Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global, shares her closing speech of the year … [+]
Every year from the end of December, it has become a tradition for the main wordsmiths to choose a word that sums up the shared experiences of the previous year. In this era of dysfunctional workplace interactions-quiet abandon, quiet shot, productivity paranoia, Big regretAND boomerang employees—It is no wonder that wordsmiths are clinging to negative words to review the year 2022. The human mind is hardwired to focus on obstacles for survival purposes. So it’s not surprising that this “negativity bias,” as neuroscientists call it, is reflected in the words chosen by key wordsmiths.
Merriam Webster’s Word of the Year 2022for example, it is gas lighting– a word that describes the strategy of deliberately undermining someone’s perspective to make them doubt their observation or experience of an event and endanger their mental health.
Choice of Oxford English Dictionary it’s Goblin mode– a slang term, often used in the expressions “in goblin mode” or “going into goblin mode”. It refers to a type of behavior that is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, immature, or greedy, usually in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.
With all the mounting crises the world has faced during 2022, it’s perhaps no wonder that Collins dictionary chose the word permacrisis– a term describing a prolonged period of instability and uncertainty – as their word of the year. According to Guardian editor David Shariatmadari.
Arianna Huffington’s Speech of the Year
At the end of each year, I like to consult with Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of global bloom, for her word choice. And there’s a reason why. In contrast to other wordsmiths, Huffington chooses words that communicate hope, optimism and opportunity as we face global obstacles and challenges, which is what the world and the workplace need as we move into 2023. When you look at many other words the names of years, they choose words that imply negative aspects of the previous twelve months. Huffington’s word of the year for 2021, for example, was “Resilience+,” and she says it’s a top contender for word of the decade.
Her word of the year for 2022 is, are you ready? Drum roll. Human Energy. “This has been a year in which we have made great strides in recognizing the truth about how people recharge and achieve peak performance with human energy moving to the center of our conversation about work, well-being and our physical and mental health. ” she told me. “For decades, science has become increasingly clear that humans are not machines, and that powering through exhaustion without taking time to recharge only leads to burnout. But it took a while for the culture to reach science. Next year (2023), our collective challenge is to turn our awareness into action.”
What’s the big deal about a word?
You may ask, “What’s the big deal about a word?” But words have tremendous power, and the words we use affect our mental health. When used to sum up a year, words can influence the mood and mindset of a culture’s future. They guide our thoughts and emotions and can bring hope or despair, especially as billions of people around the globe continue to make sense of and move beyond deep pandemic grief and compromised mental health.
Words have power and the word of the year reflects and contributes to the Zeitgeist of the workplace … [+]
Words create a mindset that affects employee engagement, productivity and the company’s bottom line. When America’s workforce has hope, feels cared for by senior leaders, and is enthusiastic about their role in the workplace, the company’s bottom line automatically increases. A body of research has consistently shown that optimism trumps pessimism, and that optimists move up the career ladder faster and farther than naysayers. According to Huffington, “It’s similar to happiness, actually—another quality that we tend to idealize as an end state. But Professor Richard Davidson, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, has shown that we can train ourselves to be happier through practice in very tangible and measurable ways, giving ourselves the resources to deal with the ups and downs. of life.
American Psychological Association Stress in America report found that nearly eight in 10 adults say the pandemic was a major source of stress, and 60% are still overwhelmed by the problems America is currently facing. According to a CDC report, 41% of Americans have struggled with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression or substance abuse related to the pandemic. These are depressing numbers, but it’s important to remember that while our need for sustainability is infinite, so is our human capacity for it.
“In a sense, as we look back on the year behind us and look ahead to the new year, we realize that there will be no idyllic ‘post-pandemic’ future. we are coming of age as a culture,” Huffington noted. “When we are children, we think that a day will come when we will have arrived, when we will have everything we want, when we will feel calm and complete. But when we grow up, we realize that the day never comes, that life is a constant process of change and evolution. Similarly we have run away from the reception a return to normality to realize that there will never be a static normal, that we will never be able to do the maintenance of our lives alone.”
Arianna Huffington will speak at Resistance 2023the largest cost-free resilience conference on the planet, September 8, 2023.
