A number of my friends and acquaintances use Chris Brogan’s “three words” concept. I’ve yet to use it, mostly because I feel an odd resistance to being tied to a certain set of words. That being said, I see the value in the limitation. It brings a focus to what one plans and hopes to do. It causes a person to pause and to think about what three words capture his or her aims. Declaring them publicly results in an accountability to those words and the goals attached to them. Because of that, I’ve decided to give the “three words” a try.
- Full-time. My plan is for Write Right to become my full-time work by the end of this year. It’s going to take a lot of work, i.e., a lot of pitches, to get to that point. While I don’t have to provide for a family or anything like that, I do have my diabetes and other debts to consider.
- Collaboration. I can do some things on my own, but I have learned the value of asking for help and of working with others. One person can be stopped, but two people? It’s a bit more of a challenge. I hope to find people with whom to share work, projects, and ideas.
- Direct. I struggle to market Write Right, an irony that is not lost on me as a person who usually writes marketing materials. This year, I need to be more direct about what Write Right does. I need to make the pitch and close the sale.
Those are my three words. What are yours?
Photo: Lis Ferla (CC BY NC 2.0)
I still don’t undertake the three words mission for the year. I don’t know why! Maybe I should give it a try this year and see how it turns out. Focus would definitely be on my list! 🙂
Hajra It couldn’t hurt!
I think my hesitance to use the exercise is tied to two things. One is a fear of not being able to keep the commitments I’ve made with the three words. The second is a weird “I don’t want to write the three words because it’s what the ‘cool kids’ do.” I guess I’m a little bit of a rebel. 😉
Erin F. I never manage to keep resolutions. If I make up my mind, then it doesn’t matter if its Jan 1 or the middle of June!
I understand the rebel thing too. Been there, done that! 🙂
Hajra Oh, I never make resolutions. I’m more like you: I make up my mind to do a thing and do it.
Hajra I don’t really understand it either. I think I’ll do the 500,000 words mission, which equals 1369 per day. 🙂
ExtremelyAvg That would be a fun thing to consider. 🙂
ExtremelyAvg Whatever works. 🙂
Do hyphenated words count? Kidding. Bonne Chance, my friend. Have an awesome year.
rdopping Thanks!
Aren’t rules made to be broken? 😉
I saw that Kaarina hoped you were feeling better. I didn’t realize you’d been under the weather. Sorry about that. I hope you’re feeling better, too.
Erin F. rdopping am. Thanks.
rdopping Good!
Wishing you tons of success and luck in 2013! I clearly have the drive to achieve everything that these 3 words umbrella so Im looking forward to your re-cap at year-end where you tell us all all about your accomplishments.
Wishing you tons of success and luck in 2013! You clearly have the drive
to achieve everything that these 3 words umbrella so Im looking forward
to your re-cap at year-end where you tell us all all about your
accomplishments.
C_Pappas Thank you for saying so. I started to feel some doubts about the words I’d chosen after visiting other three words posts. Now I’m off to visit yours! 😀