Just Three Words

At the start of the new year I like to set aside time to look at where I've been and then decide on where I'm trying to go.

A structure I've been using for the last few years is something called the Three Words. I'm not sure where I learned this or if I adapted it from something else, but here is how it works.

At the start of the year you pick three words. These words will be the guiding force behind all of your decisions for the rest of the year. When in the coming year you aren't sure about what next step you should be taking, or want to check in and see if you're still heading in the direction you intended, all you have to do is remember your three words.

Some guidelines. The words have to be verbs. It has to be something you can do. If you just write down "resilience" or "authentic" you can't really do too much with that.

For example in 2020 my three were: Finish, Exchange, Externalize.

Finish because I had a bunch of good ideas I felt I wasn't following through on. So whenever I started something new I asked if I had finished the last thing I was working on.

Exchange because I wanted to make more of an effort to get other people's art into my life. An exchange of ideas and influences. I wanted to make sure I wasn't getting myself into a little influence bubble. So I started trading art with people.

Externalize. Up until 2020 a shameful amount of important work related stuff existed only in my head. This was the year I started writing down how I do everything, made templates of all of my work, and started to make systems for planning out my year. I now have a system for recording how I'll launch a campaign, record good ideas I don't have time for, track my growth, things like that.

I'll spend a month or so coming up with the words. It's something I keep in the back of my mind, and while I'm thinking about things I would have changed about last year or I'm hoping to have happen this year, I'll jot down a word or two.

At the end of the month I'll look through all the words I wrote down and either combine common ideas or see if I can make them more specific.

It might not seem like a huge idea, but the simple act of making this one decision now will make all of the other decisions for the rest of the year that much easier.

Let me know in the comments what your three words might be.