's something where you're adding fun things into your world. You're adding stuff instead of taking away those cookies.

Christina Kohl:

And then another thing you might've heard of is having a word of the year, and this is different than a resolution. This is kind of a guiding word that helps you change your mindset and your perspective about things. And, on a side note, the word of the year for 2023, this isn't a personal development type thing, this is just from the Oxford Dictionary. I thought this is interesting.

Christina Kohl:

The word of the year is RIZZ. That's R-I-Z-Z and it's short for what they think that it came from charisma. The word charisma. I'm just going to read here. It says if you're not familiar with Riz, it's time to learn its meaning. It is believed to come from the word charisma. Oxford says it means having style, charm or attractiveness. It can also mean the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner. The word is popular among Generation Z, people born during the late 1900s and early 2000s, so that would be my kids. I'm going to have to check with them and see if riz is in their vocabulary. They haven't used it around me yet. Apparently, it can be used as a verb too, to like riz up, to attract someone or to talk to someone. So I'm not talking about the Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year, I'm talking about a word of the year that serves as a North Star for you.

Christina Kohl:

This is something I've done. Well, I did it last year and I've kind of loosely done it in the past but haven't really like latched onto it. But last year I did, and my word last year I did, and my word last year I just want to share was transformation, and honestly I couldn't pick just one word. So my secondary word was investment, and so transformation to me was kind of my guiding word, and this is kind of an example of how to use this concept. I had just lost 20 pounds, so speaking of it started on like July 10th or so. So I didn't pick New Year's, I picked middle of the summer to start really focusing on my health and my diet and successfully lost 20 pounds, and that's where I was a year ago from today, and I just kind of undergone that physical transformation and was just recognizing that, recognizing myself for that and how empowered I felt. And I wanted to continue with that theme, and this time for 2023.

Christina Kohl:

In January, transformation for me meant my career transformation, and I truly did transform my career this past year. I'd been working in corporate for several years and I left. I made the decision to leave because I really really wanted to focus on coaching. That is what gives me the most intrinsic value is coaching and helping others and I just wasn't getting that as much as I needed and wanted from my corporate position and I took the leap. As you know, if you're listening to this podcast, you've heard about my return to work journey. You might not have heard about me leaving corporate, though. Um, cause I was. I had returned to work and worked again in my profession for seven years, um, two different jobs and my last job. I left in March of this year, made the decision in January. Um, and just to share a little bit about that, how that came about, a A little less than a year ago, lisa Marie Presley passed away unexpectedly and I was really really feeling a lot of stress, some pressure and a lot of mismatch in my job, in my role, and had been contemplating making a change and wasn't really quite sure what that was going to look like.

Christina Kohl:

And I was driving home and on the radio the DJ came on and he announced the passing of Lisa Marie. And the next sentence is what really got me. He said that she was 54 years old. Well, at the time I was 54 years old, years old. Well, at the time I was 54 years old. And I remember thinking, if I were to die tomorrow, how disappointed I would be, how angry I would be at myself for the way that I was living my life, because I was spending so much time and energy and giving it to my employer, had repeatedly had the sense that I was running a marathon as if it was a sprint, and I'd been doing that for a couple of years and was just really needing to refocus and readjust the way that things were going. So, after having a conversation with my husband several it was something that we had already talked about, the idea of me going all in on my coaching and not just having it be something I did on the side and it was just something I felt very strongly about.

Christina Kohl:

And that night, after I'd heard about Lisa Marie's passing, he and I had gone out to dinner and I tell you I spent that entire evening. It was just the two of us spent that entire evening telling him how excited I was to be coaching full-time and making a difference in people's lives, and I have a meetup group it's called Mom's Next Career. During the dinner I got a notification on my phone that someone had joined my group, and I wasn't even promoting the group or doing anything. I'm like look, look, somebody just joined. I'm not even advertising and somebody has joined. There are people I can help. I know I can make a difference, and that's what lights me up and what I'm passionate about not working in the corporate environment and so for me, that was just a real big turning point, and that's why my word of the year was transformation. I transformed my career and, as you know, I'm coaching full time now and the other half of my I don't want to say half the second word, that I couldn't decide between the two, but transformation was definitely the first one and maintaining my physical transformation. I'd already been deep in the process of and then transforming myself, my work life, my part of that's my identity. We get caught up in our work titles, our identity right, and our coworkers and our colleagues and the things we're doing together. So I transformed all of that and have become an entrepreneur and a full-time coach.

