How to Wear Your Word of the Year

How many of you start your day by asking yourself... HOW DO I WANT TO FEEL TODAY?  And then get dressed in a way that connects you to those FEELS?

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If you've done Style School, then you KNOW this is a revel-YOU-tionary way to approach your closet AND your day.

If you haven't done Style School... then buckle up, because I'm gonna walk you through how you can use ONE WORD to trigger some serious closet creativity!  

This one word can be your WORD OF THE YEAR, or any other dang word you please.

Wanna change the world (or at least YOUR world) but can't get outta your own damn way?  Time to get INTENTIONAL about what you gotta tap into - inside of you - to be that change.  

For me, 2020 is all about DISRUPT. 

I talked all about why I chose DISRUPT as my 2020 word of the year HERE... and now, I'm gonna share with you how/why I WEAR MY WORD. 

One of the things I've gotten pretty adept at in the past few years is connecting to my FEELS. In other words, I've gotten pretty good at being able to identify when something FEELS good, and DOES NOT feel good.

Like when... 

• I tell myself that I'm going to walk my kids to school, but then drive them instead.  

• I'm hungry as a hippo and my body is telling me I need to eat... but I stay at my computer way too long and end up missing lunch. 

• I've got a big heart-project to work on, but keep house-working myself to the bone so, "oops, can't find the time!"

This kind of stuff always makes me feel BAD inside my body, and I end up feeling disappointed in myself.

It's as if there's a part of me that wants to DO THE THING, but there's another bigger-stronger-more powerful part of me that keeps sabotaging me.  AND I LET IT. 

My strategy is to get wicked intentional, and filter MY WHOLE DAMN LIFE through the lens of DISRUPT. 

I'm going to... 

• DISRUPT the thought that tells me it's ok to drive the kids to school, when my soul fire wants me to walk.

• DISRUPT the thought that tells me it's ok to skip lunch, when my body needs me to eat.

• DISRUPT the thought that tells me the floors need sweeping, when my heart wants me to work on that big project. 

It's gonna be hard.  And I'm gonna wanna quit by the end of the month. 

I know this about myself... so I've got to get WICKED INTENTIONAL about cultivating the OOOMPH that I know lives inside me, so my guts can withstand the constant barrage of "sit down, take a break, you'll do it tomorrow, you're not strong enough" that I KNOW is gonna come my way.  

How do I do that? I get dressed in a way that connects me to my WORD/my WORK.  

I've been getting dressed, paying attention, asking myself... What FEELS like DISRUPT for me?

And right now, it feels like hoodies, neck gaiters, and cheeky winter hats. It feels like denim. It feels like black and white and lace. When my daughter's new Vans came in the mail, I realized DISRUPT felt like Vans!  So I bought myself a pair.  When I got dressed the other day... I wanted black jeans. I don't have any... but I know I want them. 

I've discovered that when it comes to my closet, DISRUPT is just as much an action as it is an actual "style".  It's me getting up and getting dressed right off... instead of waiting until 10 or 11 or 12 to get out of my pjs. It's choosing the orange earrings, when my usual-self would choose the silver. It's wearing the cropped top I wanna wear, even though I know people will leave snarky comments on my Instagram telling me my cropped-top days are over. 

We're only a week into the New Year, and so far... this is what DISRUPT looks like for me.  
 

I've adjusted my closet to "support" my word (my work) every year... for 5 years now.  And I just KNOW that this kind of wear-my-word intentionality is what's allowed me to STICK TO MY WORD for an entire year, five years running. 

BRAVE

In 2015 my word was BRAVE. It was a big word for me, and choosing it as my WORD set me on my entrepreneurial course. I spent my life believing that I wasn't brave. Sure, I did hard things like join the Peace Corps and navigate the healthcare system as a medical mama... but those were done out a need to prove myself, as a person, as a mother, as a friggin’ human being. 

BRAVE is different. 

By starting each morning connected to my BRAVE, I was able to practice stepping outside of my comfort zone. I wore concoctions that I would have NEVER dreamed of just the year before.

FIERCE (LOVE) 

In 2016, when my word was FIERCE (LOVE), I traded in my colorful and patterned palette for blacks, blues, and grays. I started wearing more denim, leather, and shiny metal. Every day when I stood in front of my closet - sometimes exhausted, worn out and overwhelmed - I would REMEMBER that I WAS FIERCE, and I would choose my outfit accordingly.

PLAY

In 2017, my word was PLAY!  I donated everything in my closet that was synthetic, and focused more on wearing clothes that were 100% cotton. I wanted clothes that I could PLAY in.  PLAY was the year that I fell back in love with fuchsia and polka dots and florals. And it was the year that I FINALLY invested in congruent hiking gear! 

EASE

In 2018, my word was EASE.  I traded out some of my beloved and bold colors and patterns for more soothing colors and delicate patterns. And I started wearing jeans again. Ripped ones, because man they made me feel at ease. My natural energetic tendency trends more toward whirling dervish than a cool cucumber, so beginning my day WEARING MY EASE set me up for, well, more ease!

CEO

In 2019, my word was CEO. It was about stepping up and stepping out. It was about being brave enough to suck at something new. I wanted to feel-inside-my-bones that I was a competent business woman who might not have it all figured out, but was heart-set on doing her best. That meant my own version of "business casual" which meant blazers, my new locally-made "CEO purse" and artisan made accessories.

Now, I don't want you to go thinking that I went out and bought a whole new wardrobe every year to support me in "my work".  No way.  I used what I had... I styled things up differently.  Here, take a look... 

And this... 

Same dresses, styled up differently to connect me to the FEELS I wanted to FEEL.

It's cool, isn't it, to see how my "style" has changed over the years? And it only make sense!  Inside-out Congruency is-not and can-not be static.  We’re dynamic women, so OF COURSE our style, our congruency, has to change as WE change. 

You know what else is cool?  I can look back at photos from the last 5 years and know exactly what year it was just by looking at what I was wearing.  

I can remember the INTENTION associated with the FEELS associated with the clothes!

I wore my word. I lived my word. I cultivated my word. 

Wearing your word allows you to LIVE YOUR WORD, instead of just applying your word to happenstance and circumstance. 

Wearing your word holds you accountable to YOU!

This is BIG WORK, my friends. And it’s accomplished in small, doable daily intentions that tangibly align you with your word/work in a tangible way. Hey! You gotta get dressed everyday anyway, so why not USE it to explore your growth edge!?

xo Stasia 

Why I Choose a Word of the Year

It's New Year's Day, 2020, which is the PERFECT DAY to reflect on 2019, and lay down some intentions for 2020.  

I don't know about you, but man, 2019 was AWESOME. 

Not in a that-was-easy kind of way, but in a holy-buckets-that-was-hard-and-I-survived kind of way!! 

When I started the year, I declared CEO as my word of the year.  

I was DONE caveating and diminishing my work, my vision, my business. I was DONE feeling ashamed and embarrassed when people asked me when I was going to "get a real job". I knew that it was time for me to TRULY stand in my power, and recognize that all the work I had done to build my business was something to be PROUD OF!

Except, I had a belief inside my head that said... REAL business leaders never make mistakes, they never fail, they always know how to do all the things, and they certainly don't talk about something as ridiculous as "style".

Intellectually I knew none of that was true. But hell if every time I made a mistake, fell on my face, or admitted I had no clue what I was doing, I felt like a half-assed dimwit.  And if someone gave me the side-ways eyeball when I told them what I did for work... I about died of shame. 

My brain needed some serious re-wiring, and I KNEW it wasn't gonna be easy.  I KNEW I was gonna need a WHOLE YEAR to work on that re-wiring.  I knew I was going to have to let go of old beliefs, and create NEW healthier beliefs that supported me, instead of tore me down. 

I knew what "my work" was, so I chose a WORD to remind me of my work. 

C.E.O. 

CEO meant falling down, and getting back up. It meant saying yes to things that scared the crap out of me, and then letting go of the outcome. It meant being brave enough to suck at something new.

I  knew I needed to filter MY WHOLE DAMN LIFE through the CEO lens in order to shatter old beliefs systems, and create new beliefs systems. 

2019 was a humdinger of face plants and "failures"... and a whole lot of pivots and recoveries.

• The January session of Style School didn't quite sell out (I was so close!) and I BEAT MYSELF UP for it.  I cried, pitched a fit, got mad, threatened to quit. 
  
  The November session of Style School didn't sell out by a long shot, and I realized it was an opportunity to pivot in my business. I buckled down, and started hashing out a plan to expand my reach. I never cried once. 

• I went surfing for the first time ever in my whole life.  I had my ass handed to me.  The ocean beat me up.  I cried.  I shook.  I got bruised and battered.
  
  On the final ride of the final day of the trip, I popped up on my board and rode that wave like a pro. I felt wicked proud.

