Episode Description:

In this enlightening episode of the Force for Good Business Show – The Unplugged Series -- host Coco Sellman explores the transformative practice of selecting a "Word of the Year." 

This annual tradition isn't just about setting intentions; it's about aligning your actions with your deepest values and aspirations. As a visionary woman founder, Coco shares how this practice has shaped her personal and professional life, providing clarity and motivation through times of transition and growth. Whether you're refining your business strategy or seeking personal fulfillment, this episode will guide you in choosing a word that resonates with your goals and vision for the future.

Chapters:

00:01 Choosing a Word for the Year

01:33 Cultivating a Force for Good

04:28 Reflecting on Future Challenges

06:06 Being of Highest and Best Use

09:34 Embracing New Opportunities for Growth

Takeaways:

• Choosing a word for the year can provide focus and inspiration for personal growth.
• Identifying challenges ahead helps in selecting a guiding word or phrase for motivation.
• Embracing presence and alignment in life can lead to greater joy and fulfillment.
• Being of highest and best use encourages thoughtful action aligned with personal values.
• Cultivating a thriving community can enhance both personal and professional satisfaction.
• Reflecting on what brings joy can guide important life decisions and priorities.

KEY QUESTIONS EXPLORED:

1.What areas of your life would you like to focus on growing or improving this year?

• Reflect on the specific aspects of your business and personal life you want to develop.
• Coco discusses how this question helps prioritize actions that align with her deepest values.

2.What characteristics do you want to embody or cultivate this year?

• Explore the traits or qualities that will support your growth and enhance your leadership.
• Coco shares her journey towards embracing presence and generosity in her interactions.

3.What challenges or obstacles do you anticipate facing this year, and what word might help you overcome them?

• Identify potential hurdles in your path and consider how a singular focus can guide you through.
• Learn from Coco's approach to choosing words like 'honorable' and 'resolute' to navigate challenges.

4.What brings you joy and fulfillment, and how can you incorporate more of that into the year ahead?

• Coco encourages listeners to think about what activities or people make them feel most alive and fulfilled.
• This question aims to ensure that your work-life balance contributes positively to your well-being.

5.What word or phrase will inspire you to step out of you comfort zone and embrace new opportunities for growth this year?

• Discover how a carefully chosen word or phrase can motivate you to take bold steps and embrace change.
• Coco explains how her phrase 'highest and best use' is guiding her through significant transitions.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS:

• "Embracing your highest and best use isn't just about improving productivity—it's about deepening the impact and fulfillment you derive from every action."
• "Each year's focus word acts as a beacon, guiding me through both the calm and the storms of entrepreneurial life."

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

In today's episode, Coco Sellman invites us to embrace the powerful practice of choosing a 'Word of the Year.' By sharing her personal journey and the introspective tools she uses, Coco provides a roadmap for any founder seeking to make significant impacts through their business. As you reflect on your own guiding word for the year, consider how it can lead you to not only grow your business but also enrich your life and the lives of those around you. Join Coco in making this year a time of purposeful growth and meaningful achievements. Remember, the right word can sometimes be all you need to step confidently out of your comfort zone and into your greatest potential.

Tune in, get inspired, and discover how you can start implementing these practices to navigate your path to success in the upcoming year.

Follow the Force for Good Business Show to discover how to bring more impact, wisdom, and prosperity to your business, community, and life.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgfONo8ivA021G4f7stTGhhyngIeIbXWv  

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6mhmJGFQHgTZbuuHYR9CQr 

Amazon Prime: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/c0566fca-1010-4e73-82a8-cc1464c59ba1/force-for-good-business-formerly-the-business-acceleration-retreat 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/force-for-good-business-formerly-the-business/id1725636106  

RSS Feed: https://feeds.captivate.fm/business-acceleration-retreat/ 

Coco Sellman, the host of the Force for Good Business Show and the #WisdomOfWomen, believes business is a force for good, especially with visionary women at the helm. With over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience, she has launched five companies and guided over 500 startups. As Founder & CEO of A Force for Good, Coco supports purpose-driven women founders in unlocking exponential growth and prosperity. Her recent venture, Allumé Home Care, reached eight-figure revenues and seven-figure profits in just four years before a successful exit in 2024. A venture investor and board director, Coco’s book, *A Force for Good*, reveals a roadmap for women to lead high-impact, high-growth companies.

Learn more about A Force for Good:

Website: https://aforceforgood.biz/ 

Are Your GROWING or PLATEAUING? https://aforceforgood.biz/quiz/

1-Day Growth Plan: https://aforceforgood.biz/free-plan/ 

FFG Tool of the Week: https://aforceforgood.biz/weekly-tool/ 

The Book:  https://aforceforgood.biz/book/ 

Growth Accelerator: https://aforceforgood.biz/accelerator/ 

Join us every week on the #WisdomOfWomen Show and the Force for Good Business Show as we continue to explore the intersection of business strategy, leadership, and female empowerment. Don't forget to follow, like, and share this episode, and take a moment to engage with our community online to further your journey as a woman in business.

Hi there.

Well, this is an exercise a lot of people do, and I do it every year, and it's really been great for me.

And the reason I chose that word is because I knew it was going to be year of transitions and I knew that I would be probably selling my business.

I also knew that I had a Force for Good as a book coming out.

I was starting to build a community, so my idea was to focus on cultivation.

My company has been sold.

I have free space.

We recently moved to New York City.

We're selling our place in Florida, which is good and bad.

