I invite you to choose a word of the year. Your word of the year is more than just a selection. It serves as a guiding force, a beacon, illuminating our path and setting the energetic tone for the year ahead.
It grounds our goals and visions, shaping the energy we attract and radiate throughout the year. Joining me for this enlightening and powerful discussion are two beautiful souls that I just love and have joined me on previous episodes Lacey Grijalva and Annette Mariel.
I invite you to choose a word of the year. Your word of the year is more than just a selection. It serves as a guiding force, a beacon, illuminating our path and setting the energetic tone for the year ahead.
It grounds our goals and visions, shaping the energy we attract and radiate throughout the year. Joining me for this enlightening and powerful discussion are two beautiful souls that I just love and have joined me on previous episodes Lacey Grijalva and Annette Mariel.
Hey guys. Welcome to Heart to Talk the podcast. I am the host and creator Teresa Caesar My intention for this podcast is to deliver to you wisdom, inspiration, and consciousness. Through solo episodes and conversations amongst insightful people. It is my greatest honor to bring to you talks that come from the. I'm so excited in today's episode. We're delving into the profound impact of choosing a word of the year. As Louise Hayes beautifully articulates the events and experiences of our past up until this moment have been shaped by our thoughts. beliefs, words and visions. However, it's our present choices, the words we speak and the thoughts we believe that hold the power to shape our future. The present moment is where our power resides, influencing the experiences of tomorrow. Therefore, I invite you to choose a word of the year. Your word of the year is more than just a selection. It serves as a guiding force, a beacon, illuminating our path and setting the energetic tone for the year ahead. It grounds our goals and visions, shaping the energy we attract and radiate throughout the year. Joining me for this enlightening and powerful discussion are two beautiful souls that I just love and have joined me on previous episodes. We have Lacey Grijalva. Who has been on episodes 48, 28 and 12. And then Annette Muriel, who's been on episodes 47, 36, 25, eight and one. And so I felt deeply compelled to have them on for this episode because they both have been. Fellow word choosers of the years as well with me and both have played an integral part of my personal journey of endings and new beginnings of closing out old chapters and choosing to write new and empowerful chapters. So as we stand here on the threshold of 2024 and close out 2023, I couldn't think of two better ladies to share this topic with all of you Lacey and Annette Welcome to the show
Lacey Grijalva:is first off. Congratulations on episode 77. Hearing you talk about all of the episodes just makes me so proud of you and so honored to be here. Um. You know, going through this journey in life alone is difficult, but then when you have people around you that you can share that journey with is just something so special. And so to be here today with you on episode 77 is such an honor. And, you know, my own personal journey has been a learning experience. It's been a growing experience. Learning to pick a word of the year to inspire me to follow what I need to do and to keep me grounded and focused has been something that's been new to me and introduced to me through you and Annette and When I picked a word of the year two years ago, it really helped me focus on my journey and what that year needed to be for me. And so I thank you both. And I'm excited to do this podcast and talk about my word.
Anneatte Mariel:I'm so excited to be here. And I second what Lacey just said. I mean, I'm so excited. So proud of you in so many different ways. Episode 77, 77, that's like a lucky number. I'm really excited to be here for episode 77. Um, and just seeing like, you know, the consistency, the journey you've been on, and all of us supporting each other on this journey of, of growth and of heart centered entrepreneurship. So, very honored to be here. And you know, picking a word of the year has been, gosh, in my life for, I would say about six to seven years. But it really is like a guiding North star when you're facing difficult situations and difficult decisions during the year and like Laci said, it grounds you, it really makes you focus in on what's important, there's so much noise out in the world, so many people telling you to do this, that, and all the different things, and when you have that focus. And that groundedness that is coming from within, you're very hard to sway as a human being. So then you tend to follow what truly is within you and what is within your heart. And what serves you the best. So, Picking a Word of the Year is activating your power.
Theresa Cesare:You introduced this whole practice and it is life altering you hear people say you're the author of your life story, you know, and it's truth. I mean, literally going back in time when activated was my word of the year and I activated everything, my spirit, my power, my energy. Then the year after that was abundance. And then peace, everything that I claimed. Really? Echoed in my life and all areas of life and it's just been so powerful. So I want to go in and just ask each of you. I'll go ahead and start with Lacey here. What is your word of the year?
