Through Chris Penn and Susan Murphy I discovered this exercise in 2013 and it was pretty darned effective. Rather than a new year’s resolution, pick 3 words that will trigger actions or remind you to avoid certain things. Chris Brogan started this several years ago so, click his link for a fuller explanation on how to choose your words, and see what his 3 words are for 2014.
2013: REVIEW
I chose Triage, Cheeky and Performance. How did it go?
Triage showed up in a huge way. That was about making tough decisions to clear clutter. That meant unsubscribing from blogs that I wasn’t reading, and knowing when to accept “good enough” as a result because “perfect” would have been too costly.
Cheeky was fun. This blog was a lot of fun to write in 2013, and people reacted to it. So, let’s have a lot more fun and drama in 2014!
Performance did happen a lot in 2013. I didn’t get back to playing bass. But I taught more workshops, both public and private, and was paid to be a guest lecturer at Northwestern University. I also started taking Improv classes at Second City. That’s been a big help in shaping my teaching and lecturing style. Improv has helped me to:
- be in the moment, not in my head
- guide the audience
- be natural and sincere, don’t try to force being funny or clever
2014: LOOKING AHEAD
VISION “Were is this going?” There were times in 2013 where I got so caught up in putting out fires that the overall purpose was lost. Finally, after a series of events in November, I saw reason to stop, evaluate, and write new pieces to a larger future. As 2013 ended, I was eager to get started with 2014 because I have a vision of where it’s going … and I want to get there.
CHOOSE! I’m one who can research, dig for answers and consult with experts all the live-long day. Eventually, there comes a time to choose. Actually, the time to choose could have been 5 experts ago or 3 articles ago. 2014 will be about making quicker choices.
IMMODESTY This is just a reminder of how unattractive false modesty is, and how modesty can water down a vision. Time to be immodest, and go for a future that’s 100% not-from-concentrate. That includes more gigs going to talk about data.
2014 Is going to be fiendishly fun, like this picture of me playing bass at Buddy Guy’s. Hell yeah!
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 WORDS?
Please share! Have you played this game before? If so, how did it go? If not, come up with your 3 words and let’s check in with each other in 12 months.
