I had to change my words before my life could change

Happy Saturday, Friends!

Something new is starting here at New Day, and I couldn't wait to tell you about it.

But first, a confession. For years, I prayed for a new season while talking like I was still living in the old one.

"I'm just tired."

"Maybe next year."

I wanted a new day, but I was still speaking yesterday's language. Fluently. With an accent.

Maybe you know the feeling.

Why I'm doing this

Here's what I've learned: you cannot build a new life with old words.

The words we repeat become the rooms we live in. Say "I'm just surviving" long enough, and survival becomes your ceiling. Say "I'm behind" long enough, and you stop noticing how far you've come.

But say "I'm being restored," and something shifts. Your mind starts looking for proof.

We spend so much energy trying to change our circumstances, our habits and our bank accounts. We rarely stop to change our vocabulary. Yet language is usually the first place change shows up, and the last place it gets stuck.

So for the next 8 weeks, we're going to change our words on purpose.

HERE'S WHY...

I'm not writing to you from some far-off finish line. I'm writing from the road, a few steps ahead, with my sleeves rolled up.

This year has been a tremendous year of change in my life. In fact, this season of my life has been lived on Haagen Daz and prayer! 😆 I spent a large part of my year telling the story of the tumultuous shifts, which ultimately meant I was rehearsing language that designed the outcomes I deeply wanted to change. So, I had to stop resharing the reasons and start writing the new chapters that my life was yearning for.

As a strategist and mindset coach, I've been called to support corporate teams, faith-based groups, our own Ready.Set.Go! community, and even you, my New Day readers.

In every one of those rooms, I've watched the same thing happen. The moment someone changes how she talks about her life, her life starts to change with her.

YOU MIGHT BE ASKING, WHO IS THIS FOR?

Everyone. It's for you if you're starting something new. It's for you if something just ended. It's for you if you're healing, rebuilding or starting over.

It's for you if life is actually pretty good, but you know there's more in you. It's for you if you're 25 or 75, running a business or running a household, sure of your next step or not sure of anything at all.

If you're breathing, you're becoming. This series is for you.

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT...

Every Saturday for the next 8 weeks, I'm handing you one word. Not a word to memorize. A word to move into.

The journey happens in three movements:

• Return (Weeks 1–4): We wake up, recover what was buried, clear out what no longer fits, and refill what life has emptied.
• Rise (Weeks 5–6): Your vision gets clear, and something brand new begins.
• Become (Weeks 7–8): We make room for more and step fully into view as the new you.

And no, I'm not giving you the full word list ahead of time. Each word will land in your inbox on Saturday morning, like a little gift waiting to be unwrapped. Trust the process. Every word builds on the one before it.

Each week you'll get:

• The word, and what it really means
• What it shifts in the way you see your life
• What you leave behind every time you say it
• One bold declaration to speak over your week
• A few questions to journal or sit with
• Wisdom from a leader who's walked this road
• One simple next step

How do you get the most out of this series?

Grab a notebook just for this journey. Nothing fancy. A $3 composition book works beautifully.

Say the word out loud every day. In the car. In the mirror. Under your breath in the grocery line.

And hit reply. I want to hear what's shifting for you. This works best when we do it together.

Next Saturday, we begin with our first word.

Here's your assignment before then: Just notice your words. Pay attention to what you say about yourself, out loud and in your head. Write down one phrase you catch yourself repeating that sounds more like your old season than your new one.

That's the word we'll start replacing.

Your vocabulary is about to get an upgrade. Your life is about to follow.

Hit reply and tell me: What's one word or phrase you're ready to stop saying? I read every response.

I'm cheering you forward from victory to victory,

Sybil.