Lacey Grijalva:So really when, when we talked about this, gosh, I don't remember how long ago you asked me and it was hard. Because you want to be really intentional with your word. you really want to pick a word that you're really going to focus on and lean into and that will have meaning to how you're going to live your life for the rest of the year. So my word of the year, is love. it sEems like something so simplistic, but really my intention this year is to do everything with the purpose of love. And so what I mean by that is If I want to eat ice cream, I'm going to eat it because I want to and I love it. Not with no guilt, when you do stuff that you love, there's no guilt. And when something doesn't work out, whether it's a relationship, a job or the food you picked wasn't so good, but you picked it with intention of love that you really wanted and you're not disappointed afterwards. And so for me, If I focus on love this year and everything that I do, whatever it is in my job and my personal, my love life with my kids, if I do it with, with the intention of just love, whatever the outcome is, I feel like there's going to be no regret. or disappointment because I know that I did it with love. And so that is my word this year. I, whatever I do, whatever decision I make, the first and foremost focus is going to be, do I love this? Am I doing it because I love it? Or because I feel like I have to and if it's not a love answer right away, then the answer is no for me. And that's how I'm going to live this year in pure love and just see how it follows. And I'm really excited. I already even saying that I get excited. Like I felt this warmth in my body just saying it. And it sounds so crazy, but it's the truth. You get excited when you hear the word love for whatever it means for you. And so for me, just saying love brings a smile to my face. So I know this year through love, every smiles, laughter, and when those hard moments hit, I know that love will bring me through. And so I'm super excited for this year's word, and I can't wait to see how it goes.
Theresa Cesare:Well said. So powerful. Love it, love it. Annette, what is your word of the year?
Anneatte Mariel:So, surprise, surprise, I don't have one yet. So, um, over the years, I really try not to put a lot of pressure on the word and, it's really easy to do that. And to think linear, like, today is a day when I'm picking my word, but maybe the word doesn't want to drop in, in that moment, maybe it's like, hold on, you need to do some more self reflecting, you need to drop in with yourself and tune in with yourself a little bit more, word will come. And for me, there's been years where it has come earlier, but there's been years where it even has come in like the beginning of January. So if you're listening to this and you're like, Oh shoot, now I have to go get my word of the year and I have to like, I have to commit to this word. There's been times where I got a word and like Lacey said earlier, it wasn't my word. Like I, I, like you can try it on and like, does this feel right? And you're always allowed to shift it. That's the thing. You're always, you have to feel it in every cell of your body that this is your word. And it always drops in. So I'm waiting for my word to drop in. and then when it drops in, I know it. Like, I know it. That's my word. That's my focus for the year. So it's, it hasn't dropped in yet. Maybe by the time this is out, we can have a little announcement of what my word is.
Theresa Cesare:I love that you were authentic in that. And just because it's January one, you don't have to hit the ground running with your goals for the whole year, your word, all that.
Anneatte Mariel:And you and I have discussed how, like, January is like a transition month. You don't have to be full blown, let's go, right? Yes, I wanted to mention that for anyone who's listening there's so much pressure we put on ourselves for January 1st. Here we go. Off, off, off we go to be our best selves. But hello, we just came out of holidays and It's also, if you follow the seasons, we're in the middle of winter. it's more of a rest and reflect time. And the reason why it's important to pay attention to how you're feeling, it's because you can deter your growth because you're putting all this pressure on yourself. And then when you put all this pressure on yourself, you have, and this happens more with women than men, I tend to see, we shame ourselves. We're like, Oh, I was supposed to be this person of the now January 15th. Now I'm not doing any of that. So I love thinking of January as the transition month as you're trying on things. Okay. I want to build this new habit. Let me test it out. See how it feels. I'm not aiming for perfection. I'm just aiming for, the minimum. And there's this concept of, like can you meet the minimum requirements for the week of whatever you're choosing? I learned it from a workshop I was in and he like built multiple successful companies. And he said, he got into the best shape of his life. When he stopped pressuring himself to be at the gym five days a week because and do it perfectly every week because some weeks it's going to be busier than others. But when he created a minimum, okay, three days a week, and then anything past that is great. Like it was extra credit, but three days a week, that's when he got into the best shape of his life. So as we go into January. Think of the minimum requirements of whatever it is you want to accomplish. And if you're wanting a word of the year and it's not coming to you, just start seeing examples of people living a life that you want. And imagine what are they doing every day? What are their habits? How do they wake up? How do they speak to people? Who do they speak to? What do they do on the weekend? What do they read? And start showing up as that person, and it's not perfection, it's just the intention and the consistency and the messy action of showing up as that person. One of the things is just get out of your head, and the way to get out of your head is go live life and go dancing or do something with where it requires movement, where you move and, and, and you're just having fun, being playful. And then, if you still have not gotten your word, just relax. It will come to you. Because the more you tense up, the less we're connected to source, and you just have to just relax and trust. It's not just that things are going to happen but you have the intention of being this next version of yourself.
