If you set New Year's resolutions at the start of the year, I'm betting you don't remember what they are now.
Instead of resolutions, you should try choosing just 3 words to guide yourself towards the direction you'd like to go in 2022.
At the start of 2021, I chose 3 words to be my guiding themes for the year. I found the words reinforced thoughts and values that were important to me and acted as prompts or filters on what were good opportunities or decisions at the moment.
My 3 words and how they changed my year.
- Create - Write, produce and share. This was part of what propelled me to complete a programming course, launch my personal site, and start a writing habit. It's been incredibly fulfilling creatively, and I've cultivated a powerful bias to action.
- Compound - Recognizing that small actions culminate into big results cultivated patience. It enabled me to focus on the process and relish the small steps at the moment.
- Simplify - Not overthinking, paring down, and focusing on the things that yielded results. I counteracted my tendencies to overcomplicate. This positively shaped my personal life in my diet, exercise, and relationships.
3 is the magic number.
1 word either dominates your thinking or gets forgotten. 2 words create tension and encourage binary thinking. But 3 words can triangulate. It allows for nuance and polarity across the different dimensions and domains of your life.
How you can choose your words.
I chose those three words because they addressed some of my needs and wants. For me, they scratched a certain "itch" or addressed areas where I felt I needed more clarity of intention. They became values I prioritized for myself and filtered through to my goals, habits, and decisions.
In choosing your words, your words should:
- Apply to your broader goals, and help you make choices towards those goals.
- Apply to more than one dimension of your life.
- Be actionable.
Through actions and decisions, these words have now become part of my value system. I'm looking forward to setting new ones for 2022 and would love to hear what yours are and how you came to choose them.