My word for 2026 is RECEIVE.

I chose it last December, almost on a dare from myself. Every year I pick a word. Every year the word reveals itself slowly. But this one came in like it had been waiting for me.

Receive.

Six months in, I am ready to tell you what I am actually learning.

Receiving is not the absence of doing. I thought, in January, that this might be my year of stepping back. Less giving. More space. Long walks and good books and saying no to almost everything. That is not what happened.

I am still building. I am still showing up. I am still doing the work. What has shifted is the inside.

Receiving has turned out to mean letting compliments land instead of brushing them off. Letting Don love me without keeping score. Letting Allie and Tori take care of me sometimes, instead of needing to be the one who carries everything. Letting a client tell me her win without me immediately giving her the next thing to work on.

Receiving has turned out to mean letting myself be paid what my work is worth. Letting myself rest without earning it. Letting good things in without bracing for the catch.

Here is the part I did not expect. Receiving has been harder than giving. So much harder.

Giving is muscle memory. I have been giving for fifty-three years. I could give in my sleep. Receiving requires me to sit very still in a moment, notice what is being offered, and not deflect it.

The deflection is the wound, beautiful soul. The deflection is the part that says I have to earn this, I have to be useful for this, I have to give back to keep this. The deflection is what keeps me running.

I am learning to not deflect.

It looks like a longer pause when someone thanks me. It looks like saying you're welcome instead of oh it was nothing. It looks like letting a hug last a few seconds longer. It looks like a thousand tiny moments where I used to bolt and now I stay.

If your word this year is something quieter than productivity, you are in the right place.

This is the work we do together inside YMTYS. The membership is full of women practicing the same things, in real time, in our weekly calls. We are not optimizing anything. We are coming home to ourselves. If you want to be in a room with women who are doing this work, come join us. Selena and I would love to have you.

🔗 youremorethanyourstuff.com/home

With so much love and gratitude,

Julie xo

P.S. Pick your word for the rest of the year, even if you didn't pick one in January. What needs to come in next? Reply and tell me. I want to know.