Ep 2.11 How to Choose Your Word of the Year for 2022

In today's episode Jill shares about different ways you can approach choosing a word of the year inspired by the Holy Spirit. She also explains the options available for custom word of the year pieces available at Pink Salt Riot and talks about why it matters to put your word of the year on something you'll see regularly. 

Check out custom word of the year pieces here.

Grab a word of the year from Jen Fulwiler's word of the year generator here.

How to Choose Your Word of the Year 2022 Transcription

Jill Simons

00:00:01

Hello, and welcome to the Authentic Uprising Show. I'm your host, Jill Simons. I am so excited to grow in the radical art of standing in what God says about you with you today. This show is a place where we pour into our concept of who we are, how we've been created with intention by God and how we can live out of the freedom that he has for us more every single day.

00:00:43

Hello and welcome to today's episode of the Authentic Uprising Podcast. I'm your host, Jill Simons. And today I'm going to be talking about one of my favorite practices that I do every December to get ready for the new year. And that is choosing a personal word of the year for the upcoming year. And so there's a ton of communities that do this, and I know it's become more and more popular over the last few years, but it's something that I think is really, really helpful to kind of hang on to throughout the scope of the coming year to really carry through the intention of the year. So in 20, in December of 2019, I'm sorry. In December of 2020, when I prayed about my word of the year, it was really, really clear that the word of the year for 2021 this year that's ending for me was the word rest.

Jill Simons

00:01:39

And it's been so interesting how that word has shown up throughout the year, the opportunities to rest my struggles with rest, all of those things have been really pulled together and unified by the fact that this was my word of the year, so that when I look back over the year, I'm able to reflect in a really unified way. And so I would love to encourage you to choose your own word of the year for this coming year 2022 or whatever year you happen to be listening to this podcast. It is just such an incredible way to really bring focus into your daily life. I think that that's something that is such a struggle for so many people right now, because there is so much going on. There's such a rapidity of information between our smartphones and our computers and our social media and all of those things that make it hard for us to really carry long plans through to completion because we get distracted by these little things along the way.

Jill Simons

00:02:47

And so I really encourage you to begin to pray about "What should my word of the year be for 2022?" And there's a few ways you can do this. Obviously, a great place to start is to just straight up, ask the Holy Spirit. Do you have a word for me? Do you have a word for me to carry through 2022 with me? And sometimes boom, right there, you'll get your answer. That's what happened for me when I was praying about my word of the year for this year that's ending and the word rest was just so quick right there for sure. This is my word of the year, this year. However, I'm still in the process of praying about what my word of the year is for 2022. Cause it didn't come as quickly. So if that's you, if you've asked the Holy Spirit what your word is, and you didn't really get anything concrete, here's a few more things that you can do.

Jill Simons

00:03:41

I also really love to think about words that have popped up for me over and over again. Throughout the year, there was a woman I was praying with yesterday, who was something I really received in prayer in praying for her was the word light. And she told me after the fact that this has just been coming up for her over and over again, people have kept talking to her about this idea of light. And this was not in the context of word of the year that we were having this conversation, but if you are in a similar position where there's a word that keeps coming up throughout your life, maybe in your prayer life, maybe when other people have prayed for you, maybe just keeps popping up in places that seem surprising. We had a lot of people reach out to us when we started talking about identity this fall about how identity was something that just kept popping up for them all over the place.

Jill Simons

00:04:39

And so all of those things are great things to take into account when you're choosing your word of the year, there is also for those of you that don't have a lot of desire to reflect on this and spend a lot of time. There is an incredible word of the year generator that's linked in the show notes here today created by the one and only Jen Fulwiler who we all love dearly that will just generate a word of the year for you. And if you're like me, you might just keep clicking until there's one that seems like it's a really good fit for you. I've never actually used the generator word as my real and true word of the year, but every single year I clicked through it and get some inspiration, get some ideas for things that could be great options for word of the year.

Jill Simons

00:05:30

And there's a bunch of really unusual words that she has put in that generator that might really get you thinking. And then finally, a great way to look for your word of the year is to really just think about what it is that you want to grow in in the new year. We really want to be led by the Holy Spirit in these things, but sometimes God is really looking to collaborate with us. And sometimes he says, what what's on your heart? What is it that you want to do in the coming year? Let's let's do that together. If you really looking to grow in terms of your maybe study of the word, maybe you are looking to spend a lot more time in your Bible in the coming year. Maybe something like commitment or persistence or study might be a really powerful word of the year for you.

