What's your word for 2025?

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Do you want to live a life of freedom and adventure? Are you wanting more than the daily grind? Me too. Welcome to the Emma Lovell, show a place where we talk about living a life you love now I'm your host, Emma Lovell, and my number one value is freedom. I've spent the last 14 years running a business and traveling the world, and now I take my husband and toddler along for the adventure too. It's possible, and I know you can create a life doing what you truly love as well. This podcast will inspire, motivate and encourage you to go after your dreams, to create a life you love and to live it now, not wait for a time and or someday in the future, I'll be sharing episodes weekly about how I harmonize business travel and self care. I'll also bring on incredible guests to share their journeys, the wins, the challenges, and how they're creating a life they love. Let's jump in and get dreaming. This is a space for you to manifest a life you love. I would like to acknowledge and recognize Aboriginal and Torres, Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of this place, now known as Australia. I am grateful for the continuing care of the land, waterways and skies where I work, live, listen, learn and play from here on yougen bear country and from wherever you are listening, I pay my respects to the elders past and present. Hello, lovely one. Welcome to the podcast. Today. It is almost the end of the year, and this is the perfect time for us to set the intention for next year. I'm a big believer in intention and what we put out into the world, we will receive back. And so I doing word of the year for about maybe six years, and it's really helped, kind of just guide and come back to it. Funnily enough, though, last year I said a word and I completely forgot the word. So this year I'm going to put it on and post it. I usually write it somewhere, but for some reason, I've just remembered one year what it was like. I I've been really struggling to remember sometime, some of the years, some years really stood out. But it will be a really fun exercise to look back. So I certainly remember 2019

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I believe

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the word that I thought about going for was balance. But I think that balance is a fallacy, and I talk about that in my book. And so I went with calm because I thought you can have a if you have a calm approach, if you have a calm mindset, then you are going to have a more balanced way of doing things. And so that was my way of going around that word and so calm was that year 2020. I chose growth, which was growth in my business and growth in my body. I had my I was pregnant that year, so that was very, very appropriate word for the year, growing both respects. The following year was harmony. 2021 the year that I had my son Finn, was harmony. And that was because I was trying to find the way that my life could work together with my child, with my husband, with my what I need, what business needs, with the thing that I love, the travel and harmony is, is was a big theme, and it's the word that I use over and above balance again, because I think it's a bit of a fallacy. So that word has kept going. So sometimes I feel like you set the intention, or you set this word, and it sort of becomes part of your life. And I'm struggling to remember the what 2022 was, or 2023 I'll have to have a look. But I knew that whatever 2024 was, I felt like it went out the window, and i The other thing you can do is choose a word retrospectively. And so I would say the word retrospectively when you're doing it in review. So you can say, Well, what was 2024 like? And for me, the word is whirlwind. I just think, with launching a book, with everything that happened in my family, the passing of my nephew, and everything leading up to that, the nature of my business, the events that I've had on the growth of the business, my son, he's a little whirlwind himself, which is, and it's kind of fun, not funny. It's quite bad. But Christmas 2023, we actually had a tornado. We actually did have a whirlwind here on the Gold Coast. So yeah, probably would have been probably not a word I would have chosen, but I think that's probably the way to describe it. Funnily enough, when I was preparing for this episode, and I did actually decide, well, why don't I just check in my inbox? You know, did I actually send a newsletter? And I sent a newsletter last year, literally called Word of the Year, and the word. Was travel. 2024 word was travel. And so even though I thought whatever the word was, I didn't do it. That is not true. 2024 was full of travel. I think I've calculated that potentially I had 70 days overseas traveling. I cannot tell you how many flights I probably could, to be honest, actually, most of my flights are done with Virgin Australia. I probably could tell you how many flights I did within Australia. I mean, I think I've been in Sydney at least five or six times. I believe I was in Melbourne twice, at least, yeah, is a little lot. I started the year in Tamworth that was a road trip. So yeah, there was a lot of travel, a lot of near and far travel. And I mean travels, always travels, part of my business, travels, part of my life, travels, my motivation and my my passion. So of course, that was kind of like a obvious word, but I think I was bit more intentional, and I wanted to have a high volume of travel. So I don't know. I think 2025 will still have a high volume of travel, but what I'm looking to do in 2025 is have a bit more space. And the word that I've chosen, and and it is a word that I've had before, but it just was the first word that came to me, and I feel really excited about it, is calm. Calm is my word for 2020, 5c, a, l, m, come. And even when you say calm, it's one of those like words that sounds like an onomatopoeia sounds like what it is. It just makes you feel calm. It's always like, Oh, calm. And so again, I think calm because calm mindset, calm is what I I know I need in order to achieve the things that I want. There was certainly things like the whirlwind of 2024 plans were in place, but there was a lot of unplanned and a lot of things that were out of my control, as as there always are. But I'm really looking forward to time and space being able to plan and have plan time and really defend that time and defend that space, because I know that I need time and space to feel calm. And when I feel calm, I can achieve the things that I want. I can be the person that I want to be, and I can Joy things more. And so calm is my choice of word. But one of the as I was reflecting upon my word of the year, I started to think, actually, maybe my word of the year for last year was be the rose. And again, I went to my inbox because I know, oh, I am freezing for anyone listening. I'm freezing on my computer. So hopefully we're all good. I went to my my inbox again and searched and thought, I don't know. I did something about be the rose. And so I thought, oh, maybe be the Rose was my word, but instead it was a man. I chose an intention in a mantra, as opposed to the word. You might choose an a couple of words to be your word of the year, but be the Rose was my mantra, and I've really taken that seriously. And today I have gone out and I have got myself a tattoo on my wrist of the rose. Now, if you haven't heard me talk about it before be the rose. I feel a bit emotional. Be the rose came from in 2023 I went to the Rose farm retreat with Denise tuffield Thomas, and we were gifted these beautiful oracle cards by Rebecca Carmichael, the rose oracle cards. And I pulled one card and it said, Come to me. And what the card explained is that the the rose doesn't go to the bees. The Rose doesn't run around and taste the bees and and ask for the for it, for them to come to it. The rose blossoms in time, when the season is ready the rose blossoms. It is stands there, strong and tall, beautiful, attractive, calling in those bees. And the bees come to the rose so come to me. And it was this thing of like I have been running around, running after everything, when actually it's not necessarily just about moving. I think there was a thing, a time where I thought, oh gosh, I've just gotta stay still. I've gotta stay in my home, or I've gotta stay in the Gold Coast, and everybody will come to me, it's still, I still love travel and I love being in different places. It's more about being who you are. Uh, being true to what you're doing, trusting in what you're doing, knowing that you're doing enough what you're putting out there the way that you're putting it out there, when you put it out from your heart, when you put it out truly from that place of what you're what you want to create, people will be attracted to that when you are your most you self the right people will be attracted to that. It's not saying just sit here and do nothing. It's it's saying do the things and know that it will come. And I think especially with social media and online world, we think sometimes you gotta push more. Do more, push, push, push, and be busy, and then the work will come when I just think it's sometimes it's the opposite, and that's what I've been is we have a bit of a storm today. So in case I'm being calm, so the internet's coming and going a little bit. But when you are doing what you do, and you're loving what you do, and you're living in your best way when you're living your pleasure life, and you've found your harmony of what works for you, you're getting rest, you're feeling energized, you're Taking action in the right places. You're so attractive, and people will come to you. They will come to your events. They will want to work with you. They will want to speak to you. They will want to know more. And I think the universe will come to you as well. You know when I think there's so many times where I filled my calendar and filled my space and filled my time so much that there wasn't even any opportunity for any goodness to come in. And so I am be the rose has has gone from my 2024 mantra to my life mantra, and it's something that I just want to keep remembering. Oh,

