It’s all in the word!

What word will you choose for the new year?

A new year. Yippee! I can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store for me. (Yes, I’m serious, and there’s a reason why I’m so positive keep reading.) But before I can go forward I must reflect. Ok. Maybe I don’t have to reflect, but being human I’ve found it’s something that we love to do. Look behind us. (Please watch out for the kink in your neck.) So what went right with 2018? Went wrong with 2018? What resolutions did I keep and which ones did I drop like a sack of potatoes by February?

Blah. Blah. Blah. Who cares? Seriously. I’m not into resolutions anymore. A few years ago something new came along that took the place of those alleged resolutions; word picking. You pick a word to define your year. A word that could inspire us to be better people. A word that can push us all year long to accomplish our goals. A word, that we humans, can change and adapt the meaning of later to fit our year. It’s perfect. No more, "I’m going to lose weight." I can pick the word ‘healthy’ and as long as I don’t eat as many potato chips as last year, I’ve accomplished my goal. Ok, that’s not how it’s supposed to work. But I will tell you picking your inspirational word is harder than you think. Especially if it is something you are serious about. Easier said than done. As Mark Twain once said, “ The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between lightning and a lightning bug .”

Last year I struggled to pick the right word. What would it be? I wanted something that fit my life, my business, my future. What word? What freaking word? My friend, Chelsea Peitz (who I personally think started this word thing), always seems to find the perfect word for

herself. They aren’t simple words like ‘happiness’ or ‘discover’. She chooses big, powerful words that give me, well, word envy. For example, Chelsea’s word for 2018? Innovator. Innovator? Umm, seriously could you say, “Wow!” And she freaking filled the shoes of that word this year. She’s already an author, a speaker, a coach, a leader in my industry as an influencer, now innovator? Well, she went after that word both figuratively and literally. This year, the woman was up for the Innovator of the Year Award in the real estate world. Yep, Innovator of the Year, not Woman of the Year, or Industry Leader, but Innovator. Now that’s how you own a word, my friends. You go after it. You fulfill it. You make it yours.

Which brings me back to my word. Finally, I came upon my word for 2018 when I couldn’t shake this picture of myself in my head. I kept seeing myself hanging off a cliff. For years, I had pictured myself on this cliff. At some point, I had stood at the edge looking over it. Then I had fallen over, face first. Last year all I could see was myself clinging to the side of this cliff for dear life. I realized that for years I had pictured myself there, hanging on to the cliff. Why? Let me explain. In 2015, at the height of my business life. When things were going just fabulous for me in the real estate world. When my family and I were finally starting to see some real growth on the road to success, both personally and financially.

Our world imploded. The mountain, this cliff on which I stood, was yanked from underneath of me. I plummeted to the ground below. No, I didn’t invest in the wrong stock. No, my husband wasn’t cheating on me. Much worse than either scenario. Our son, only 21 months

old, Sawyer Robert Benson passed away. Our third child. Our surprise. Was gone. And our world. My world. My mountain I stood so securely up before was pulled out from under me like some rug. My foundation was gone. I was left in the rocks at the bottom. So this picture in my head of myself on the side of the cliff was where I had lived for years. I saw myself hanging. Hanging off the side of this mountain. Trying to maintain. “Just keep breathing.” I’d tell my self various times a day. And that’s what I was seeing in my head. This mess of a mom. This mess of a wife. This mess of a person. Just hanging on the side of the cliff. My hair was a disaster. The clothes? Torn and rags on my body. My body? A beaten, disheveled mess. Mess, Mess, Mess. Right down to the fingers. The fingers were boney and barely hanging on to the side of that cliff. The fingernails torn and bloody. My face tears stained and scared. I lived there on the side of that cliff for years. Just barely hanging on.

But then last year something in the picture came to light. For one, I had fallen off that cliff. Well, to be exact the mountain had been pulled out from under me, and I was thrown to the bottom of it. And yet, I realized, I was seeing myself hanging on the side of a cliff? How in the hell had that happened? I must have climbed up from the rocks right? I couldn’t have made it to the cliff if I was still lying beside those boulders of my foundation, right? I realized that at some point in the last couple of years I had started to climb and I didn’t even know it. That’s when the moment, the word, struck me for 2018. My word would be…climb!

“Climb, Pinky, Climb.” And that is what I did this year. I climbed to new heights. I did things I never did before! I flew across the country to places I never have been and I did it all by myself. My fear of flying I shed with each flight I boarded. Why? I found a new love. No, not a man. A passion. In 2018, I started to give presentations on social media and videos, something I love and I’m good at. Sometimes the stages were small, a brokerage with ten agents, but sometimes the stages were huge with hundreds of people in the audience. I discovered I loved it. I loved seeing eyes light up with inspiration. I love helping others overcome their fears. I climbed high with excitement for the new direction in my life.

I had one of the most important moments of my life this year as well. I met the man who inspired me to keep going. The man who words and videos had helped me cling and hang on to that cliff these last few years. The man who inspired me to, ‘fuck my excuses’ and keep going. The man, the myth, the legend, Gary Vaynerchuck. It was a just a chance meeting in a Las Vegas casino lobby. Just him and I for a few minutes, a quick video, a hug and even a kiss (watch the video to see what happened). I felt like that was the moment when the universe had rewarded me and, also, screamed to me, “Keep climbing!” And so I did. All through 2018, I climbed.

See me and Gary Vee --> https://youtu.be/oRW7dHCaA6c

My business grew this past year. I’ve doubled my transactions and tripled my income. (Shout out to social media for that, just in case you were wondering if it does work. Yep, it does!) “Keep climbing.” I’d tell myself even when the setbacks came. So head down, blinders on, I kept going. And here we are, 2019 and I’m trying to choose a word again. I’m back to the cliff. What do I see now?

I see myself stronger now. I’m ready to take on a new challenge. But the word? What will it be? My friend, Chelsea has declared her word. Are you ready? Manifestor. Geez. What a word with power! I have no doubt she will own ever syllable in that word. But for me? I looked up mountain climbing vocabulary trying to find just the right one and nothing. What could I do on my cliff now that I was there embracing my moment at the top?

And then it came to me. Even though I’ve embraced my new journey and I had climbed, it had not been without fear. Scared I was going to fail. Scared I would let myself down. Scared I didn’t deserve more. Fear. Such a pain in the ass emotion. It does nothing but cause panic. I’m done with it. I’m going to face fear head on this year and kick to the bottom of my mountain. I’m going to be fearless. Yep, that’s my word. Fearless. Every time I come across something that strikes fear into my well being, I’m going to face it head-on. I know that’s going to be hard. I’m not naive. But I’ve climbed part of my mountain already. I’ve made to the top of the cliff. I’m feeling renewed and strong, and ready to take on the world. So I’m going to stand with my face in the sun, my hands on my hips, and this word on my lips, fearless. Come on 2019, let’s do this thing!

Sue “Pinky” Benson is the host of ‘Pinky Knows Naples’ an online show. She is also a national social media speaker and trainer. She is the two- time winner of the BombBomb Video Real Estate Influencer award (2017 & 2018) and is a Florida Registered REALTOR with RE/MAX Realty Team. If you are looking to buy or sell a home in Southwest Florida, think pink and give her a call at 727.410.1591 or go to PinkyKnowsNaples.com