My 3 Words for 2024: Integrate. Experiment. Play.

Since 2012, I have engaged in a ritual that I first learned from author Chris Brogan, in which I select three words to shape my year.

Today is Imbolc, the midway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. In nature, this is the time when the sap in the trees begins to thaw. It’s the time for seeding what we want to see emerge come the dawn of spring.

As a day dedicated to seeding the first seeds of intentention for the year, this is the day I chose to reveal my 3 words for 2024.

About My 3 Words Ritual

I’ve written about this ritual in the past, and you can read more here. And here. And here. And here.

In short, the idea is to pick 3 words that will serve as guideposts for your year, and that help you align your daily actions with your larger intentions.

Why three?

Three is foundation for all things in nature. The triangle is the most stable structure and the basis for all other shapes.

Three is a triangle, a tripod, a trilogy, a triumverate.

Three is how we become trimuphant.

3 Guiding Principles for Word Choice

Over the years, I’ve learned a few things about how to make my word-choice more successful for me. Not coincidentally, it boils down to 3 principles:

(1) Choose action words.

I’ve found that words that are too broad or esoteric generally don’t give me much structure in my day-to-day.

(2) Choose words that are broad enough to hold the year, but specific enough to guide a day.

I want these words to be useful not just as overall themes for the year, but as daily reminders of how I want to show up and engage with my work.

(3) Choose words that will be meaningful to me.

These are my words, so they need to serve me. They don’t have to make sense to anyone else.

I put a lot of thought into my words before choosing them. I consider what I want the coming year to be about, the energy of the words as both daily reminders and an annual theme. I say the words together to ensure they have good rhythm.

In the past, sometimes I’ve thought too much about them to the point of overthinking.

This year I let go of the thinking and allowed the words to come to me.

With that, here are my words for 2024, with some of the thoughts and intentions behind them.

Integrate. Experiment. Play.

Integrate

Integrate is about integrating the various pieces of myself and my work in service of a bigger reinvention and reorientation of my life and my work.

In my astrological cycle, I’m in the middle of a first-house profection year. That brings a focus to topics of the first house, which includes identity, well-being, roles, physical appearance, and how you present yourself to the world.

In a first house profection year the focus is on setting a trajectory for the next 12-year cycle. It’s a year to reset, refocus, and reinvent yourself.

My first house is in Libra, and with the South Node transiting through this sign for the coming year, it will also be a period of release for me. Letting go of old identities, roles, and ways of being that no longer serve me.

It might even seem like I should choose “release” or “reinvent” as my word here.

But this first house profection year only applies for half the year. Also, release doesn’t feel useful as a daily prompt. I’ll already get enough of that.

Integrate is my reminder that in the service of reinvention, I don’t necessarily need to release all parts of myself. Instead, the goal is to integrate the various parts of myself into a more complete whole.

I often use the metaphor of Barbie to explain the dynamic that can occur when each part of me is siloed to a different role: writer Barbie, coach Barbie, real estate agent Barbie, yoga teacher barbie, etc.

It can be exhausting to have so many different masks to wear.

Life is dynamic. We have different roles. We have shadow pieces that long to come to light.

Instead of feeling pressure to release parts of myself that may still serve me, I want to integrate all of my parts into a holistic whole.

Perhaps the reinvention is really just an integration of the parts of myself.

We’ll see how it goes.

Experiment

I’ve used this word in the past, and it feels fitting for this year.

Like most people, I want to channel my efforts effectively, which often means seeking the “proven” path. After all, why reinvent the wheel?

The problem with this approach is that too often, I can get caught in the paralysis of looking for the “right” way or method, or the “best” technique.

The idea that there is a “right” way is part of the myth of perfection.

Here’s the truth: nobody knows.

Even in the realm of science, we are learning new things every day. What is “proven by science” is only what has been studied. What has been studied is what has received funding. Historically, most studies focus on neuro-typical white men.

And that’s just in science.

Everyone is making it up as they go along.

What worked for one person doesn’t necessarily work for all. Many “proven” methods haven’t worked for me.

The only way to know what will work is to experiment.

Of course, to experiment means to risk failure, and that will be my challenge. Learning to embrace failure and move on quickly will be part of my daily experience.

Play

Here’s an example of where I chose an action word — play — over the esoteric outcome word — fun.

I want life — in all its realms — to be fun. I want to have fun with my clients, fun in doing my work, fun in my workouts, fun in my relationships.

That doesn’t mean it needs to be easy. In the context of my workouts, for example, sometimes the hard ones are the most fun.

Life is too short to be boring or monotonous.

To have fun, I need to bring a spirit of play to everything I do.

When I hear yoga students say they want a “workout” I remind them that one of the core essences of yoga is the idea of lilla, a Sanskrit word that means “play.”

With Pluto entering Aquarius this year for the next 2 decades, it will bring a renewed focus to my fifth house, the area of life that is about play, among other things.

This promises to be a potent time for reshaping my relationship what it means to play in my creative work (also governed by the fifth house) and in other areas of life.

I believe play can be the essential ingredient of super-powered productivity, and of making a bigger impact in the world.

These are the seeds I am planting for 2024.

Integrate. Experiment. Play.

Your Turn

If you adopt this ritual, I’d love to hear what your words are. Please share in the comments.