Episode 434:

Hello and welcome to Unshakable with Human Design, everybody. I’m your host, Nicole Laino, and. And I’m so happy to be here with you. I think I sound a little bit better. I’m feeling better. Although I now have an eye infection in both eyes, so there’s that. You know, it’s always something. I’m really closing out this year with, checking off all of the ailments on the list. So if you’re watching this on YouTube, you will see I have no makeup, which is if you know me, like me being naked. So here we are. But I am so happy to be here with you. I’m so happy to talk to you with this episode, to bring this episode to you, not talk to you about the episode, but to actually deliver the episode to you. So today we are going to do. 

This is an episode that I do every year. It’s on the word of the year, because I pick a word of the year every single year. And the reason I do that is because one, it works. It has served me so well. New Year’s resolutions for me don’t necessarily. Then they just become like a list of goals. And I always have goals and I always have tasks, and I’m always breaking things down. And I actually do that more in alignment with the planning episode that we did, where I look at the quarter and I break things down by month, and I’m looking at that constantly. But when I look at my year and I’m thinking, like, what is this year about? 

What are all the actions that I need to take that are gonna get me to this bigger goal, this bigger vision, this bigger intention behind the whole year? That’s where the word of the year really has. I don’t even know how many years I’ve been doing it. I think we’ve talked about it at least two, maybe three on this show where I’ve given you my word every year. And we’re going to do it a little bit differently this year. I am actually going to. We’re going to spice things up, we. With this year’s episode. But every year I pick a word of the year. Last year. Well, no, let me go back two years. So 2024. My word of the year was optimize. And I did that. When I say that this works, I mean it really works. 

Optimize was my word of the year for 2024. And the reason that was so powerful was because I was in a season. What I did was I looked at what am I doing that’s not working and what do I really need right now, like going into this next year. Just like that process that I was talking to you guys about in the planning session, the planning episode. But then we also did the episode on the Wood snake about releasing, about reflecting. This is something that I do. We’re doing that intensely in the Year of the Snake, closing out the Year of the Snake. But this is just standard procedure for the end of the year is really looking at what worked, what didn’t, and why. What do we need to improve on? What do we not want to be doing next year? 

And for me, in 2024, I felt like I was doing too many new things and I didn’t really have a system. Everything felt really hard. I feel like it was like our second or third year, like hitting like the same revenue number, like not really growing in a meaningful way. We grew profit, which I’m proud of, but revenue was pretty much the same. And we just weren’t seeing, like really significant growth, maybe like 10% or something like that, 20%, but weren’t seeing the numbers that I wanted to see. And what I knew when I looked back was I was like, I need to optimize what I have versus constantly creating new things. I had that early stage entrepreneur itis, which is where I need to create a million different things and. 

And throw a lot of spaghetti against the wall trying to see if something sticks. I hired mentors that really preached just like, create a new offer, launch it. And I burned out. And I did not make as much money and I spent a lot of money anyway. It was not stuff that I wanted to repeat. So I said, I really need to optimize. I really need to get good at this. And this is when I got really clear and down and dirty with data. We started to get really good at watching our numbers. You cannot improve that which you do not measure. You must start measuring it and start watching it. So that’s what I did in 2024. I became a better businesswoman by optimizing. And then in 2025, my word was scale. 

I wanted to have really big growth, and I’m really proud to say that we did. I was just looking at my numbers with my Accountant and going through them with my bookkeeper. I’m meeting with my accountant next month, but going through it with my bookkeeper and just wrapping up the year end numbers, or at least the preliminary ones. We’ll do another one, you know, obviously in January when we officially close the books. So the numbers will go up. But we increased revenue by 50% this year and we increased profit by 70%. I am so incredibly proud of that. That’s scaling. When you talk about it being a team of two, I’m pretty darn proud of that. 

And I’m going to do an episode on that soon, on the behind the scenes of how we made that happen, on how we optimized what that looked like and then what scaling looked like and what we did, the things that we did energetically and the things that we did strategically that allowed us to have that type of growth to go from being like kind of stagnant to getting pretty darn serious about this stuff. And next year I have big goals too. I have an idea how they’re gonna happen. But, you know, I’m sweating a little bit because I’m stretching myself again. So the word of the year sets the tone. Because it wasn’t just I said scale and then it happened. Everything I did this year had to align with scale or I didn’t do it. So important. 

It was the measure that I held everything up to. Something came across my desk, I got an idea, something happened. It was like, does this align with scale now? I’m still optimizing, I’m still scaling. But now, you know, what’s the next phase? So this is the thought process behind creating your word of the year. And this year, what we’re going to do here, I am going to tell you what my word is, and I’m also going to tell you we’re going to do it by human design this year. I know a lot of people. Sometimes when I talk to people and I ask them their word or we do this exercise together, a lot of people come up with words like growth, expand, and they’re not really grounded in anything. It just sounds good, I think, a lot of the time. 

