Tag: #onephrase

2026 One Word/Phrase (1-7-26)

Happy Wednesday and Happy New Year!

I hope you had a relaxing and recharging holiday.  We are going to kick off a series about some questions you might consider asking yourself as we get this year rocking and rolling.  Our first question is an annual tradition.  What is one word/phrase that will serve as your north star for the year?  

At the beginning of every year, I take time to reflect and choose a word or phrase that will be my north star for the year.  I’ve found it helps ground me versus getting lost among setting too many goals.  To identify my one word/phrase I ask myself things like: What went well last year that I want to continue?  Where could things have been better?  What do I want to achieve?  What do I want to give more focus and energy toward this year? 

In 2025 my word was REBUILD.  I needed to rebuild after having a few years that absolutely kicked my butt.  My focus on rebuilding and repairing had huge dividends and contributed to me having one of the best years I’ve had in a long time throughout many aspects of my life.  This year, my phrase is Make a Choice.  As I reflected on 2025, I realized that things were at their best when I was making intentional choices whether this meant being very deliberate about working out or making clear trade-offs at work.  When I didn’t actively make a choice, I would default to getting lost in the grind, doomscrolling, and other activities that didn’t serve me or bring me joy.  My phrase is a subtle reminder that I can either choose and have better outcomes or get swept in a current I don’t want to be in.

The challenge: What is your one word or short phrase for the year?  What is your north star? 

Bonus: The image is a vision board I create that incorporates my one word/phrase as well as other images that have meaning. Here is a breakdown of the vision board.

  • Phrase- “Make a Choice”
    • 2025 was one of the better years I’ve had in a while.  My focus for that year was rebuilding, and I had a lot of success building myself back up, rebuilding some better habits, etc.As I reflected on 2025, I realized that the best parts of the year stemmed from me making very intentional choices.
      • I chose not to run myself into the ground and was deliberate about ensuring that didn’t happen.I chose to make sure I took time to recharge on a frequent basis. I chose to make weightlifting more of a priority. I chose to focus my time and effort on key work projects.
      I also realized that when things weren’t as good, it’s because I did NOT intentionally make a choice.  Essentially, when I wasn’t making intentional decisions, I was passively sliding into not so great habits like:
      • Doomscrolling for a long time before going to bed. Getting sucked up in the speed of life and getting lost in work while sacrificing family and health. Watching/consuming mindless stuff (food, entertainment, etc) that I didn’t enjoy vs choosing things that would bring me joy.
    • Bottom line- if I can I can do a better job of ensuring I am always actively making a choice, my life will be even better.
  • Morpheus and the red vs blue pill
    • This represents the idea of making a choice.
  • Spider-man swinging
    • My superpower is connecting people, things, and ideas.  Spider swings effortlessly between the connection points, and that’s what I strive to do.
  • Marvel superheroes
    • I like having someone to remind me that I’m blessed to work with a lot of amazing superhumans, and part of my job is to figure out how to bring out the best in everyone.
  • 4S
    • I had copilot create a cool logo for this. It stands for strength, steps, sustenance, and sleep, the building blocks of good physical health. I want to make sure I’m nailing those fundamentals, and the logo makes it look cooler 😉
  • The battery
    • Reminder to
      • 1. Not let my better every get too low
      • 2. Make sure I’m recharging whether that is rest, moving my body, spending time with family/friends/etc.
  • Momentum
    • I feel I gained a lot of positive momentum last year, and I need to continue to think about how I can take advantage of that to continue to make the world a bit better.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

“Rebuild”- One Word or Phrase for the Year (1-2-25)

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a fabulous holiday!  Kicking the blog off this year on a Thursday, since it’s my first day back in the office.  This entry will focus on identifying a word/phrase that will serve as our north star for the year.

At the beginning of every year, I take time to reflect and choose a word or phrase that will be my north star for the year.  I’ve found it helps ground me versus getting lost among setting too many goals.  To identify my one word/phrase I ask myself things like: What went well last year that I want to continue?  Where could things have been better?  What do I want to achieve?  How do I want to feel about things?  What do I want to give more focus and energy toward this year?  What do I want others to notice and say about me? 

While there were some incredible parts of 2024, it was also a year that kicked my butt.  The work demands and life stress threw me off center and out of balance in so many ways. 

As a result, my word for 2025 is rebuild.  As defined by Merriam-Webster rebuild is a verb that can mean to make extensive repairs AND to make extensive changes in.  I like the dichotomy of those two ideas.  One part is about building back, and another is building new.  I need to do both.

So, what exactly do I need to rebuild?  I need to rebuild and repair a better integration with life and work that doesn’t leave me burned out.  I need to rebuild some boundaries and an ability to let things go so I don’t stress over them.  I need to rebuild and change habits that ensure I’m taking care of all aspects of my health.  As I’m shifting into a new decade of life, I need to rebuild who I am and what matters most to me.

The challenge: What is your one word or short phrase for the year?  What is your north star? 

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

What is Your One Word or Phrase for 2022?

I hope you had wonderful and relaxing holidays.  We will kick off this year with a series focused on helping us get 2022 started off on the right foot.  This week, I want us to reflect on our north star for 2022.  We will do this by reflecting on what our word or phrase for the year will be.   

At the beginning of every year I take time to reflect and choose a word or phrase that will be my north star for the year.  I’ve found it helps ground me vs. getting lost among setting too many goals.  To identify my one word/phrase I ask myself things like: What went well last year that I want to continue?  Where could things have been better?  What do I want to achieve?  How do I want to feel about things?  What do I want others to notice and say about me? 

As you can see from a screenshot of a vision board I made, this year my phrase is “Channel the chaos”.  After reflecting on the past couple of years, I’ve realized that there will never be a new normal.  As the cliché goes, the only constant will be change.  With constant change comes large amounts of frantic energy as work life, home life, and personal life all evolve at the same time in unexpecting ways.  When this happens, it’s easy to freeze.  It’s also easy to just dig in your heels and struggle against the change, which is exhausting.  With all this in mind, my goal is to take all of this energy and transform it into something useful.  I will channel the chaos into growth.  I will channel the chaos to kinetic energy to help me move forward.  I will channel the chaos and be the conduit for the energy, instead of being the one the energy acts on.  I will channel the chaos and turn it into another reason to care for others more deeply.  If I do these things, I will live this year from a position of being centered and strong.

The challenge: What is your one word or short phrase for the year?  What is your north star? 

Bonus- Below is an explanation for why I chose all of the different images for the vision board. It’s a fun exercise to do. I keep this in my office at home as a constant reminder.

1. Spider-man- always on my vision boards.  Represents connecting people and ideas.  He channels momentum to swing gracefully through the city.

2. I like having a Marvel panel to remind me that I’m surrounded by superheroes and we are all on one team.

3. Uncle Iroh from Avatar the Last Air Bender- Iroh learned how to redirect lightning that was shot at him.  He learned to channel that energy and make it inert, so it wouldn’t hurt him or others.

4. The Juggernaut- Once he gets moving he can’t be stopped.  I want to channel the chaos and turn it into fuel to keep me moving forward.

5. Scarlet Witch- She uses chaotic magic.  I always have a goal of delivering magic, so why not chaos magic?

6. An organized pantry- Often change is overwhelming because we don’t know how to organize it in our brains.  When I get overwhelmed I’ll try to stop to breathe and remember it’s just about organizing the pantry.

7. The quote- turning frustration into something better.  Great reminder.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry