Hi, this is Leslie Kane and I am the host of the Why Not Today podcast.
It's a podcast to celebrate people who have been courageous and said, why not today?
I started this podcast in honor of my father, Patrick Kane, who often said, why not today?
I am based in Western Virginia, planned community right outside of Washington, DC, and thanks
for joining us today.
And today, you're going to get me as a guest as well.
I know that I did this, it's December and it's been a little different.
And so beginning of December, if you haven't listened to episode 20, I talked about being
intentional the month of December and focusing on the fun and enjoying it and doing the things
you want to do.
And it's taken some work, but I've been practicing that.
And then I had a special episode on the end of like the next Tuesday, I think it was the
end of December where my friend Jodi talked about her book, Jingle and Joy and praying
beneath the tree and a devotion around that.
And honestly, my life has been busy and I hate the word busy, it's been full the last
couple of weeks and I woke up two days ago and like, I don't have a guest for today.
And so I thought one of the things that I've been thinking about and wanted to talk about
is the one word.
And it's something I do every year, beginning of the year.
And I thought, okay, this is the perfect time to talk about the one word and encourage people
to start thinking about your one word because you want to have your one word in place for
the beginning of the year.
So this podcast is all about helping people and being able to support women and men and
giving people courage to do things, new things.
And the beginning of every year, I stopped doing a New Year's resolution years ago and
I got a book.
It's from John Gordon with Dan Britton and Jimmy Page and it's called One Word That Will
Change Your Life.
And it's a little book and it's a quick read, like you can probably read an hour.
I mean, I could probably do it on the podcast.
But it talks about instead of your New Year's resolution, which most people by February
they've thrown out the window, it's a theme for your year, your one word.
And it says, the book cover says, what if one thing could improve your life in incredible
ways?
What if one word could mean the difference between repeated failure and new found success?
In this beautifully illustrated full color revised edition, one word that will change
your life will inspire you to simplify your life and work by focusing on just one word
for the entire year.
That's right.
One year can create clarity, power, passion and life change.
Each year resolutions are rarely kept and goals are easily forgotten.
But one word, stick by living a single word that embodies the essence of your life at
this moment, you'll found renewed purpose and meaning throughout the year.
Join thousands of people and hundreds of schools, businesses, churches and sports teams who
have found their one word and discover how to harness transformational power of one word.
And so this is something I've been doing with my Mary Kay team for years and other friends
and customers and just it's grown because we took it from just creating our one word
to doing wine women in one word is what we called it.
And a friend of mine, Robin, who has a paint studio, we would go to our paint studio and
of course drink a little wine, but come up with a word and paint it on a canvas.
And then the canvas, I keep mine in my bathroom, so I see it every single day.
And so your one word.
And so I'm going to read this to you just because I think it's profound.
It says, if we could give you one thing that would improve your life in incredible ways,
would you receive it?
If this one thing was so intuitive and easy to use that would be crazy not to try it,
would you give it a shot?
What is the one thing, this one thing, it's the one word.
That's right.
One word that will change your life.
The book talks about how they'll show you how to discover the word that is meant for
you.
It's one word vision or theme for the entire year and it'll help you become the person
you were born to be.
When we first discovered the simple concept in 1999, we never imagined thousands of people
would experience life change year after year.
However, over the years we have witnessed other experiencing the same life change we
have experienced.
We came to realize that we had to share this life changing concept with as many people
as possible.
A simple concept must be communicated in a simple way.
That's why we have designed this book so that you can read it in just 49 minutes.
In this case, less is best.
Simple is powerful.
One word that will change your life is a proven way to create clarity, power, passion and
life change.
Each year resolutions are rarely kept and goals are easily forgotten.
But one word sticks.
By living a single word that is meant for you, you'll find renewed purpose and meaning
throughout the year and achieve laser like focus and power for your life.
So they created the one word process that has three steps.
One, prepare your heart.
This is where you take action to strategically disengage from the hectic pace of your life
and look inside.
Eliminating noise and clutter properly prepares you for the work of the heart.
We show you easy practical ways to create some space and get ready for your one word.
Two, discover your word.
This step helps you ask simple questions to find your word.
We believe that there will be a word meant just for you and we guide you on the pathway
to discover it.
You will learn the four questions to ask to reveal your word.
And three, live your word.
This is the fun part.
We help you experience your word and apply it to every area of your life.
This step will inspire you along the journey as you live your word on purpose and passion
every day throughout the year.
We have also created an action plan.
I don't need to read that.
So to maximize your one word experience, we invite you to first visit the one word.com
where you can receive additional insights, read stories, impact and download helpful
resources.
And so he talks about the story of the one word, how it came about.
So I'm not going to read this book to you, but basically he shares lots of stories of
people's one word.
But to come up with your one word, there's some steps that they recommend.
And let me find the step.
So one word can be so powerful.
And as I said, I've done it for years and I've had several people in my world do it
also.
So in coming up with your one word, what they suggest is to prepare your heart by looking
in and then discover your word by looking up and live your word by looking out.
So I always start thinking about my word in the fall and kind of it never is the one word
I start with is the word I end with.
And I think about it and I have some space around it and plan and live with it.
And then I start looking up and asking God and praying and like, okay, is this the right
word?
And then start looking out and the looking out is, okay, do you see the word?
Do you hear the word?
Are you saying the word is like words I've had.
It's like all of a sudden it's everywhere.
And so doing those things, look in, look up and look out to come up with your word and
sit with it and feel it and make sure it's the word that's right for you.
So that's why I want to do this podcast today as you prepare for year end to start thinking
about it and living with the word and coming up with your word.
So we do, as I said, the painting of the one word, but I also did some graphics and printed
them out on like a picture and printed them out at a photo place and had put it all over
my house with pictures.
I'm a very visual person, so it made a difference.
There were stories in the book about a basketball team that they wrote it on the bat, everybody's
word on the ball and it took it to every game.
A school that on the wall had all the teachers' words, a sports team that are another school
or something that had rock that they all painted.
So there's lots of ways to share your word.
So you can do it with your team could even have a word.
I'm looking really quickly here.
So it says, post your word prominently and share it with others.
You ensure your growth.
There will be no false starts or fails.
You will experience highs and lows and it'll be part of the process as you live out the
word.
Let God use the simplicity of your one word theme to revolutionize everyday life.
All right.
So somebody even said they did it as a tattoo, but I think every year would be different.
You could do think of a song, you can journal it.
And all right.
So I reached out to a couple friends of mine who have done the one word before and my friend
Amber said what she liked about the one word is it was intentional.
It was eye opening to see how God manifests and confirms your intentionality.
And I know her year word in 2020 I think was community and mine was connections.
We kind of laughed after what happened with COVID, but we had to learn different ways
to create community and different ways to connect, which I think was imperfect in alignment.
And she says your word shows up in dreams and things you want.
It's a cool experience to have your word and live it.
And she loved it, it was very empowering.
Another friend of mine, Julia, who is I think the number one fan of this podcast, her word
was savor.
And she really said she really did try to slow down and savor everything in her life.
And she took her picture, I know her one word and put it in her dressing rooms every morning
she saw it.
Another friend of mine, Bethany, her word was progress.
And she painted the word and it was visible every day and helped her persevere.
It helped to reach a goal plus overcome a few obstacles in between.
Another person I asked, Cheryl, she said, let me find her answer.
She said her word, she had a long answer, so I'm going to read this.
All right.
She said in past years I've chosen words for things I wanted for myself, like joy to remind
me to put joy in my life and decisions, things that seemed important for my personal growth
that were helpful.
The word I picked last January was light.
And it has been more meaningful to me as the year has gone on.
I want to be the light for other people.
I want to provide light and share the light, especially in the context of my full-time
job and she worked in a nursing home.
I have always said that all you need to do, that all you need to do to work well is love.
Show them that you love them and you will light up their day.
The way I think of it today is the light is fueled by the battery of love.
All you need is love to make your light shine.
So when I'm feeling less than confident or able, I ask myself if I have love to share.
The answer is always yes.
So this year the word has been more about how I want to be in the world for other people
and that of course has wonderful consequences for my personal growth.
So those are just some examples.
I keep in one of my devotions I have written in really messy all my words every year.
So when I started this, it was 2014, my first word was shine.
And then I had focus, intention, purpose, joy, intention, connections, trust, and courage.
And that's very interesting that I didn't realize that I had intention two other years
because that is the word that I've been thinking about for 2023.
So maybe I need to have intention in my life because I was thinking of a lot of different
areas that I want to be more intentional and I've been very intentional in December.
But now that I see that I may have to readjust that word.
So think about your word.
How do you want to show up in 2023?
Which is crazy to think we're at that point and start thinking about it.
As I said, look up, look in, look up and look out and come up with that word, live with
it and see what it needs to be.
And then we are doing a paint event if you're listening to this in real time and you want
to join us.
We do it virtually so anybody can join us.
If you want more information, just reach out to me.
If you just want to do your word and share it and share it on the podcast.
So this podcast, as I said, is about empowering people and giving people courage to do those
things.
So I hope you pick a word that's courageous for you this year and makes you stretch a
little bit.
And you know, I just thought of a word I might have.
So I'm thinking about this, so it hasn't resolved itself.
So I'm not going to share it yet, but thank you for listening.
And I'm going to have as we finish the new year, I have a guest coming on that's a coach
and we're going to talk about space in the new year and the COVID hangover and how we
can start our new year strong.
I have another guest I've talked to who just downsized and moved out of suburbia into a
condo where I live and got rid of all a lot of her stuff and just living a clean life.
And we're talking about cleaning out for the for the new year.
So I've got other people in line if you know somebody that has done something courageous
or if you've done something courageous and you want to share your story, I'm always looking
for people to share.
So this is our 22nd episode.
Super excited about that.
I appreciate everybody listening and living out the motto of why not today.
And what are those things as we finish up the we celebrate the holidays and finish up
the year?
What are those things you're going to say?
Why not today?
So thank you for listening.
You can find us the podcast on Spotify and iTunes and Google and share with another friend
that hasn't listened to this.
Like it, comment, give it a review.
I know you can on podcasts or podcasts.
Yeah, on iTunes podcast, you can give a review.
So I'm really trying to increase the listenership and the people sharing and love to have new
people share all the time.
So let me know what you think and let me know what your word is.
Make sure you share it with everybody.
And thanks again for joining the why not today podcast.
This is Leslie saying goodnight and Merry Christmas.
I don't think I'll have an episode.
Our next Saturday will be Christmas.
We probably won't have one on Christmas but that next week.
So Merry Christmas or happy holidays.