• I went on the radio, and did a pretty shitty job expressing my ideas, my thoughts, my vision. I cried a whole bunch. 
  
  I went BACK ON THE RADIO, and felt like a regular ole radio personality.  I felt great.

• I did my first ever keynote address, and walked off the stage crying because I could NOT engage the audience for anything.  
  
  I did a second keynote address later in the year, and was told that I should have charged triple because it was THAT good. 

• I did some live, in-person teaching, and honest truth... I wasn't very good at it.  I wasn't confident in my skills.  I lost control of the group.  I shook for a month afterwards.
  
  I said YES to teaching live, in-person weekend workshop at Kripalu, and had THE BEST teaching weekend EVER. 

• I signed up for a hip-hop dance class, and came face to face with some "cartwheel shame" that I've carried around with me since I was a kid.  (I've NEVER done a cartwheel in my life.)  I cried in class.  
  
  I asked the teacher to give me private cartwheel lessons so I could LEARN how to do a cartwheel at the age of 45.  

CEO's fall down, do scary things, and sometimes suck.  But they get back up, pivot, and flex their brave muscles.  Not just in their business.  But in life. 

Choosing CEO as my word (my work) allowed me to practice CHANGING MY MIND in many areas of my life.  NOT just in my business.  It's all connected though, because I am the common denominator in everything that I do. 

Choosing a WORD OF THE YEAR allowed me to PRACTICE changing my belief pattern, over and over again, for a whole entire year!!  Sometimes I sucked at it. Sometimes I challenged my thoughts. Sometimes I wasn't strong enough to challenge my thoughts. Sometimes I blew my old thoughts outta the water. 

I used to say things like, "THIS IS JUST HOW I'M WIRED!" or "I CAN'T HELP IT, THIS IS JUST HOW I THINK!".  

Turns out, we can change!!  Did you hear that?!?!?  WE CAN CHANGE!!     

But it takes commitment, practice, dedication, clarity, tenacity, courage... and the space/time to try try try, over and over again. 

And now, I'm ready to COMMIT to a new word.  

MY WORK for 2020 gobsmacked me about a month ago. My "new word" scares me, because it's going to disrupt how I organize and prioritize my time, my commitments, my projects, my intentions, my dreams. 

There are always one, two or three REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT PROJECTS that I want to tackle.  Projects that will turn my dreams into reality. Projects that will allow me to really and truly live up to what I believe I'm capable of doing/being. 

And I put them off like WHOA. 

I will search high and low to do ANYTHING but the THING.  I'll prioritize silly little do-nothing tasks, just so I can pretend I don't have the "time" to work on the PROJECTS.

I am an expert at searching for tasks, and avoiding the projects. And that's all about to change.  

PAUSE.

That last sentence there... "and that's all about to change", just knocked the wind out of me. The second I typed those words, my shoulders fell forward, as if I had just been kicked in the gut. WEIRD.

My word for 2020 is DISRUPT.  😲😲😲

You guys.  I'm seriously having trouble taking a deep breath right now.  I've known this is my word for about a month now, but January 1st was a ways off, so I kept saying... I've still got time to dilly-dally, not be productive, and avoid the big projects that I KNOW will move my life forward in a new direction.  And now, January 1st is tomorrow... and I'm freaking out. 

DISRUPT. DISRUPT. DISRUPT. 

I need to see it, feel it, navigate in and around it, step into it, dress it. 

YES, I said DRESS IT.  Because that's what I do.  I WEAR MY WORD so I can keep it close to me every.single.day.  But that's a whole 'nother newsletter my friends, and you can read all about how I “WEAR MY WORD” HERE.

In the meantime, I'm wondering if YOU have a WORD OF THE YEAR?  

If you're new to the concept, or just unclear on how to CHOOSE your word, I have a few tips for you:

• Your word has likely been nibbling at the edges of your consciousness all year long

• Your word is found in that part of your brain that decides to move left, when your entire being (your soul fire) is begging you to move right

• You shouldn’t need to think too far ahead or too far behind to figure it out because in my experience, that thing you need to work on is ever-present

• PAY ATTENTION

• Our bodies/minds/souls know exactly what our work is... we just need to listen

• Let it wallop you

My word ALWAYS finds me. It's like... the universe KNOWS what's coming, and provides me with the tools I need to navigate my path. I usually - no - ALWAYS - have resistance to the word, because it's hard, scary work that seems impossible. 

But time and time again, I learn that the impossible isn't actually impossible. 

xo
Stasia