My Three Words for 2013
I’m grateful to Chris Brogan for this concept of three words. Jon Swanson’s recent work reminded me of this concept.
Do you ever find yourself caught up in the New Year planning/resolution hype? I know I do. The idea of a new year and fresh opportunity is certainly appealing. Who knows? Maybe you are really good at establishing goals, laying out a plan and executing it.
This year I am committed to embrace the “growth mindset” discussed in Switch, the book about change when change is difficult. In a recent chat I co-host we discussed how one’s mindset plays a key role in determining planning success. Here is the transcript if you are interested. The bottom line: our outlook or mindset will either help us see possibilities or hold us back.
This year I have carefully selected three words to guide my journey. They are routine, dare, and explore. These three words are really broader concepts that will inform how I move forward in 2013 and serve as benchmarks against which I can measure my progress.
Routine
I really mean new routines. I have written quite a bit on the topic, here is the rationale, so I’ll only touch on it here. My resolutions fail because they are idealistic; while they may be aspirational, there is no clear path forward. Without the clear path forward, change is almost impossible.
I’ll be looking for ways to add scalable structure. I mentioned earlier that Kim, one of my colleagues, is helping me accomplish this. It’s important for me to remember that I need to reach out to others, this is a very important new routine.
Dare
I just finished reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. Her works have been inspirational, challenging me to think differently, to pursue life and challenges by taking some risks. My natural tendency is to be conservative, to minimize risk. This isn’t a throw caution to the wind kind of risk; it’s more of a desire to push limits…to be less concerned about what others think and more concerned with pursuing those activities that offer meaning, purpose and fulfillment.
Explore
I chose this term because it embodies elements of the other two but adds a dimension of curiosity. The role of questions, especially good ones is key to moving forward. Are you asking the Right Questions? was one of my more popular posts in 2012. Being curious, discovering new options and alternatives requires a different mindset, one that questions and seeks to understand new possibilities. Our lower brain works hard to maintain the status quo, even when that isn’t in our best interest.
Part of my new routine will be monthly and quarterly progress reviews. By building on what works and changing or discarding what doesn’t, my goal is to be able to look back on this year and observe transformed thinking.
I’ll keep you posted.