Theresa Cesare:I love that. I'm glad you said that a lot of people will just like grab on to a word because it sounds like it should be the word for them. Or someone else is using that word. Okay, that sounds good. But you said you're gonna know. And feel into it. And just like you said, like, look into what do you desire the most? And last year for me, I desire just peace, peace with my choices, peace with my past peace with my present, just peace in my relationships, peace at work, like just peace. And boy, did I get it because once you choose it and that's what you so deeply desire, then what do we do to really like live into that?
Anneatte Mariel:So when you pick your word now that is a filter to your world. So like Laci was saying, her word is love. Now, when she makes decisions for in 2024, that is the filter. It could be something really simple like, maybe even sending a text message in a moment, when you're upset or, annoyed and you're sitting there and you have that North star, you have that grounding force of the word and you're like, is this coming from a place of love? So it becomes the filter. One of my words was lightning or something like that and it was a very random word, a word that most people would not choose, but one of the reasons why it resonated with me is because in the darkest of nights, when lightning hits, it lights up the entire sky. So, that was my intention to be more seen that year. To get in rooms and environments where I'm more, out there in the world, not hidden and now we were just coming out of pandemic at that time. And so it became very natural to hide and to be in your house. It became very natural to not be seen. The great thing with when you have a focus, you look for opportunities that encompass that focus. So I was looking for opportunities to be seen and to be out in the world and to, deliver my message to the world. And it's not about perfection. It's literally just about taking the action. And when you take the action, even though it's not perfect, you're still building momentum. You're still doing something that you, if you didn't have a clear intention, you wouldn't have probably have done. And most people are walking around living groundhogs day. They're living the same day every day and they're getting older and they're not knowing why. their world is not changing because they're not changing. They're not taking the actions and, and setting intentions and setting up their environment so they can change and they can create the life they want. It doesn't happen overnight. It's a lifelong project to create your dream life. I don't know anyone who is not working on themselves. Who, who has a life that like, yes, I love my life, but they're constantly refining that. They're constantly, looking within and seeing, does this feel right to me? Is this the next step for me? Do I want to do this? And having a word really anchors you in into the actions that are in alignment with who you are in that moment.
Theresa Cesare:So powerful. It's so true. What about you, Lacey?
Lacey Grijalva:So for me, the first year was freedom and I really stepped into that. And for me, it's carrying what is the Word that I can carry on to the rest of my journey. So while I'm still living in my freedom, the next year was healing. And so those two seem to go really good together because I could still live in my freedom while continue to heal. And that was healing through everything in life and how I stepped into that. If it was healing from an argument or healing from the past or healing from, you know, maybe something at work that happened, how do I heal and move on, but still live that freedom. So I wanted, you know, a word that I could use and still heal, still live in my freedom. And so for love, I know that learning to choose love, even when life has been difficult has been life changing. And so for me stepping into this, 2024 in choosing love. Just learning to love life and every aspect of it while loving myself. self, loving others. When you think about the word love, we, we right away go to either romantic love or the love for friends and family. But love is so much bigger than that. Like love, it just encompasses so much about life. And so for me, it's really stepping into 2024 and loving everything that I do. Now, does that mean that I'm going to wake up? And when I. want to go work out at six in the morning. I'm going to love it. No, but I'm going to ask myself right now, do I love myself enough to wake up and continue this health journey that I've on? Or do I love myself enough to give myself an excuse to say, you don't need to go today. There's tomorrow and you'll be fine. It's just stepping into every decision I make. In love and really not not putting any guilt or pressure or if I make a choice that I think is out of love and then it doesn't work out not having any guilt for that because in that moment, I loved it with the choice that I was making and that's okay. So this year I'm just really stepping into learning to really reconnect with myself. And loving who I am and in turn loving everything that I do. So learning this new love for my kids. Now, of course I love them unconditionally, but learning a new love for them. And as individuals, I was as like what they love to do. Learning a new love for my job. You know, I love my job. But what new aspects can I bring into 2024 that I'm going to love to bring into this atmosphere, learning to continue this journey of freedom for others and inspiring them and, and learning to love that and putting that inspiration into others. So. You know, like Annette said, this word just excites me. It excites me in every aspect of my life. I knew it was my word. And it's like I said, it seems like such a basic word, but it really means so much more to me. And, and so I'm looking forward just to waking up every day. And loving every day for whatever it is, because here's the thing, my word love doesn't mean it's going to make the rest of my life perfect or that I'm not going to have bad days or that I'm not going to want to cry and not feel that love in that moment. But, but it's going to help me in each day focus and when I wake up, know that I'm waking up in that moment and that day was love and that I'm stepping into that day with love and whatever that day brings. I'm going to end that day in love. So whatever happens in between the beginning and the end, I know I started with love and I know I'm going to end with love. I am so excited for this year and just everything that this love is going to bring me.