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and it's why it's on my wrist now so, and I talk a lot with my hands, and so on one wrist is my Ace Ace with the ace of spades, and it's an homage to my cousin, who's a magician, but it's also to remind me that I've always got another trick up my sleeve, entrepreneurs, we've always got another trick up our sleeves. I always can pull another card. You know doesn't matter the head the hand I've been dealt, I've got an ace always, so I can just do that. And then on my other hand, I've got be the rose. And it's reminding me to be calm, to allow things to come to me, to take rest, to top up my tank to give from the overflow to be me, and then allow the things to come. So I got that. But I also have decided on a second mantra. Well, it's my mantra for 2025, so I've got calm. And when you think of calm, give you a second. What animal do you think of when you think of calm? What animal comes to mind for me in 2024 whilst I was writing my book, I spoke to my author advocate and wonderful mentor, Anna feathers, who is been on this podcast a couple of times. I was her book. Look, it's your book. Really helped me, as well as her private coaching. And one day she said to me, you're like the swan. It looks beautiful, it looks wonderful. It looks like it's all happening with ease, and then under the water you're paddling away. And we all know that analogy, but we tend to use it. You tend to hear it as a duck. So we say, you know the ducks going along on the surface, you like the duck, you know, cruising along, but underneath your legs are paddling, those little legs are furiously going. And I just thought it was so special that she chose swan. I thought it was such a compliment, because they are such graceful, elegant, slowing creatures, always synonymous with that calm and beautiful sort of energy. So that meant so much to me. But what she didn't know was that the swan is incredibly significant, and I had already chosen to get a swan tattoo in honor of my grandmother, who passed away in in March 2023 because she lived by the river the Thames in London, in England, but not London itself. Um outside London, she lived on the river. And ever since I was nine years old. We've been going to England, and we would go and feed the Swans by the river near her home, and these beautiful white swans. And since last year, since 2023 we've had this like influx of Black Swans to the Gold Coast where I live. And so you'd. To see this occasional Black Swan, and now we're seeing like there's no there's not the right term for it, but flocks of them, huge gatherings of these beautiful swans. And I think to keep that energy of calm and to to honor that word of calm, I will be the swan, and the Swan being graceful, elegant, ease flow. Beauty again, beauty. Beauty meaning not beauty meaning when something is just oh, it just gives you that joy when you know to see something beautiful. Um, but with the swan, you know, not to have those legs furiously, going to have to keep moving forward, flowing forward, floating forward. But with the legs, I guess I'm trying to get the other word, paddling

