A few years back, Chris Brogan introduced me to the concept of My Three Words through his blog. Since I’m notoriously bad at making and keeping New Year’s resolutions, I thought I’d try My Three Words instead. Three years and a lot of changes for the better later, I still believe in and use this to help me focus on what I want to accomplish in the coming year.
This year was harder than the past two when I sat down to choose my three words. They didn’t come to me easily. It’s only been within the past couple of days that the words that best define the areas I want to work on have solidified in my head. But now that they’ve gelled, they feel right.
Risk.
Present.
Live.
Risk
Take chances and create opportunities in my personal and professional life. Do this despite being unsure, afraid, or occasionally plain lazy. Push myself beyond my previous (often self-imposed) limits. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll jump into things blindly, although sometimes you have to take the leap of faith and trust yourself to come out of it flying rather than crashing.
Present
As in, be present. Like many of us, I often let digital distractions steal the moment. It robs me and whoever I’m with of my full and undivided attention.
It also cheapens the value of the connection we’re trying to make or the work we’re trying to do. I’m making a choice about whether to allow the interruption whenever my attention starts to wander. I need to do a better job of filtering it. Is it an emergency? Is it relevant to, or new information about, the discussion or work I’m doing?
Live
Like the two words preceding this one, it’s all about making a choice to change how I live my life and keep working hard to make it. It includes things like eating healthier, being more “in the moment,” making new connections, and keeping the ones that mean the most to me alive and well. It also includes not being a spectator in my own life.
What three words would you choose?
Enough about me. Let’s turn this around to you. What are your three words? It’s not too late to choose them if you haven’t already. The year is just getting started.