Yes, you read that correctly. Don’t panic – this is not an early attempt to corner the New Year’s Resolution market, it’s something a little different.
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting up with David Zinger twice in real life lately, and once over the telephone. David is a smart, caring and funny guy, and if you didn’t already know, his work on employee engagement is…well, it’s very engaging.
In previous years around September time, David has distilled a set of three words to guide him for the year ahead. He is currently working on Discern, Invite, Engage. Since our last conversation, which concluded with a brief look ahead to 2013, I’ve been mulling over a similar distillation, and here it is.
For the next twelve months I will be guided by:
Focus – You cannot have it all
Finish – Get stuff done or get it out of the way
Fun – I’ve always believed that good work and good life have to be fun. I’ve never made a secret of that and after listening to so many people reference the importance of fun on last Night’s BBC Sport’s Personality of the Year Award before Bradley Wiggins was confirmed the winner, I’ve cemented the word into my guide.
I hope to expand on this thinking a little more in coming weeks. For now – I’d love to know what you think and perhaps you might like to write a short guide of your own?
photo credit – yep, I took that one 😉
Mmmm …. like!
It’s been a funny old year – quite painful, frequently frustrating but with occasional pieces of utter brilliance and weirdness that make it all worthwhile. So to take your lead on a great ideal Mr Shaw, here’s my ones.
Lead – Stop following the herd and start leading them – they are wrong (and if they are right, I won’t mind being wrong!)
Change – I’m a “glass half full” kind of chap but seem to have got a bit too grumpy this year … that will change …. others will learn or will suffer 🙂
Believe – a healthy dose of self-belief never goes amiss and it’s infectious. I owe my team that much!
Let’s see how I get on ……
Great stuff Chris, I love your opening sentence. Thanks for all your considered and smart comments in 2012, you are a great contributor. I wonder how your team might react if you play this three word idea out to them too? Believe – I really like that.
Cheers – Doug
Well I am late to this game again,but thought I would add my three words. While broadly similar I think some is the nuance’s are different, before I do I will acknowledge that my head is in a different place this year. It was the first year in three and only the second of five when I had some security about work in the new year. The other years I had either been labouring under the threat of redundancy or without work at all.
My three words are APPRECIATE, NURTURE and ENJOY.
Appreciate has two angles. The first is appreciating what I have had and enjoyed in the past, but way of experiences, relationships, opportunities and “things”, recognising that they were not rights, but good fortune and the rewards for hard work. The second is appeeciating what I have now, even though it may be different from the past. In particular it is about appreciating the friends, relationships and opportunities I have now.
Nurture is primarily about nurturing the relationships and opportunities I now have. There is an implicit element of focus in this, but I will let natural selection take place, rather than forced pruning.
The last, enjoy, is about enjoying what I do and have and not grieving for what I do not. I am planning to attend a stand up comedy course this year. I have no aspirations in that direction, but am interested to learn more about preparation, delivery etc that may help in other aspects of life. That said i have found just the thought of it makes me look at the world differently, more positively. The general test for the year will be, if you don’t enjoy it, either find a way you do enjoy it or stop doing it.
I wonder what our review of 2013 will look like?
Another superb trio, thanks Ian. It’s never too late, a new year can start on any given day eh. And I really like the point about finding enjoyment or stopping doing stuff. Have fun – I’m excited to review these ideas down the line.