Last week, or perhaps it was the week before, one of my friends asked (on Path, which I’m new to but find very enjoyable) what one’s three words for 2012 were.
At the time, I responded, “Citius, Altius, Fortius.”
I’ve always loved the Olympic motto, and “faster, higher, stronger” could be applicable to anyone, not just athletes. And there’s poetry to them, which I don’t think we spend enough time on in our world of prose, IM shorthand and text-length comments.
On the face of it
“faster, higher, stronger” conjures up – for me, at least – images of runners poised to break the tape, blurs of speed and adrenaline, the “thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.”
As I thought more about it, though, I realized I’m not so sure I want those to be my three words for 2012. My life is already fast-paced enough; instead of making it faster, I’ve been trying (and mostly succeeding) to slow it down. Sure, I want to aim higher, and be/grow stronger, but I’m not sure I want to deal with the stress that comes with the overall package.
So I’m revisiting my three words. I haven’t settled on a trio yet. There’s “attention, intention and retention” that I’ve been thinking of lately…
Attention – to everything I do in equal amounts.
Intention – as in intentionality of purpose.
Retention – not just in a literal sense, such as good clients, income, etc., but of what is meaningful … and which also means, on the flip side, letting go of what’s not.
Those three are resonating with me, but will have to sit in my head, heart and gut a while longer before I know they are the three.
Then again, perhaps they’re not three discrete words, but a series, a phrase or a question. “I’m all in.” “Here and now.” “Change the world.” I don’t know.
[Did you get that last one?]
What about you? Have you settled on the three words for 2012 that will be your motto, your mantra, your raison d’être? Or, like me, are you still looking for them? Do share, I’d love to know.
Image: Patrick Hoesly via Flickr, CC 2.0
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Simplify. Focus. Create.
( http://sandrasays.com/2011/12/31/my-3-words-for-2012/ )
@SandraSays I love the simplicity of those three words.
Simplify. Focus. Create. (http://sandrasays.com/2011/12/31/my-3-words-for-2012/)
@adamtoporek Thank you!
@shonali But of course. :)
What fun. How did I miss this post?
Until I think of something better, I’m going with Veni, vidi, vici :)
@adamtoporek I love “veni, vidi, vici.” There’s such poetry to it. Actually, I don’t know why you’d have to think of something better, because I think that says it all… unless you know the Latin so that it’s all present tense instead of past…?
Hi Shonali,
I love your concept of 3 words so much, I preplagerized it.
alifewelllivedconcludeswithasmile.blogspot.com/2012/01/three-words.html
I really love the economy of words in the title. Brilliant of you. In short, my three words are time,choice and Google+. As for your (rhetorical?) question as to whether it’s 3 words literally or just a figure of speech, the three word concept as I understand it is in reaction to the often failed custom of New Year resolutions. In my book, sticking to 3 words literally keeps the focus on doing simple things well. Having not-so-humbly offered the preceding thought, it’s your tool. Use the tool however it best works for for you. Oh and Happy New Year. All the best in 2012.
@barryrsilver You “pre-plagiarized” it, LOL!
Google+, huh? Interesting. I know that is a bandwagon we have to get on, and I have my profiles (personal and business) set up, but … it’s just really tough for me to get into. Definitely something I have to work on… maybe that will be part of the “attention” plan.
Happy new year to you too, and thank you for stopping by!
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RT @ginidietrich Three Words http://t.co/ANyEmrIT… via @shonali
@martinwaxman @ginidietrich @pasmithjr Thanks so much for sharing my Three Words post.
@shonali You don’t have to thank me. Ever. Well, unless we’re drinking wine together in person
@ginidietrich What about if we’re drinking wine together via a Hangout or Skype?
@shonali Doesn’t count
@ginidietrich @shonali Can I be included in this too?! I hear a girls night coming! And Shonali, dido what Gini said about saying thanks :)
@ginidietrich Why not?!
@shonali @ginidietrich @pasmithjr You.Are.Welcome. :)
@martinwaxman Nice. Ly. Done. :p
I settled on mine right before Thanksgiving: Focus, Delegate, and Vision. I’ve done really well this first week of January!
@ginidietrich I was reading about your focus on vision [sic] but that was after I wrote this…. and I’m so glad you did well the first week!
This is cool, Shonali. I am thinking of a few. The first one is “Influence Positive Change”
Then I thought “Whatever It Takes”, “Make It Happen” and good ol Nike “Just Do It”
Since i use “Inspire & Influence Positive Change” on my site. I will go with the first one. That is what we are trying to do every day at The CARE Movement. Thanks for this and all you do to help others.
Have a wonderful & healthy 2012.
Al
@Al Smith I’m so glad you didn’t go with “Just Do It.” I think that one has been overused until it’s as ragged as the sweater I threw out yesterday!
Hats off to you for the CARE movement, Al, and I wish you a wonderful, health and positive 2012 too!
@voxoptima Thank you!
@ericamallison @mdbarber @skypulsemedia @cision @shakirahdawud @jocmbarnett Thanks so much for sharing my Three Words post!
Very fun! I will have to think on this a bit, but I do like the three you seem to have landed on. Like you, I’d rather slow it down than go faster, but that may be difficult. It’s all about intention, right?
