My 3 Words: Ecosystems, Owners, Kings

I won’t explain my words in detail, because they relate to me. I’ll share a bit and then, we’ll talk about how you set your own.

Ecosystems – Every project I work on has to fit into an existing ecosystem that I’ve created. I’ve got 4 potential buckets for this: me (as in my personal life), CrossTech Group (the parent organization of my company, New Marketing Labs ), CB.C (chrisbrogan.com and related), and Human Business Works (my as yet-to-be unveiled new project, which is picking up steam). If it doesn’t make sense to what I’ve outlined for goals for each of these projects, I’m not doing in 2010.

Owners – One area I could have improved in 2009 was to help people be owners of their projects. In the ecosystems above, that means that I am not empowering people that I work with in various ways, and I seek to help them feel more ownership of what we’re working on.

Kings – You can thank Marsha Collier for this word, because of advice I received one night at dinner with her. She said that I should “be kingly” with regards to managing criticism, and that essentially meant that I needed to maintain poise and balance and charm and demeanor when dealing with life’s unpleasant moments. I’ve thought of that phrase quite often since, and have evolved it to include my business passions, and so it becomes one of my three guiding words for how I conduct myself and business in 2010.

How You Can Set Your Own Three Words

What will your 3 words be? How do you choose?

Pick three words that help you the way a lighthouse helps a ship in a storm. Give yourself a word that guides you towards a powerful new opportunity, and that keeps you focused on what comes of this year. Use these words as starting points for tangible goals, SMART goals that can be measured and have dates to accomplish tasks by. These words sit above the actual goals, and set your guiding principles in place.

The words I use have larger meaning than the word itself. If I put the word “focus” down, it would be more of a reminder of an action, and not exactly a lighthouse upon which to set my goals. In the past, for instance, in 2006, I used the words “Ask. Do. Share.” They helped me get very successful, but they weren’t entirely large enough to be a flexible planning word. So, what I’m trying to do with the words is come up with something that would take more than a sentence to describe, but that when you think about it, the ideas explode out to fill your head with thoughts of how you might want to conduct yourself.

Side note: the new book Julien and I are working on does this in its title to big effect, so you’ll see this thinking echoed a lot in coming months.

I hope you give this some thought and consider sharing your three words here. It’s been very helpful to my success over the last few years, and I predict it’ll help me navigate the complexities of my upcoming 2010, as well.

Ecosystems. Owners. Kings.

And From The Past

My 3 Words for 2009
My 3 Words for 2008
My 4 words for 2007
My 3 Words for 2006: ask. do. share.

I’m getting ready to write up my 3 words for 2010. If you’re not familiar with the exercise, the object is to come up with three words that you use as compass points for your efforts over the year to come. They’re not resolutions. They’re ways of framing what you plan to do in the coming year. Here were mine for 2009 and 2008. (In my mind, I did okay with 2 of the 3 goals. I’ll make 2010 a redoubled effort on “armies.”)

In using this method, here’s how I set about wiring my goals to the way I accomplish what I do.

• Determine 3 guiding words for my efforts in 2010.
• List 1-3 paths to accomplishing those goals (aka strategies).
• List distractions that might possibly scuttle my efforts.
• List the steps for each path (these are the projects that map to the goals).
• List what the “finish line” looks like.
• List what comes next, should I actually accomplish something major along those paths.

How This Differs From Resolutions and To-Do Lists

The three guiding words are lighthouses or compass directions for my efforts. If I’m moving in those directions, I’m doing well. If I’m not on the path to those goals, then it’s clear that I’m working counter to my goals. See how that’s far more fluid than a static list of resolutions?

For instance, a resolution might be to “lose 30 pounds.” If I wrote a fitness goal, it would look like this:

• Goal words: active
• Path 1 to the goal: avoid elevators and drive-thru food.
• Path 2 to the goal: prepare daily
• Path 3 to the goal: make time for activities and make them FUN
• Distractions: making excuses, forgetting to eat, lack of preparation
• Steps to the path (here’s where I’d list out a few ways to start- don’t scare yourself)
• The finish line: 3-5 activities a week, looser jeans, a need to go shopping
• What’s next: step it up to the next level of activity. Try something challenging.

See the difference? I’m trying to set fluid guidance and not static points. In a way, the idea is to figure out orienteering versus memorizing a set map.

As you think about planning 2010, business-wise and personally, can you see how setting out three guiding words, and building paths that help you frame your goals, and then working from that mindset will help?

We’ll reveal our 3 words on 1.1.10. Get thinking. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.