And then the word of the year sort of becomes like a New Year’s resolution that you don’t keep. Fun fact. I learned that most people will. I think it’s like 80% of people will have abandoned their New Year’s resolutions by February. February. That’s nuts. It’s nuts. Well, human design can help us stick to the things that are right for us. And how do we do that? You start things that are right for you. That’s the key. The biggest problem is that we make decisions from a. Should we make decisions from a. From a misaligned place. And then we wonder why we can’t hold it, why we can’t keep going in that direction, why something in us says no and cuts it off. And then we beat ourselves up like we didn’t commit or something. 

But no, it’s actually the universe is saving us from ourselves. So how do we stay committed to a New Year’s resolution, to a word of the year, to a theme of the year, to our goals? Start from the right place. So that’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to ask you, I’m going to be some questions that you can ask yourself to help you come to your word of the year based on your human design type. And then I’ll tell you mine. I’ll use mine as an example to show you, like how I worked into this year because I’m still optimizing, I’m still scaling. I have big goals. There’s obviously there’s a lot of things that are going into it and there are things I’m focusing on, but there’s another layer to this that I want to bring. And what is that layer? 

And this one just came to me and I’m like, okay, I know what I need to do. So that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to break it down. So without further ado, also, I do want to tell you, if you’re interested in those revenue numbers and how we made that happen and how we increased profit by 70%, all of that, I do go into this. I do go into my philosophy behind all of this and the strategies that I use in large part in our secret podcast. It’s called Aligned and Profitable for a reason. Because the truth is that I couldn’t be this profitable if I wasn’t aligned. The alignment allowed me to optimize. It was misalignment that was causing me to bounce from thing to thing and not truly commit. I was misaligned. 

The alignment allowed me to do what I needed to do in the way that I needed to do it. I learned what my brand really was about and I committed to it unapologetically. I’ve really broken this down. So if you are interested in this, just DM me the word secret podcast on Instagram. I’m nicolelainoofficial or go to nicolelaino.com secret podcast. You can listen to it all there. You can binge it. If you’ve downloaded it already and you haven’t listened to it, please go listen to it. Please, please go listen to it. Because I promise you, it is going to give you some sort of. Aha. It’s going to give you something. It will be worth your time is what I’m telling you. We put a lot of work into that, and I laid the whole thing out. And. Yeah. 

So please go check that out. Go back into your secret podcast and if you don’t have it anymore, just DM me, let me know and we’ll get you another link. Okay? Okay. All right. So without further ado, let’s go into the five types and the questions you can ask yourself to get you in the right frame of mind and to get you in the right space to make your word of the year choice from an aligned place so that you’re really making something that’s going to expand you naturally. Okay, so who do we do first? Let’s do. We’ll do our projectors first. I don’t think we ever really do projectors first. I usually throw them in the middle. But let’s start us off. Let’s kick ourselves off with our lovely projector friends. Okay, projectors. Obviously, you’re waiting for the invitation. 

That’s who you are, you know, and I know that can be a difficult dance for some of you to learn. But the key really, about being a projector is being recognized. Invitations are just recognition. Every time somebody compliments you feel successful. That’s your signature. So when you’re choosing your word of the year, ask yourself, what do I want others to see in me? What is the thing that I want to be recognized for? And it doesn’t have to be the thing, but I want you to then journal or experience yourself by kind of taking a walk inside. That question. What would it mean if I were seen for these things? What would it be like for me? 

And just play with that, because you’ll see when I give you my example how mine is a little bit different, I’ll break it down for you how I arrived at my word. And you’ll see, like, the thought process that I go through, it isn’t just like, oh, what do I want to be recognized for? I want to be recognized for my wisdom. So my word is wisdom. That’s not it. You’re going to go deeper than that. But this is an entryway into your correct process. For finding your word of the year. But projectors, you know, what you want to avoid is making a decision where you’re thinking about what you need to do that will probably mess you up by February and it’ll burn you out, and it’s going to not feel aligned. So this is that entry point. 

To download the Secret Podcast on how to Build & Scale Your Business with Human Design click here: nicolelaino.com/secretpodcast

I hope you’re seeing that this is the way to start the conversation correctly with yourself so that you can arrive at a word, a theme, a feeling that feels right for you. Okay, so that’s the projector one. What do you want others to see in you? What do you want to be recognized for? How would it feel to be recognized for this thing? And then see what comes up when you start to journal, Ask yourself questions, go for a walk, sit with this. Okay, so that’s projectors. Now we’ll go to the manifestors, but. So manifestors, you’re all about the impact. So what word would signify the impact you want to make this year? What do you want to change? What do you want to shift? What matters to you? That will be far more important than any goal. 

The goals you’re still going to write down. You’re still going to have things you’re doing. You’re still going to have tasks you’re still going to. I still. I still do, of course. But this word is what kind of encapsulates them all, what makes them all make sense or not make sense. And those are the things that have to go. If they’re not aligned with this vision that you have for the impact that you want to make, then it doesn’t belong there. And this is how we commit to something that matters to us versus something that just sounds good on paper or somebody told us that we should care about or should be on our list. Right? Okay, Reflectors, the question I want you to ask yourself as you’re choosing your word of the year is how do you want to feel this year? 

