My Three Words For 2017

As many of you know, I’m not big on making New Year’s Resolutions. They’re too easy to break. And, if I’m completely honest, I believe we all know what we’ve got to do. It’s simply a matter of doing it. That said, some guidance is in order, something that will remind you to stay on track.

So I’m picking up something that I started in 2015, but didn’t continue last year, the My Three Words exercise. You can read all about the history of it and where I got the idea here.

Here are the three words I’ll be using as a guide for this year:

Focus
Action
Simplify

Focus

This is all about keeping my priorities front and center:

Family and health (gotta exercise more, whether that’s hitting the gym or getting back to kung fu class regularly; meditating)
Re-establishing myself as a curator of culture and ideas, which includes the relaunch of the NBI Festival
Job (there are some areas here I’d like to get better at as a marketer and a manager)

Action

I want to be more action-oriented, which I see as the only way to achieve any of my goals for the year. This is about not putting things off, and being better organized and productive.

Simplify

This one resurfaces from 2015. It’s about cutting out everything that’s extraneous from my life. This includes (but isn’t limited to):

Books I’m not reading
Clothes I no longer wear
Files I don’t need
Possessions I no longer touch

So, you get the idea, right?

I’m sure there are other ways to make commitments to yourself beyond resolutions and this My Three Words exercise. For example, I’ve even seen people talk about having a single word for their year. I’m not there yet, but it’s a great example of Essentialism in action. How are you making commitments toward what you want to achieve this year? Please add them in the comments below.

In the meantime, check out the video below as author Greg McKeown talks more about Essentialism, as he defines it.

Happy New Year, all!