No more broken resolutions. This is what I use to make the new year better. I pick three words to guide me through the year.

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I’m done with resolutions. They don’t work. I do this instead.

I pick three words.

Choose 3 Words to Guide Your Year.

No muss, no fuss.

Simply pick three words. Not four. Not phrases. They don’t need to connect in any way. Just choose three different words.

Then put them everywhere: in your calendar, on your to-do lists, and set them as your screensaver. Wherever you will see them. Like taping them to your laptop or your bathroom mirror.

It’s a simple concept. Pick 3 words and use them to guide your year.

• Don’t pick 5 or 10. That’s too many. It won’t work.
• Don’t pick 1. There isn’t enough there.
• Don’t pick phrases. Cut to the chase.

3 words. Here’s how Chris Brogan describes it:

The idea behind there being three words (and not five or seven or one) is that you can create a kind of “triangulation” between three words, such that they can stand alone and work together.

A trinity. It totally makes sense. Words that dance with one another, inform one another, transform one another.

Just make them different. And not a 3-word phrase.

My Previous 3 Words

Since starting in 2016, I’ve had a couple of different experiences with it.

2016 – Enjoy. Excite. Evangelize.
2017 – Gather. Lead. Play.
2018 – Decide. Minimize. Poetry.

My words in 2016 were perfect. And I used them constantly. My choices for 2017 were similar, but I didn’t prioritize them. And by May, I had pretty well forgotten them. Last year’s words were important and ongoing. Each year is different.

Want more ideas? See what Chris Brogan has done for 14 years now.

My 3 words for 2019

I really could have kept 2018’s words going another year. These have been a big, ongoing project for a while now. Then I struggled to come up with the right list.

But these choices are going to be good.

Concentrate

Proof that music can be a good inspiration, this word came to me from the Florence + the Machine song “Only If For A Night“. It is a more “practical” word than the others I was considering: more direct (and forgiving) than “focus,” more broad than “listen”.

The second line in the song which struck me was “And the only solution was to stand and fight,” which comes in the midst of a passive-sounding song. But “concentrate” isn’t either passive or responsive: it’s active and intentional. To concentrate, not just on what matters, but in the midst of adversity, is an act of profound courage.

Human

A story I often share about an early training revolves around the idea of being human. My experience of CPE was profound and life-changing (like it always is). But I found that my brain was too caught up in techniques and diagnosis. I was too focused on being “effective.” I found the whole process kept me from being human.

“Human” is my shortcut to that sensation. I also remind myself to “be a person.” Not because I’m a robot or “too stuck in my brain” so much as how often the perfect becomes the enemy of the good for me and I find myself failing at the baseline job of being human.

This year, I’m not letting the planner get in the way of the person. The ideal, the always changing “right thing to do” should never prevent me from being present.

Experiment

Since last fall, I’ve been preparing with colleagues to lead an initiative this year called Faithful Innovation Learning Communities in collaboration with Luther Seminary. The centerpiece of this work is building up our personal and congregational capacity for experimentation.

What does this really mean? It means this whole year will be full of experiments: which aren’t simply a chance to do something new, but a chance to learn something in the process. Experimenters learn as much (if not more) from failing as succeeding.

This year isn’t about building programs, developing organization charts and five-year plans. It’s about listening and experimenting and being with the people of my community.

What are your 3 Words?

Don’t forget to visit Christ Brogan’s site for more ideas–chrisbrogan.com.

What did you come up with? Share them with me and the whole internet using the hashtag #my3words.