Look back at last year, at this past year, 20, 25, the year we’re in. Look back. What feelings do you not want to carry in? What feelings are you no longer available for? What are these things? I want you to kind of have an experience with all the feelings, this roller coaster that you have been on. And then I want you to look forward and say, this is how I want to feel this year. Everything for you is feeling. So much is feeling. So the goals that you have should align with a feeling. And again, you’re going to journal, you’re going to experience yourself through this question, and then you’re going to come up with your word. Your word will align with your goals. You know, all of that comes together, but this is that thing that kicks it off. 

If it doesn’t match the feeling, then you’ve got to question it. Because if it doesn’t match the feeling and if this feels like just another list of things you need to do or impossible things you need to achieve, it’s not going to stick with you, but a feeling will. A feeling’s worth it. Okay, generators. So generators, you got a very similar path here. Generators. What will excite you to work on? What word sets the tone for like that Sacral fire. And I want you to see, does it come down to, like, something that you really want to work on? Like for me in 2024, optimization was. It got me going. You really are testing anything that you are considering and you’re seeing, does this turn me on or not? Am I excited about this or not? 

Now, your word might be about the excitement or it might be about the things that you’re doing. That’s going to be your choice. Like for me, optimization wasn’t like a feeling. Optimization was like. It felt sexy to me that year to do less but better. That felt really sexy. I got really into that. I got really excited about that and I knew that it was going to give me the life that I wanted, the way it would feel long term. That was what I wanted. Scale was very exciting for me. So that was something that I totally took in. And I really ran with that, like scale. It felt good. I got excited about that. And now manifesting generators, what will activate you this year? Very similar, but you’re going to have a little bit of that manifester vision impact. 

You know, what do you want to bring? What energy do you want to bring to this year? So I’ll give you the example. I’ll give you my word. So my word of the year is obsessed. Now how did I choose that? Of course, obsessed could just be like excited, right? Oh, okay. So it aligns very well with sacral fire. The year of the fire horse is coming. It’s going to be a fast year. I’m feeling that anyway. I feel that after optimizing and then scaling this year, there are some new things coming for my business this year. And if I am daunted by those things, if I’m thinking just about the things that I need to do, because if I start looking at the list, I start to get overwhelmed. 

All that I want to make happen this year, and that list was starting to feel crushing to me. And then what happens when it feels crushing? I don’t want to do it. Like, hello, generator manifesting. Generator Sacral shuts down when you’re overwhelmed. It says, I can’t handle it right now. This isn’t exciting. This isn’t fun. I don’t want to do it right. Sometimes we make ourselves do it. But I don’t want to live like that. So to me, what I told myself, the things that I’m creating, a lot of new things this year, there’s a lot that I’m doing that’s new. And if I’m going to do things that are new, I need to be obsessed with them. I need to be so damn excited about them. Because when I’m so damn excited about them, they come out great and people buy them. Why? 

Because my energy is contagious, and that’s what gives me momentum. So even as I say obsessed. So when something crosses my desk and says, like, do you want to do this? If I’m not obsessed with it, the answer is no. If I’m not so excited about it, the answer is no. Because I only have so much energy to give. I only have so much life force for the things that I’m creating. And if I’m obsessed, it will be easy, it will be fast, and I’ll have fun. And if I have fun, people will want to have fun with me, and then they’ll be successful. This is the human design way. I know it can sound a little crazy sometimes, like, how can this possibly make a difference? But I promise you, it does. I see it over and over again with people. 

And where I see people lose it is when they go in their head again and they lose the thing that got them there because they started to strategize about it or they started to worry whether it would work again. And I say that because I’ve been there myself. So this is a way you can come back to this episode at any point during the year as well, to reacquaint yourself with this process. Go through it now and then. If you find yourself throughout the year, you know, kind of losing contact with that word, I say put the word up someplace where you can see it on a daily basis. Put it on your phone. I have a whiteboard. I write it on the whiteboard. 

Put it someplace so that you’re reminded of this North Star, this energetic thing that you’re holding onto of, like, this is theme. This is the vibe for the year. So this is the vibe for the year. What’s your vibe for the year? I would love to know. Please go on Instagram, tell me what your word of the year is, announce it in your stories and tag me. I would love to know what your word is and how you got there. I would love, love to know. I’m icoleno official. Tag me. Throw it up there because this makes my day. When I see people doing the work that we put out on the show, I just think it’s the coolest thing ever. So if you want to do that, I would love to see it. I hope that you found this helpful. 

I hope you loved the episode. If you want to know how you can become aligned and profitable with human design, go to my secret podcast. Go to my DMs on Instagram. I’m Nicolelinoofficial and just DM me the words secret podcast or go to nicolelaino.com secretpodcast and you can download it right there. Cool. All right, everybody, we’re getting to the end here. We got a couple more episodes left for you in 2025 and then it’s going to be 2026 and we are kicking it off strong, so I cannot wait. Thank you so much for being here with me. I appreciate you. And remember, in order to have an unshakable business, you must first become an unshakable human. So thanks for letting us help you become unshakable with human design. We’ll see you next time. 

To download the Secret Podcast on how to Build & Scale Your Business with Human Design click here: nicolelaino.com/secretpodcast