Resolutions around the new year are a common thing, but like many people, I slip and don’t always hit my goals. There just doesn’t feel like enough time to focus on so many.
Over breakfast one morning, Sam Michelson tuned me into Chris Brogan’s 3 Word Process. The idea being to choose 3 words that you want to base your year around. 3 impactful words that have meaning to you, and own them. I really loved the idea because I find, too often, I will end up taking on way too many resolutions, and then not really accomplish any of them. So the idea of 3 things, 3 words, to give your day a bit more focus is such a brilliant idea.
So I spent a serious amount of time thinking about some of my character traits, career direction, things I am good at, and things I can do significantly better. So without further ado…
My 3 Words for 2015
Focus
2014 was a great year but came with its challenges. I started as an independent marketing consultant. And while I would say it was without a doubt successful, I also felt like my focus on any one project was lacking. I was all over the place. Working with too many companies, running to too many different offices everyday, and juggling too many projects. All this on top of business development, logistics, scalability, finances. I learned that this is not an environment that I thrive in. I need focus. I need to identify the projects that are important to me, focus on those and stop always chasing the next one.
I already have an upcoming change which will help me keep focus on my priorities… but cant say anything yet. Stay tuned 😉
Agility
Just ship! This is something that I need to keep doing and keep doing better. For a variety of reasons, this feels more important to me this year than others. I pride myself on perfection and shipping an awesome final outcome. But it holds up the process. I need to constantly push myself to ship early and ship often. Even if its not perfect or exactly what I want it to look like at first, there will be time to tweak later.
Structure
Having a time blocked day is actually the world I came from. When I started in recruiting, we had tons of motivational meetings about time blocking, keeping structure, taking your phone off the hook so you aren’t disrupted, etc. Even when I worked at Resolution Media and Spark, we had time sheets we had to fill out, which despite being the bain of my existence, they also forced me to keep track of what I was doing and how I was spending my time.
While I accomplished a lot, 2014 was not the best year for a structured work life. I need to get back to that basics. I need to time block my days/weeks/months, so I know what I am working on and what my goals for those time frames will be. This means consistent time blocking for reading, working on specific projects, but also time blocking creative thinking. Creative thinking and time blocking aren’t mutually exclusive, and I need to remind myself that often by setting time for it.
This Is My Professional Focus In 2015
Would love to hear from you. What are you planning on working on in 2015?
What are your 3 words?