Jill Simons

00:06:31

That speaks mostly to what it is that you desire to grow in in the new year. So that's a few ideas for picking your word of the year. I really encourage you, however you do it to do it. It's a really, really fine and beautiful practice. And we also at Pink Salt Riot starting on December 28th have - which is today - we have all of our word of the year custom pieces available. We do this every year. We have bar bracelet - are by far our most popular option where you can choose your font. You can get your word engraved on a piece of wood. It's a maple hardwood. So it's really durable. It will last you the whole year. And then we have a variety of options for the chord bracelet. So this is like our brown and rose gold. And we also have this beautiful teal bracelet for the first time this year.

Jill Simons

00:07:27

And these are the two different font options. We have a capital font and a lowercase font, and you're able to select what you want. There's no word limit on or, or length limit, I should say on the length of the word. So we have, you know, a nice long word like unwavering here. We have commitment and you're able to customize it the way that you want. We also have our key chains available and we will also have necklaces and charm bracelets available as well. So these will be available from today through mid February. We are extending it this year because we have gotten so many, many emails begging us at the end of January, beginning of February, I just picked my word. I just found out about you. How can I get my word of the year piece? So this year we are extending it into February.

Jill Simons

00:08:24

And so if you are wanting a specific bracelet though, something like you really, you really love the look of this brown and gold. I really encourage you to order as soon as you're able, because we do sell out of individual styles of bracelets. We will still have word of the year available, but as time goes on, our options will decrease. So I really encourage you to place your order. As soon as you have your word ready. So you have your most diverse options available. So you can get something that's really going to fit your personal style because we know how much I love that. And think that that's really important because it needs to be something that's going to help keep your word top of mind throughout the year. And so if it's not something you love, if it's not a style that fits you, then it's not going to be something that is as easy to incorporate into your daily life.

Jill Simons

00:09:17

And that's really the purpose. Whenever we create these things, we are not looking to create another trinket that's going to sit on your dresser for the year. We're looking to create something that's going to be a part of your everyday life. And I think that's why the bracelets specifically are so popular because it's something you will see as you do your work. As you type on the computer, as you drive all of those things, you will see that bracelet with your word of the year and be pulled back into the reality of that. Because as, and I'm sure you've all heard this many times, we vastly overestimate what we can do in a short period of time, but we vastly underestimate what we can do in a long period of time. And so in an entire year of sitting with a word and growing in a specific area of our lives, there is so, so, so much opportunity for growth.

Jill Simons

01:10:12

And so these pieces or something we created to help you really carry that through the entire year so that you don't get lost in mid-March and lose track of your word of the year. And kind of maybe think of it again in November, when you start thinking about whether or not you're going to do a word for the coming year, it's something that you can have tangibly as a part of your life for the entire year. So I hope you will check out our word of the year collection. It's available in the link here below in the show notes. Just encourage you to remember that it's just available for a limited time. And if you are listening to this episode after February 15th, when we have gotten rid of our word of the year from the shop, don't be dismayed, it'll be back next December. And you are welcome to still click the link and head to our website where you can enter your email.

Jill Simons

01:11:06

So you will be notified when the new word of the year pieces are available at the end of whatever year, you are listening to this episode. So I can't wait to make these for you. There is not very many things that I personally make any more for the shop. I design everything and I make the samples for anything, but my very wonderful production team here in Tulsa does the vast majority of our production. And the one exception is word of the year. And I get to be very hands-on and I make alongside my team a large number of the pieces that go out. So it's always a joy for me to see your words, to think about your stories and to pray for you as I put your pieces together and send you off into 2022. I hope you have a great rest of your Tuesday.

Jill Simons

01:11:58

I'll talk to you soon. Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of the authentic uprising podcast. If you're watching on YouTube or listening on a podcast app, make sure that you hit subscribe so that you can get all of our updates automatically in your app on YouTube. And we also ask that you leave us a review or comment. If you're in a podcast app, leave us a review that helps us get seen by more people and on YouTube, leave us a comment, let us know what you loved from the episode and send it on to a friend. I am sure that you know, someone who really needs the message in this podcast from today. I also encourage you to check out Pink Salt Riot. That is my company that sponsors this podcast. We have an incredible online shop full of all kinds of beautiful and unique Christian lifestyle goods. You can shop our whole line at pinksaltriot.com. I'll see you next week.