These days on the Internet I see this ‘three words’ trend (started by Chris Brogan), a concept where we’d chose three words and make them the focus of our goals for the year. These three words identify the ‘direction’ you want to take in life – what you want to do and what you like to focus on this year. They act as triggers to remind us of, to move us to action. If losing 3 kg of weight is your goal for this year, the number “3” can be one of your words. Also, these ‘three words’ act as an effective alternative to the the traditional new year goal/project/resolutions concept. We can use it as a general direction to align our life to instead of describing specific outcomes.
So, how do you choose these three words? Simple, as with anything, ask yourself, what is really important to me that I’ve been ignoring for some time. Or what is that thing which if attended to, improves my life? What should I focus on?
Honestly, I don’t setup any new year resolutions, instead ‘focus on a general direction I want my life to take more in the lines of ‘big rocks’ concept of Stephen Covey. So, I did like this three words concept and was wondering if it fit into my workflow. And, it does. So, what are my three words for this year?
Focus – We are inundated with commitments every day and last year, since I did not have any specific focus and I took up unrelated projects and stretched myself thin. This left me very unaccomplished. I realized, If not careful, if you don’t say no, if you don’t already determine what you want to focus on, it’s easy to lose direction and live our life to the dictates of others. So, this year, I decided to focus on very few projects and people. With this identified, I intend to spend time on them effectively steering my life from junk.
Mindful – I very easily fall into auto-pilot. I can glide through the day without thinking anything in specific, just going through the motions, happily getting lost in the infinite information stream of the Internet. This is one reason why I couldn’t accomplish much last year. This year I want to actively chose how I spend every moment. (it’s very easy to fall off the wagon, and not going to be easy. But, I’m counting on being disciplined this year.)
Simplify – As Tyler said, things you own, end up owning you. I’m a hoarder and ‘ve been accumulating stuff all my life (due to a deep seated insecurity). Albums, movies, books, games, stationery, gadgets. I feel sad when I see an album I do not have the time to listen to, a book I do not have the time or temperament to read. All this stuff reminds me of unmet commitments, not to mention the amount of money I spent on them. So, I’ve decided to ‘buy’ less this year. And, though I do not have the guts to directly purge every excess yet, I’m going to start.
What are your three words for this year, dear reader?
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