Why I Stopped Chasing Other People’s Visions and Started Architecting My Own
Last year, my word of the year was Wealthy.
Not wealthy as a number in a bank account. Not wealthy as an aspiration I would someday achieve if I worked hard enough, saved diligently enough, or got lucky enough. Wealthy as an identity. A way of being. A lens through which I made every decision. A woman who thought, moved, and created from a place of ownership and intention rather than scarcity and hope.
The Discovery That Almost Changed My Course
During that year of embodying wealth, I discovered a woman on YouTube whose message resonated with something deep inside me. She was building a financial movement specifically for the diaspora—a collective space focused on saving, trust, and community investing.
It was powerful. It was intentional. It spoke directly to my values and my desire to see collective financial empowerment. Watching her work, I felt that rare combination of inspiration and recognition—the feeling that someone was building exactly what the world needed.
I wanted to join. Not because I did not understand the mechanics of saving money or building wealth—I had been studying these principles for years. But because the vision aligned with something alive inside me. Because being part of a movement like that felt meaningful.
Unfortunately, the Asia group was too small to launch. I could not participate.
I was disappointed. But life moved on.
What Happened Instead of Waiting
And then something unexpected happened.
Instead of waiting for the next round—instead of putting my energy on hold until someone else’s platform was ready for me—I began building my own investment group. I leaned into my own financial vision. I started creating the spaces I had once wished existed.
I gathered women who were hungry for the same transformation I was experiencing. I shared what I was learning as a mindset and money coach. I facilitated conversations about wealth consciousness, intentional spending, and breaking free from scarcity patterns.
I did not wait for permission. I did not wait for the perfect credentials or the perfect platform. I simply began.
This Year’s Word: Sovereign
Fast forward to this year. My word is Sovereign.
And I did not just pick the word from a list of aspirational adjectives. I connected with her—the Sovereign woman who already exists inside me, waiting to be fully embodied.
I spent time getting to know her. I asked: How does she show up in the world? How does she stand in her authority? What does she prioritize? What does she refuse to tolerate or abandon?
The Sovereign woman became a lens through which I evaluated every decision. She became the version of myself I rehearsed daily, the identity I was actively growing into.
The Moment Everything Crystallized
Then, earlier this year, the YouTube creator returned.
Her platform was live. The movement was officially happening. People could now join.
For a brief, disorienting moment, I panicked.
How can I afford this? What should I cut from my budget? I need to be part of this…
My mind raced through justifications. This was important. This was a community I wanted to be part of. This was led by someone I admired.
And then—clarity hit me like lightning.
The Realization
I was about to abandon my own moving train to jump onto someone else’s.
A train I do not own. A direction I do not control. A destination that is not fully mine.
Why?
Because for a split second, I doubted my own ability to build what I envision. Because it felt safer to follow someone with a bigger platform, more visibility, more proof of concept. Because some deeply conditioned part of me believed that their vision was more valid than my vision.
When Your Word Anchors You
And that is when my word—Sovereign—anchored me.
The Sovereign woman does not abandon her own vision to chase someone else’s.
The Sovereign woman builds. She owns. She leads. She uses her resources strategically, directing them toward the future she is actively creating.
She supports others—generously, even—but never at the expense of abandoning herself.
I admire what that creator is doing. I genuinely celebrate her work. And I am happy to contribute knowledge, encouragement, or amplification when it aligns.
But financially? My resources belong to the vision I am building. Because the future I want—the impact I am here to create—requires that I be the architect, not a passenger.
The Real Power of a Word of the Year
This is the real power of choosing a word of the year.
It is not a New Year’s resolution. It is not a motivational quote you write on a vision board and forget about by February.
When you choose a word intentionally—when you connect deeply with the identity it represents—it becomes your compass. It becomes the question you ask yourself when emotions, comparison, or fear try to pull you off course.
When I felt the panic rising—when I was about to reach for my credit card and justify a decision that did not align with my true priorities—my word stopped me.
It asked me:
• Who is the Sovereign woman I am becoming?
• How does she decide?
• What does she prioritize?
• What is she no longer willing to tolerate or abandon?
And the answer was clear. She does not jump onto other people’s trains. She builds her own.
What This Practice Has Given Me
Choosing a word of the year—and more importantly, embodying it—has fundamentally changed how I move through life.
It has taught me to stop putting others on pedestals simply because they have larger platforms
Visibility does not equal validity. A big audience does not mean someone’s path is more right than mine. I can admire and learn from others without diminishing my own vision.
It has taught me to trust my ability to learn, grow, and lead
Especially after investing in my development as a mindset and money coach. Especially after witnessing transformation—in my clients, yes, but also in myself. I know what I am capable of building.
It has taught me that sovereignty is not selfish
Directing my resources toward my own vision is not taking away from others. It is ensuring that I can build something sustainable, something that creates real impact, something that serves the women who need what I uniquely offer.
It has taught me that identity precedes action
When I know who I am becoming, the what becomes obvious. The decisions become easier. The fear loses its grip.
If You Feel Stuck in Repetition
If you are reading this and something inside you is nodding—if you feel like you have been living the same year over and over, reacting instead of creating, following instead of leading—this is your invitation.
You do not need to wait for January 1st. Transformation does not follow calendar rules. You can choose your word today. You can begin embodying a new identity this week.
But here is what I have learned: choosing a word is not enough. You need a process for connecting with it, embodying it, and using it as a decision-making compass throughout your year.
The Tool That Makes This Real
That is exactly why I created the Word of the Year Workbook.
This is not a motivational PDF you download and never open. This is a step-by-step system that walks you through:
• How to choose your word using a reflective process that goes deeper than surface-level aspirations
• How to connect with the identity your word represents—who is she? How does she think, decide, and move?
• How to embody it daily through practices that train your nervous system to expect this new version of yourself
• How to use it as a decision-making compass when fear, comparison, or old patterns try to pull you off course
• How to measure alignment throughout the year so you can track your transformation
This is not about motivation. This is about identity alignment—the kind of transformation that lasts because it comes from the inside out.
The workbook guides you through the same process I use every year to choose my word, connect with the woman I am becoming, and make decisions from that evolved identity rather than from fear or conditioning.
Why This Workbook Exists?
I created this because I watched too many women—brilliant, capable women—drift through years without clear direction. Not because they lacked ambition or intelligence, but because they lacked a framework for becoming.
I created this because I know what it feels like to be scattered, to react rather than create, to follow someone else’s vision because you have not yet clarified your own.
And I created this because I have witnessed—in my own life and in my clients’ lives—what happens when a woman connects with her word and lets it guide her decisions. Everything changes. Not overnight. But consistently, undeniably, profoundly.
Your Invitation to Build Your Own Train
I will continue sharing how I am living my Sovereign year. I will continue documenting the decisions I make, the patterns I break, the vision I build.
Because something tells me this is going to be an extraordinary journey. And not because everything will go perfectly, but because I am committed to building my own train—no matter how many other trains pass by looking shinier, faster, or more established.
If you are ready to stop chasing other people’s visions and start architecting your own—if you are ready to build your own train rather than jumping onto someone else’s—your word is waiting.
The Word of the Year Workbook is available in my shop. It is the same process I use. The same framework that has anchored me when I wanted to abandon my path. The same system that turns vague aspirations into embodied identity.
Explore the Word of the Year Workbook here:
Your transformation does not require permission. It does not require waiting for the right moment or the perfect conditions.
It simply requires a decision: to become the architect of your own life rather than a passenger in someone else’s vision.
Stop chasing other people’s trains. Build your own. Your word is waiting. Your vision is calling. Your future self is already cheering you on.
With all my love,
Salima