Theresa Cesare:Yeah, girl. Love is the highest vibration, right? Has the highest frequency. It just makes you smile. When you say the word, it makes you smile, you know, for whatever it means to you. My word for the year is luxurious. Everything I do is going to feel luxurious to me is going to be of luxury because for the last few years, I've been rebuilding, and just retraining myself on how to have a better relationship with many things, but financial. Right? And so I took myself out of the category of the things that I've always loved to go do and eat and explore. And I wasn't enjoying the restaurants I've always loved. The kind of clothes I always bought. I was like, I've got to save. I got to do this. And then I realized like, oh my gosh, I can eat what I want, do what I want. Cause I'm very careful now with my money and everything is going to feel luxurious. And the simple luxuries. Right. It's time. IT's on a Monday night opening up that nice bottle of wine. It's looking the bomb on a Tuesday to work. And that to me is how I tune into my word. I also love, as you all know, and if you don't know, I'm the affirmation, babe. Follow me on Instagram at@iamtheaffirmationbabe babe. I like to create affirmations with my word of the year and set the tone for my day. Like today I'm feeling luxurious and I'm attracting luxurious experiences. So you will be seeing a lot of posts with me wearing diamonds, drinking and eating yummy food, but it's really about the simple luxuries that I love the most. So, before we dive in for, the ending questions, what do you have coming up?
Anneatte Mariel:I have a master class coming up and it's called Bye Bye PMS Hello Vitality and that's coming up on January 13th and anyone can join. It's a, it's a free event. You can go to my Instagram handle.@iamAnnetteMarielle. And you can click on there on in the bio and sign up for my masterclass. I'm going to give all the tips and tricks on my masterclass on how to start your, journey to balancing your hormones, because if you have PMS, it's an indication that you have a hormonal imbalance.
Theresa Cesare:Oh, thanks for that. And you know what? I can drop the link to that as well in the show notes. Awesome. To close up, I'm going to ask you both a question as our ending question. And so I'll go ahead and start with, annette, aside from choosing a power word of the year, what is a tip that you can offer the audience that you use for yourself to stay empowered and motivated each day?
Anneatte Mariel:I really like to ask myself this question throughout the day. What powerful decisions have I made? And what powerful decisions am I going to make that day? And a powerful decision doesn't necessarily have to be grandiose. A powerful decision is a decision that, you make with, with your whole entire body. Like, Oh yes, this feels good. I'm going to make this decision. Because the worst place we can be is, is an indecision because we stop our momentum. People who reach the highest levels of success. They tend to talk about the power of decision and there's actually a book called The Power of Decision and it's life changing. Highly recommend it. The Power of Decision, um, the sooner you can make a decision, the faster you get to that next level and you practice that with your everyday decisions. So just simply ask yourself, did you make a powerful decision? And, or what powerful decisions are you going to make, but in order to be a person who makes clear and direct and concise decisions, you have to start practicing. And so even if you're at Starbucks and you're like, Oh, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. No, go in there and like, I know that that's the drink I want. Like even, even something so silly like that, you, you want to start practicing making a clear decision. Maybe you're trying something new that day and you're like, okay, this is my decision. I don't know what the outcome is going to be, but I'm stepping into this decision and this is a clear yes for me. And you go with it. You're not regretting it once you're in it because you're like, I made the decision and you deal with whatever comes you make the decision.
Theresa Cesare:I love that. Love it. And Lacey, what about you? Aside from choosing a word of the year, Do you have a go to mantra or quote that like always lifts your spirits, keeps you inspired and motivated?
Lacey Grijalva:So Maya Angelou is one of my favorite people to just listen to, read, And she has this quote that says, do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. And I love that because I think that's the way that I've learned to live my life and to be forgiving of myself. Because if I try something and I didn't know any better, but I learned Then the next time I'll do better and that way I'm not so hard on myself about things because I think that We are our hardest critics. Like we are so hard on ourselves and then sometimes When we're so hard on ourselves It kind of opens up a door to let others be critical or hard on us as well because we lose that self awareness or self esteem that we need. And so, in order for me not to be so hard on myself as a mother, as a friend, as a leader, as whatever I'm doing my role in that moment, if I didn't know any better, It's okay. I learned a lesson from that. And next time I'll just do better.
Theresa Cesare:Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Please download, rate, subscribe, and share this podcast. Also, be sure to visit my theresacesare.com to check out my inspirational merch, connect to my social accounts, and much more may you continue to be filled with wisdom, inspiration, and consciousness. Otherwise, friends, I will be back in two weeks for another episode of Heart to.