Christina Kohl:

My secondary word was investment, and it was time to invest in me. I didn't think twice about investing in my kids' experiences. So my daughter was a gymnast I've talked about that several times. My son was a baseball player and he's now playing guitar and rock climbing, and my other son did scouting and destination imagination, and we invested in those opportunities for them. They don't just come for free, right. You have to pay for the gymnastics program, you pay for scouting. It's an investment of time and money and it was time for me, as I a year ago, as I looked at the beginning of 2023, it was time to invest in me and what I wanted to do and and what my next chapter would be, because I you know my youngest is was a high school junior at the time, and, knowing that our lives are about to change drastically, it was time for an investment in Christina and in what she, what me, what I wanted to do so.

Christina Kohl:

The ways that I invested in myself was through conferences, through continuing to work out at the gym, feeding myself when I say feeding myself, I'm not talking about food, I'm talking about motivational knowledge and just listening to podcasts. So not only was I at the gym exercising my body, I was listening to motivational, inspirational podcasts at the same time. So investing in my mindset and investing with dollars as well. I mean, I went to a woman's empowerment conference. I went to a woman's entrepreneurship conference. I invested in coaching certification. Even though I'm a certified HR professional, I wanted to have a layer of coaching certification on top of that as I work with my clients, and so I became a master certified professional coach this year through investing time, money and effort to be able to do that. So that's all part of transforming my career, transforming my mindset, transforming my day-to-day right From corporate employee to entrepreneurial coach. There's a transformation that has taken place and I'm happy to say that I have been able to maintain all year my physical transformation. That began in 2022.

Christina Kohl:

So that word of transformation, the words of transformation and investment have kind of been the guiding themes throughout the year for me. So if you are interested in having a guiding word for 2024,. Some ways to go about coming up with your word that I have found helpful is just start by creating a list. Even take five to 10 minutes, set a timer and write out as many words as you can think of that are appealing to you. No editing, just write them down and see what comes forward. And then, once you've written the list, look for themes, see if there are things that are kind of jumping out at you and then pick what is most motivational to you and knowing that that word might have multiple meanings to it. Like I said, with the transformation, that was my career, but also my mindset, my physical body, all of you know, is multiple, multiple meanings.

Christina Kohl:

And for 2024, my word is light and I want to share where that came out of the most recent coaching certification program that I did. They asked us at the beginning of the of the course what our intention word was. You know, as we introduced ourselves, you know I am Christina from Colorado and my intention word is and what kept coming up for me was confidence, because I wanted to be more confident about, you know, promoting and marketing and doing all this coaching work, but I'm like you know that just sounds so generic. So I pushed myself to go a little deeper. What does confidence mean? And for me, it means the word light. So I can produce this podcast, but if I'm not sharing it with everyone, then I'm in the dark, right. So I need to get in the light and I need to be more vocal about what I'm doing not just vocal, but be more public about the message that I have.

Christina Kohl:

And in order to serve the people I want to serve, I need to put myself in the light, right, I need to be in the light and be seen. That's really. It's about being seen. So that's what the word light means to me is being seen and letting go of the fears that might be holding me back. So looking inward to figure out what is holding me back from wanting to be seen and wanting to be visible and in the light, and looking inward to find out what that is and letting go of that, and then that's kind of like a lighter baggage too, right, like getting rid of any emotional baggage that might be getting in my way from wanting to be seen, and so that's feeling lighter as well. And, of course, I want to maintain my physical health, and so I want to stay light physically and I want to be a light for others.

