Founder, Mynifest®
The Power of One Word: Forty Years of Being Terrific
There are moments in life that seem insignificant when they happen. They arrive without announcement, without ceremony, and without any indication that they might change the direction of our thinking.
Sometimes, those moments last only a few seconds. Yet their influence can remain with us for a lifetime.
At eighteen, I chose one word. More than forty years later, that word still represents the person I choose to be.
This is the story of that word, and why it still matters to me and to Mynifest®.
A Moment That Stayed With Me
I was eighteen years old. At the time, I was employed by a company that held monthly meetings at my employer's home, gatherings that brought the employees together to discuss the business and spend time with one another.
During one of those meetings, my employer's father, an elderly gentleman, joined us. I could not have known then that his presence would leave an impression on me that would last more than forty years.
He asked us to respond with one word. One word. Such a simple request.
Of all the words I could have chosen, the word that became mine was:
I had no elaborate philosophy behind it. I had not yet developed the Law of Achieved, and MYNIFEST did not exist. I was simply an eighteen-year-old young man participating in a company meeting.
But something about that word stayed with me. And it never left.
The Answer Became My Identity
From that point forward, whenever someone asked me how I was doing, my answer was the same: "I'm terrific!" Not occasionally. Not only when something wonderful happened. It became my answer.
People often answer "How are you?" by describing their immediate condition: "I'm okay." "I'm tired." "Could be better." There is nothing wrong with those responses. But when I said, "I'm terrific," I was not describing everything happening around me. I was declaring who I had decided to be.
Feelings change. Our energy changes. Our circumstances change. If our identity depends entirely on these changing conditions, our sense of self becomes just as unpredictable. Terrific was never a denial of reality. It was a personal decision that frustration, disappointment and uncertainty would not have the final authority over how I viewed myself.
Consider the difference between two statements:
The first can become an identity. The second describes a circumstance. One may encourage resignation. The other leaves room for a response.
Being terrific does not require a terrific set of circumstances. It requires understanding that circumstances and identity are not the same thing.
Ten Years Later: A Call of Gratitude
Approximately ten years after that company meeting, I called the elderly gentleman who had inspired that word. I wanted to thank him.
Ten years of living. Ten years of experiences. Ten years of answering a simple question with the same extraordinary word. And I had not forgotten where it began. I wanted him to know that his contribution had mattered.
It is remarkable how often we influence others without realizing it. A teacher offers a few words of encouragement. A mentor asks a question. The person offering that moment moves on, unaware of what it has meant. The recipient may carry it for decades.
Gratitude should not always remain an unspoken feeling. Sometimes it deserves an action. Sometimes it deserves a simple thank-you.
Before MYNIFEST Had a Name
Looking back, I can recognize something I did not understand at eighteen. Long before I created MYNIFEST, I was already practicing a principle that would become central to its philosophy: the way we approach our circumstances influences the way we respond to them.
That does not mean positive thinking alone produces results. MYNIFEST is not simply about wishing for something to happen. It is about identifying what is truly yours, developing a structured Roadmap, confronting obstacles, taking purposeful action, and recognizing The Achieved.
The Law of Achieved provides the framework for that journey, and one word helps me see each of its branches:
My forty-year relationship with Terrific connects most directly to Attitude: I can choose the attitude I bring into a situation, even when I cannot choose the situation itself. It reminds me that I am not required to adopt the identity of the obstacle I am facing. And because words alone are not enough, it asks something of the body: if I say I am terrific, my actions should show it.
Attitude can establish the direction of our thinking. Action determines what we actually do with that direction.
True in Kind: A Word That Became My Own
MYNIFEST carries the statement: "True in Kind. The Achieved." To me, True in Kind begins with authenticity: recognizing what genuinely belongs to us rather than building our lives around someone else's expectations.
The elderly gentleman did not determine my identity for me. He introduced a moment that influenced me. I was the one who carried the word forward. The word Terrific became meaningful not simply because I heard it at eighteen, but because I continued choosing it.
MYNIFEST encourages individuals to begin with their own truth. Not an imitation of someone else's ambition. But something they can recognize as genuinely their own.
Your One-Word MYNIFEST Reflection
You do not need to choose the word Terrific. Perhaps yours is Capable. Perhaps it is Determined, Grateful, Resilient, Confident, or Hopeful. The particular word is less important than the meaning you give it, and the meaning is less important than your willingness to live according to it.
Ask yourself:
- What one word best represents the person I want to be?
- Why does that word matter to me?
- What challenges might test my commitment to it?
- What actions would demonstrate that I genuinely live by it?
- How will I recognize when that word has become part of my everyday behavior?
Write your word somewhere you will see it. Then give it substance through your actions. A word cannot replace action, but it can become a reminder of the actions you intend to take.
After more than forty years, people still ask me the same familiar question. The words have not changed. But my understanding of them has deepened.
Not because everything in my life is terrific. But because, long ago, I decided that was the person I wanted to be. And I continue making that decision. Every day.
Your circumstances describe what you are experiencing. Your attitude helps define how you approach it. Your actions reveal what you are prepared to do. And The Achieved gives you an opportunity to recognize what those actions have made real.