Right.

Our lives are changing and evolving, and we've made some big choices to be here for our older daughter, Amelia, who is medically fragile and much better off in New York.

So we've made a big shift.

As I think of the year ahead, I am asking myself, what's a word that can really inspire me, support me, and ensure that I am always moving in the direction that I know is best for me?

I asked myself these questions this morning as I was journaling, and I'm going to share the questions and my responses with.

Hopefully it will inspire you.

As you listen along.

I invite you to journal and think about these questions.

The first question I asked is what areas of my life I'd like to focus on growing or improving.

I'd really like for a force for good, this new endeavor, this new business to take footing and traction.

As you know, when you have a new business, there's ambivalence sometimes, which I've been experiencing, and I really want to release that.

I would like to cultivate real commitment.

I've been putting a lot into it and spending a lot of my resources on it, but I haven't been monetizing it.

So I'd really like to create a harmony and balance and monetize a force for good and generate cash flow from it.

This year, this is what I wrote.

A quick create a bud of a growing business that could become one of many beautiful buds I lead into the future.

I'd like to release my ambivalence and feel unapologetic, unquestionable commitment to building a force for good into a thriving community.

And that's really what hits the notes for me, imagining being with a thriving community of brilliant women founders making the world better through business.

I long for that.

So that's the first question.

The second question is, what characteristics Do I want to embody or cultivate in 25?

So these are the things that maybe you want to explore.

Could be things like your passion, could be things like curiosity, maybe releasing resentment.

Embrace being open.

Apply more courage, take more risks, leap right.

For me, what I really want to embody is presence, being present with people.

I love those moments of quality connection.

I want to continue to listen to my wisdom.

I want to be generous but in balance with my own needs for self generosity.

And I realized alignment is really important to me.

Congruency, right where my thoughts and my actions are aligned and what I believe and what I do are the same.

Oh, that creates so much goodness and joy in my life.

The deeper I go into that, the happier I am, the better my life becomes.

Wholeheartedness, being true to myself, to the others, to the world.

Being honorable.

This is a word that I hear Carolyn Buckluce, one of my mentors, use a lot.

Being grounded, being rooted.

So maybe some of that resonates for you.

Again, what are the qualities you want to embody in 25?

And then the next question, and this is the one that actually got me.

This is the one that helped me decide my word for the year.

This is the third of five questions.

And what word might help me overcome over investing in my business without responsible attention?

Want what's familiar rather than what is hard and will create the new desired results.

The words that came up were honorable, be honorable, be resolute.

A phrase I write about and talk about in a force for good is this idea of being of highest and best use.

And this, this idea of being of highest and best use, doing what only I can do, doing what's right, what's aligned.

And constantly asking myself the question what can I do to be of highest and best use?

So highest and best use is going to be my year word.

It's a phrase, not a single word, but it helped me realize that all the challenges I have in the future will help me overcome them and be my best.

It's also a concept I want to explore deeper as a person, something I want to write about and teach about.

I feel really excited about being committed to this idea.

The next question is what brings me joy and fulfillment and how can I incorporate more of that into into 25?

What brings you more hope, more joy, more fulfillment?

What is going to create more excitement in your life?

Maybe it's travel, maybe it's adventure, maybe it's spending more time with your girlfriends.

Maybe it's more time in a particular hobby.

Maybe you want to paint more, dance more, or listen to more music, or discover what kind of music you like, discover your favorite time, type of chocolate, or you hold the favorite kind of pen in your hand.

These are things I care about.

Maybe it's having a perfectly designed space where everything is organized and clutter free.

So when I journaled on this, what I came up with was been really present for my family.

My.

My younger daughter lost her very dear friend a few months ago.

Being able to be really present for her, I dropped everything else and went to be with her and her friends.

And that really brought me joy.

You know, doing the right thing, realizing that we needed to take a big chunk of what we planned to retire on and buy a place in New York and be here.

For Amelia, it was hard to do, but at the same time it brought me joy.

So for me, being able to do the right thing, being present with my family, my friends, my girlfriends, I love being with my girlfriends.

I went on the Camino a couple years ago with some girlfriends and that brought me joy, recommitting to go back and doing another trip like that Again.

I wrote down being congruent and in alignment, taking really good care of myself.

And that was sort of like this idea that being of highest and best use can become a question of what's best for others.

But it's not has to always be a question of what's best for me, what's best for myself, my needs.

Again I wrote being honorable and responsible with my gifts, my wisdom and my resources expanding and multiplying.

This is what brings me joy.

Expand, expanding and multiplying prosperity for myself and for others and discovering new levels and dimensions of what prosperity means to me.

In my book, I write a little bit about prosperity, but I feel like it's just the beginning.

It's just the beginning.

Conversation of what it means to be prosperous is what I've written in a Force for good.

And the last question, question is what word or phrase would inspire me to step out of my comfort zone and embrace new opportunities for growth in 25?

For me, my phrase is being of highest and best use.

This idea will strengthen and grow every aspect of me.

It will allow me to explore this concept that I know I'm meant to explore and will make me better as a person, as a human, as a mom, as a wife, as a dog mommy.

I really want to use this year to delve into this idea of being of highest and best use.

I can write about it.

Maybe I'll write another book about it.

I could teach it.

I can experience it.

And only good comes from being of highest and best use.

I know that for myself, my family, my friends, my community.

So thanks for listening.

Joining me today, I hope you find a word that embodies who you long to become and what you want to create.