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consistently. And

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gracefully and

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rhythmically. And it's not this furious paddle. They are just they just flow and so calm and be the swan. This one, I got a tattoo today. So I got two tattoos today, be the rose on my wrist, be the swan on my ankle. And of course, most importantly, I'm going to be me, but I'm going to be the calmest, most graceful, most easeful, flowing me that I can be, so that the work can flow, so that the goodness can come to me, so that I can enjoy it when it's there, when you are calm, you can enjoy things, and it's not this chaotic next next next onto the next thing onto the goal. What's bigger, better? I think these big and beautiful, wonderful things can happen, but I just want to welcome in a really calm way. And so, yeah, I that's where I'm at. Um, that's why I hope you've enjoyed hearing my rationale for my word, and I'm going to bring it up a lot, and I welcome you to remind me, um, if you ever sort of see me not being calm and come to the meeting, I can still be excited, and I can still have joy, and I can still have fun, and I can still be engaging, but I think it's that calm approach and that calm mindset and that calm way of running my business. And wonderful Jen Donovan did an episode on her podcast, social media marketing, about word of the year, and her advice was to say, make it a question. So when you're choosing a word, make it a question. Because, you know, even travel, say it like you can't. You can question it. Am I traveling? How am I traveling? What does travel mean to me? But you know, a word like growth or harmony. Can ask a question, Am I growing? Will this bring growth? Am I in harmony? Will this bring harmony to my life? How am I in harmony when I'm doing this thing? And so for me, calm is such a great reference point and a checkpoint to go. Will bringing on this team member make me calm. Will going to this event help me be calm? Will spending time with my son as opposed to doing, I don't know, another a full day of work make me calm? Will us going to 10 countries in 10 days become, you know? So it's like a checking and it's sort of like, actually, maybe that won't be, would, would acquiring a new business become, probably not right now. Um, but if that, I could have just let the internet adjust. Um, but if, say, an opportunity came and it's a big thing, like, you know, people sort of saying India is such a big thing, your retreat is such a big thing. But to me it's so calm running retreats in South Asia, creating new retreats there is so calm, so effortless. Much more calm than I find running them in Australia. And so even though something might seem big or scary, audacious or hectic to you, if I'm doing it with a calm approach, I've got the support around it so that can help me to become I've planned time and space enough to fulfill whatever the goal or reach the goal or deliver the project. Well, then let's that's a green light, and I'm really excited to keep this, keep this front in mind. So I've got a my holiday project is to do my vision board and taking my time with it. I want to really enjoy it, but front and center will be calm. I'm going to put a poster in my office. I'm going to put it as. Am a few I've got a few notifications that come up in my phone throughout the day, affirmations. So I am calm. I have a calm mindset. I have time and space to do all the things I wish to do. I'm going to pop that in my phone so then that comes up throughout the day. So if I need a reminder, calm and I'll probably I make, um, a phone screen cover as well, which I did one for 2023 a vision board, and I didn't do it for 2024 so I'll make a bigger vision board, but I like to make one, just kind of make it on Canva, or just make it like, kind of like a collage, but it becomes my screen cover, and it will make sure that calm is in this I can see that regularly. But I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to hear your word or your mantra or your intention. I think keeping it simple is really good, and it just becomes a nice way to kind of guide your year, and a nice way to reflect and to check back and to see, did I achieve it? Yes, I achieved travel as my word. Do I want to choose that word again? I mean, it's part of my life. I don't need to have it this year as my word again, obviously calm needed to come back again. But potentially calm ends up becoming something that I embrace as as part of you know that is part of how I work, how I operate, how one of my values is calmness. So, yeah, it can be a really great exercise. I hope this has been helpful for you to hear that process, thought process. And if you need support, and you think something like this would be helpful for you, I do have my one on one coaching sessions. We can go through a reflection exercise for you, talk about what's happened this year, past few years, and what you want to take into 2025, and beyond. And I do believe having a word, having a mantra, having some affirmations, having some guiding points for you, can be so, so beneficial. So thank you for listening as always, if we don't, if you don't hear from me before, have a wonderful break or welcoming of the new year. It's it's a it's a really wonderful time to reflect, and I hope that you're getting to have lots of love and joy in whatever form that takes for you. So sending you all my wishes, happy holidays, and

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I'll see you in 2025

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Thank you for listening. Lovely one. I hope this has inspired you to dream big and start creating a life you love today. If you love what you're hearing, don't forget to follow and rate on Spotify and rate review and subscribe on iTunes. It helps other awesome people to find this podcast and get motivated and inspired as well. Want to stay connected. Come and join the live a life you love. Group on Facebook or connect with me on Instagram. Emma lovell.au the same as my website, but all the details are in the show notes. Lovely. I'll see you next episode for more inspiration, motivation and freedom seeking now, go out there and live a life you love. You.

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