My Three Words (2022 Edition)

This is an excerpt of Joanna‘s biweekly newsletter. It comes out every other Sunday. Would you like to receive the newsletter directly to your mailbox click here to sign up. 

When thinking about what you want to manifest in your life: how will you be intentional in your choices and actions so that you feel good about what you are achieving? A few years ago I jumped off the new years resolution band wagon and moved to slower intentional changes. Yet the new year does have a certain amount of fresh and exciting forward-looking energy. 

I utilize the new year 'energy' to capture in three words what my signposts will be for the coming four quarters. Read more about this idea from Chris Brogan here. I look for words expansive enough to give guidance but specific enough to be an anchor for my intentions. You are in my mind when I consider my words too. The words must also help me serve you on your journey as a babywearing educator and consultant. 

I highly encourage you to try your hand at this exercise. It's fun and thought-provoking. It isn't too late to start!

One key to making the 3-word successful for yourself is to make them visible. Keep them where you will engage with them. I add the words to my calendar and have them front and center for each weekly review.

You could even do some art with them and then hang in your home!

Here are my 3-words for 2022 - which I suppose also makes them CBWS's 3-words too.  

Balance: bal· ance | \ ˈba-lən(t)s.   Noun

• physical equilibrium
• a state in which things have a proper amount of importance
• something left over
• mental and emotional steadiness
• Transitive verb: to bring into harmony or proportion

I want to have something left over at the end of the day, week, month. I want to find some harmony between the spheres of my life. Better physical balance is a no-brainer, at least for me.  I wonder if you feel the need for mental and emotional steadiness too? The last two years have been hard for the whole world: for me, I would be good with fewer emotional peaks and valleys. 

Breathe: ˈbrēt͟h.   Verb

• to inhale and exhale freely
• LIVE
• to pause and rest before continuing
• to feel free of restraint
• to take in
• to be wholly devoted to (something)

I want to expand my current breathing practice and reduce my stress more proactively. I want more time to LIVE - ties into the word Balance. I want to add rest times before I take off to the next thing. I want to breathe life into the projects dear to me. I want to take in the world before me as I walk and as I move through the day to find joy in the moments that make up my life. Lastly, I continue to be wholly devoted to CBWS. I seem to live and breathe babywearing, so I might as well embody it. 

Develop: de· vel· op | \ di-ˈve-ləp.   Verb

• to set forth or make clear by degrees, or in detail: EXPOUND
• to work out the possibilities
• to create or produce especially by deliberate effort over time
• to expand by process of growth
• to cause to evolve or unfold gradually

This is a word of action and of possibilities. A reminder that nothing happens without effort - and at the same time that whatever will happen doesn't have to happen overnight. This year, 2022, marks 10-years for CBWS, and I find myself thinking about the next 10-years. This word serves as a reminder to allow things to unfold gradually - but deliberately. I reject the hustle of the current work and social environment - instead, I am pursuing a more sustainable path forward, one that has space for Balance and Breathe - one that will encourage me to embrace the 'what-if' around the idea of growth and expansion (development) of CBWS, and myself. 

Go and have some fun and do you 3 words! Share them and tag us on Instagram @centerforbwstudies