Every year, I choose a word or phrase to anchor my spiritual and emotional growth. Last year, it was Intentionality—prioritizing what fuels my growth, sharpening my focus, and ensuring that everything I poured into had a purpose.
I committed to showing up for myself and others in ways that aligned with my purpose. I prioritized what fueled me. Through that lens, I found healing in movement. Yoga and Pilates became more than workouts; my body deserved to release the tension I had been unknowingly carrying. The work was necessary, and the growth undeniable.
This year, my focus is Choosing Love.
Love has been my safe place, my teacher, my strength.
For too long, I gave love freely before truly understanding what it meant to love myself. This time, I’m centering myself in it with intentions to serve, uplift and inspire. Choosing love means making decisions that protect my peace, honor my spirit, and keep me aligned. It wasn’t until I prioritized self-love that I truly understood the depths of love’s power.
Love isn’t just an emotion; it’s a choice, an action, a discipline. In sports, leadership, and life, Choosing Love means standing firm in who I am and moving with intention. It means recognizing that my life is greater when I am full of love—when love is within me, around me, and outwardly given. It’s a mindset shift:
- Choosing Love in Sports: Coaching is more than X’s and O’s. It’s about teaching, inspiring, and building a culture where athletes feel safe, challenged, and empowered. Love shows up in discipline, in accountability, in the belief that every player is capable of greatness.
- Choosing Love in Leadership: A leader who moves with love creates space for growth. Love listens. Love tells the truth. Love guides with care. My leadership is rooted in making sure every person I impact is seen, heard, and valued.
- Choosing Love in Life: It’s in the way I speak to myself. The way I protect my peace. The way I react to negativity—not by carrying it, but by choosing grace instead.
The ‘Choose Love’ Theory
This isn’t just a phrase; it’s a practice, a lifestyle, a mindset shift. Here’s what it looks like in action:
- Speak life over myself. My words carry power. I refuse to be my own worst critic—I will be my biggest advocate.
- React with love. Not for others, but for myself. I refuse to carry stress or aggravation that doesn’t serve me.
- Saying no. Boundaries are a form of self-love. If it doesn’t serve me, support me, or strengthen me, it’s a no.
- Don’t take things personally. Not everything is about me. People project their own insecurities; it’s not my job to carry them.
- Mistakes, accidents, failures—they don’t define me. The only way to truly move forward is with grace. Love myself enough to learn, pivot, and grow.
- Focusing on the positive. What I give my energy to expands. Energy flows where attention goes. I choose to see the good.
- Journaling. Because reflection is healing. Reflection is the bridge between experience and wisdom.
The Journey to Choosing Love
For years, I thought love was something to pour outward. I found joy in giving, in serving, in watching others light up from my love. My grandmother was my greatest teacher in this. She loved fully, completely, without hesitation. I wanted to be just like her. But I never considered that before I could love others well, I had to love me first.

This year, I am committing to that love. Not as an afterthought. Not as a luxury. As a necessity. As a practice. As my foundation.
And in my coaching, in my leadership, in every room I step into, Choose Love will be the theme. It will be the heartbeat of my conversations, my reflections, my growth. Because when you choose love—real love, the kind that starts within—you show up differently. You stand taller. You move freer. You attract better. You become better.