I love this time of year…January is full of possibilities. We make New Year’s resolutions, set goals, make big plans. For many of us, it’s a time to take stock of our careers and think of what we’d like to accomplish in 2015…A new job, more responsibility, more pay, a promotion, or all of the above.
A few years ago, I came across Chris Brogan’s 3 Words for the Year. Since 2006, Brogan has encouraged people to choose three words that will frame their goals and intentions for the year. I’ve done this for the past few years. Last year my three words were client, collaborator, and content.
Client referred to providing superior services to clients…to strengthening my coaching skills to better serve them, and being more responsive to their needs. Collaborator referred to collaborating with both colleagues and clients. I love the idea of collaboration; of Doing It Together (DIT). Content meant identifying differentiating issues that enabled my clients to be better prepared with leading edge tools to meet their goals.
These three words helped me focus my efforts for last year. Did it work? Pretty much. The feedback from clients suggests that I was helpful and attentive to their needs and their goals. They were pleased at my accessibility…that they could reach out to me for advice between appointments and even after our formal coaching time had ended. I would hear that they enjoyed and learned from the blog posts here at the Press Herald and links to articles posted on LinkedIn and other sites.
So what are my 3 words for 2015? This year I want to make things happen, to develop new projects that serve our clients. I want to bring people together, both clients and colleagues, to make things happen. And, I want to help both clients and colleagues identify small actions that lead to big changes. My three words, then, are:
- Launch
- Convene
- Trimtab
These words will frame the major activities that I engage in for the year as we develop new services for clients, bring people together to act on key issues and work with them to identify incremental actions that lead to major changes. Stay tuned.
Back to you. What 3 words can you come up with to frame your goals for the year?
This post originally appeared in the Portland Press Herald on January 12, 2015.