100+ My Three Words #MyThreeWords Posts 2012 - Inspired by Chris Brogan

You are a gift. Every day people have the power to touch lives of those around them. Whether it is in a hug between parent and child, the smile from the barista at the coffee shop, volunteers giving out food to the needy, or someone holding the elevator door - we all form parts of this tapestry of life, we all hold gifts in our every day presence.

I've never been much for New Year's resolutions, but a recent newsletter from Chris Brogan inspired me to pick and write about 3 words that will define my 2012. For more information, check out Chris's post here. These are my words: Serve - I will share my learned knowledge with anyone I can.

Every year since around 2006, I've been challenging people to forego the idea of a resolution, and instead, to come up with 3 words that will help you define your goals and experiences for the coming year. Resolutions are often too vague, or too directed towards one goal.

I want to thank Chris Brogan for inspiring me to write this. It was his blog "My 3 Words for 2012" that energized me to think and reflect about what my three words would be.

Last year, I read a blog post by Chris Brogan about selecting three words with which to theme the year. Instead of a list of resolutions that will surely be broken by January 15, finding three words or themes for the year provide a fluidity to life with a some basis for grounded decision making.

A little over a year ago I finally got off my ass and started a blog. This blog. In January last year, I stumbled across a post from my dear friend Margie Clayman where she set forth her focus areas for 2011. Apparently, Chris Brogan began this trend a few years ago, and it resonated with me.

If you follow Chris Brogan, you know that each year he chooses three words to focus on each year, rather than making resolutions.  It’s a really nice tradition, and a great way to focus your mind on what you really want to achieve in the coming year, rather than making a resolution that you have little intention of keeping.

Continuing with a tradition that is now several years old, in 2012 I'll again focus on my three words. The value of mindful focus into a narrow niche has been powerful, more so than any goal setting theory I've tried throughout my life.

For 2012, I've decided that I don't need to reinvent the wheel. Last year, I picked out 3 little words-crayons, velcro, and abandon-to guide my business. The whole point was to keep me focused on moving forward, while giving myself permission to take risks again. And to have fun and be creative.

The first week of every month during 2012 will feature a post about Connecting with Self. This first week of the first month of the year is the perfect time to be more introspective than usual. I am not at all inclined to introspection, but as I grow older, I am realizing how important it is.

Original photo by: Elena Martinello The turn of the year is a paradoxical time, filled to varying degrees with the relaxation of a quiet week packed with holidays, alongside the feverish preparation for a running start to the New Year. We excitedly plan out resolutions for everything from better health to increased productivity.

Last year I used the three words strategy (Breathe. Balance. Grow.) and did great focusing on it until we moved half way through the year and I forgot to put the words back up on my bulletin board. But when I looked back over the year, I realized I did continue to create around those three words, which is pretty cool.
2011 was a big “personal growth” year for me in many ways. I feel like I’m coming out of a tunnel and blinking my eyes in a bright light that’s been waiting for me to step forward and find it… beginning to see what I need to be doing and how to make it happen. Many moments this past year I had to remind myself to just breathe and embrace growth. So the words really worked well as a focal point.

My words denote acceptance of oneself and others...Reducing, in stuff, both physical and mental, i.e. baggage, and lastly, moving forward...ending stagnation and procrastination!

Resolutions are pointless. You set them and never achieve them. You have the best intentions, but that is not enough. Goals and rituals have a higher chance of success both in the short and the long term. That is where I like to focus my energy.

New Year's resolutions are not something I've looked upon fondly. Usually shallow and almost always short-lived, I'm typically of the mindset that progress and change shouldn't come a set point in the calendar, and certainly not only once a year. However, I'm intrigued by Chris Brogan's "my 3 words" approach and decided to jump on that bandwagon.

Simplify. Strive. Sustain. Taking + Chris Brogan 's advice, I've identified three words to define my goals and direction for 2012: Simplify - I've realized I can make things more complicated than they have to. Back to basics in all aspects, professionally and personally. Strive - Complacency kills me.

For me, 2011 was a good year. I was able to start a business doing something I love. I'm ready for 2012 to be bad-ass. Yesterday I came across Chris Brogan's recent post: My 3 Words for 2012. In his post, he invites his readers to choose 3 words to help define their goals and experiences for the new year.

In honor of the annual Chris Brogan tradition of giving 3 words that he wants to focus his life on in the new year, below is my take on his tradition with my own explanation.  My 3 Word For 2012 Are: Comeback:  I have had a tough couple of years, taken a beating and try to keep pushing forward.  This year, I am feeling a comeback coming on.

Every year since 2006, friends of Chris Brogan put together our three words for the coming year that define what we're focusing on in the coming year. They're not goals, but more like rails or guides that help keep us moving in the general correct direction. Here are mine for 2012.

What do I mean by my three words for 2012?  Chris Brogan of Human Business Works  suggests that business owners use this method to model and improve themselves and/or their business in the coming year. The idea is to choose three words that will help guide you throughout the year.  The three words that I have chosen are marketing, learning, and discipline.

The arrival of a new year always brings with it great promise and the potential of something truly spectacular and wonderful. The stumbles and wrong turns of 2011 are behind us, and there's untraveled paths directly before our eyes on this second day of 2012. And you know what?

UPDATE: Here are the three words chosen by others for 2012. I'll keep this updated as I come across them on the blogosphere: Seems like I copy everyone else, but it's for a good reason-why reinvent the wheel? The turn of the year is almost always a time of reflection, and almost always a time of resolutions.

I don't know. I keep hearing about this three-word thing, so maybe it's time to take a crack at it. The first was in an interview with AT&T's chief technology officer, John Donovan in yesterday's New York Times. His take on it was the tombstone approach, as in the interview question, What three words would you want on your tombstone?

I do this because it works. Following the lead of Chris Brogan, a business leader who continually gives to others, I set three words in 2011 and used them as a lighthouse to guide me to where I knew I wanted to be. For 2012, I choose to use AHA!

I want to thank Chris Brogan for inspiring me to write this. It was his blog "My 3 Words for 2012" that energized me to think and reflect about what my three words would be. In essence, if you have not read it, every year since 2006 Brogan challenges his readers to forgo the idea of a resolution, and instead, to come up with 3 words that will help you define your goals and experiences for the coming year. The reason being that resolutions are often too vague, or too directed towards one goal such as “quit smoking”. Brogan suggests to "dig deeper, to find three words that could be used as lighthouses to guide you through stormy seas, that can be used as flags on the battlefield of your challenges, words that will bolster you and give you a direction that goes beyond the goals you might attach as a result of these words."