Christina Kohl:

So if you are, if In this situation where you've been a stay-at-home mom for a number of years and you want to come back to work and you just feel defeated, frustrated, overwhelmed, you're just feeling down, I want to be a light to show you that it is possible. I've been there, I've done it and I have tools that can help. I want to be a light to you, tools that can help. I want to be a light to you If you are feeling sad because your kids are growing up and leaving. I want to be a light for you as well, and knowing that you're not alone. And also there are new chapters to be written, and that is something to look forward to. As one chapter comes to a close, a new chapter begins, and you are the author, and I want to help be a light on that as well, shining a light on the new chapters that can begin.

Christina Kohl:

So that's the way that this word resonates with me and, as you've just heard me, it has multiple meanings and I would encourage you as you search for a word for yourself. That's kind of a defining, guiding word for the year to think of something that has multiple layers to it, so that it's not just one dimensional. And that's what's helping me and actually for myself. I have this little bracelet that I had made and it says let your light shine. Because that's really what I'm working on is being more visible and being my authentic self in a public forum and not being afraid to do that and knowing that by me stepping into the light, I'll be able to help other people.

Christina Kohl:

And that's really my ultimate goal. And I can't stay in darkness, I can't stay hidden. If I want to spread my message and if I want to connect with you and others, I can't stay hidden. I have to be in the light and I have to be willing to be seen and I have to be willing to fail publicly and know that failure is just a lesson right, there's no mistakes, there's only lessons. So what if you learn from that and keep going? And just by showing up and being authentic, that that's my way of stepping in the light, and this podcast is definitely a huge way for me to do that. I am expanding right and growing and being more and more public, and so, yeah, that is my word for 2024.

Christina Kohl:

Well, I hope that this has been helpful for you and I would love to hear what your word is for the year, if that's something that you decide to do. Or maybe you're going to go the traditional route and do resolutions, or maybe you're going to try the one month resolution instead and just make smaller goals, or maybe you'll do a series, like a different resolution each month. I like that one. I might actually do that one in addition to my word of light. That'll help me, maybe by having a monthly resolution. That'll give me a way to bring my word light forward and in a practical way.

Christina Kohl:

So, yeah, there's just a lot of ways we can approach it and, of course, it does not mean that January 1st is the only time we can do this. You can decide on February 10th to do something new, or July 7th or whenever you are inspired. Take advantage of that. Don't wait for January 1st of next year to come up with a guiding word or something you want to do different, to enhance and change and grow, and all of that. So I recognize that January 1st is an arbitrary date and it's also an opportunity for those that want to take this time to reflect and think about the future and what you want for yourself. So, like I said, I hope this is helpful and that you'll get some kind of nuggets out of it.

Christina Kohl:

Whether you create a resolution or a guiding word of the year, or you do smaller, smaller, bite-sized month-at-a-time resolutions, or you add a to-don't list, or you add a fun list, or any of the above all of the above, perhaps? All right? Well, happy new year to you all. I'm excited for the programming that we have for the show in the next. Perhaps. All right, well, happy new year to you all. I'm excited for the programming that we have for the show in the next few weeks. We have several special guests joining us and I think you guys are going to love this content. I'm very, very excited for what's to come. Thank you so much for listening in. I so appreciate each and every one of you. Have a great new year. Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed that episode from the end of 2023.

Christina Kohl:

If your intention or your resolution for 2024 has anything to do with a job search and landing a new job, and if that hasn't happened yet, I have a beautiful resource to help you. This is a resume template that I've created specifically for women returning to work, and it works for anyone, not just those with a career gap. Five years after I returned to work, I used this template and it successfully landed me my next job. So it is a beautiful template and is available for free for anyone who wants to download it. It is in the show notes for you to download. Just click in there and you'll get it delivered straight to your inbox.

Christina Kohl:

So, again, if that is a goal for you whether it's for 2024 and you just haven't gotten to it yet, or you need some help, like if your resume just isn't working for you check this out. And if it's a goal for 2025, now is a great time to get started and start getting prepared. So be sure to check it out. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope this episode hit home for you and, if you haven't already, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn and say hello so I can personally thank you for listening. Until next time, remember, your story is uniquely your own, and your next chapters are ready to begin.