@EricaAllison It is about intention. I think grant hill posted about “intention” and “attention” the other day, though I don’t remember exactly what… was it “paying attention to intention,” Grant?
I’m going to wait to hear what your three words are, Erica!
pass the space daiquiri
damn that is four words.
Duck Look Out!
that works. it is hard picking three words shonali
i like jim valvano’s Never give up
because this is the year my hard work is going to pay off! or i am going to become a baby seal trapper in alaska.
thank you for the inspiring post.
@HowieSPM It IS hard picking just three… and I guess that’s the point of the exercise? It’s also interesting, when you think about it, of how we use words/phrases in trios – alliteration doesn’t work unless it’s at least three words, when we write paragraphs or descriptive sentences, three phrases pack far more punch that two or four… annwylie teaches about this.
Baby seal trapper in Alaska?! Dude. You better watch out. You’ll have to answer to mdbarber and chillygal …!
Seriously, though – I like “never give up.” And if anyone epitomizes those three words, it’s you. H/t, my friend.
@HowieSPM Try “5 o’clock somewhere”. Jimmy V’s never give up (and the speech in which he gave his perspective on never give up) is truly inspirational. I’m a big fan of not going off quietly in the night. Unless you’re a baby seal trapper. Then queitly go off and never come back. Happy 2012.
I will add this to my homework…. :) But I do like the three you came up with because of their meanings, good stuff. I’m not huge on resolutions, I like goals myself or repurposing your energy which I think this is perfect for!
@rachaelseda here, here! Goals and intentions are far more powerful than resolutions. Well said.
@EricaAllison Yes! @rachaelseda
@rachaelseda I’ve been giving you a lot of homework lately… but with the video training you’re giving me, I think we’re even, eh? :p Do you think those are a good trio of words for me? I’m still thinking about them. I really like @jasonkonopinski ‘s use of “ritual” and now I’m trying to figure out if that should something be incorporated in there.
I enjoy these posts. Truth be told, I wasn’t even aware of the ‘tradition’ until I saw cc_chapman ‘s recent post. It was so inspiring that I tackled one of my own. It’s published on the blog now, so feel free to give it a read if you’d like. ;)
Resolutions are crap. Set goals and build rituals around them.
@jasonkonopinski I will go and read your post ASAP! Today for sure, I promise – I’ve been crashing on my Hopkins syllabus & site course (and will continue to do so today).
Not yet having read your post, though, I really like how you introduce “ritual building” into the making and keeping of goals. That’s one of the keys to reaching (or exceeding) a goal, isn’t it? I’d just never thought of it in terms of ritual, which is such a better word to use than “habit”…
@Shonali No worries, I understand well that other obligations take top priority before dropping a comment on my little ol’ blog. :)
Ritual building is a big one indeed. Simply setting a goal is without worth unless you can set yourself down a course that gets you there. Without the ritual action, you’re just treading water. Today’s momentary resolve is tomorrow’s memory, otherwise.
@jasonkonopinski Read AND commented… on not one, but two posts! HA! More to come.
Some interesting choices. I did this last year, and quite honestly, I’d have to go back and re-read my post to even know what I chose. And I guess that’s the reason I didn’t do it again this year. it’s kind of like making a resolution. I don’t remember them!
But I do need to find a way to remind myself of why I’m here and what I’m doing with my business, and my life. Hmmmmm…..
@KenMueller I remember I had three resolutions of sorts last year – I don’t think I called them resolutions, though, I think I called them goals, and did pretty well with them. But I’m with you on the resolutions thing… they’re far too easy to make, which makes them easy to break.
You mean you’re not here solely to provide entertainment for @HowieSPM , bdorman264 , gini dietrich and the rest of us? Bummer. I should think that’s quite a life’s work in itself.
By the way, the couch has been very uncomfortable these days. You need to clean it up.
@Shonali@KenMueller@HowieSPMgini dietrich I dunno, I thought head, heart and gut were 3 pretty good words……….:).
Actually, I really liked attention, intention and retention; could be very applicable in my world as well.
@bdorman264 I LOVE heart, head and gut! @KenMueller @HowieSPM gini dietrich
@KenMueller You mean you didn’t write them down?!? I have mine posted on my wall right in front of me.
@ginidietrich Well, I don’t have a wall in front of me. I work all over the place. But my three words for this year might be “Eat more bacon”. Or “drink more coffee” or “Annoy Gini More”
@KenMueller Well, you could stick them on your laptop, couldn’t you? Stop making excuses, Kenster. And here are three words for you: “Fix the couch.” @ginidietrich
Hey @Shonali ,
I love your three words for 2012 … it’s really hard to refine it down and simplify.
I really enjoyed dmscott ‘s post ‘Courage’ this week where he discussed that his word for 2012 is Courage.
I’m also loving garyvee ‘s concept of Crush It and his incredible work ethic.
So, at this early stage of 2012, I think I’ll go with ‘Courage’ & ‘Crush It’ … but I’m sure that these will evolve as the year progresses and as I use them to guide me along.
Thanks for sharing your post!
Jamie :)
@JGarant And you were the first commenter! Thank you! So maybe you should add “speedy” to your list of words. :)
It’s very interesting that the three words you chose are one word and a phrase. What is cool about this exercise is that you can chop and change it the way you want… no? I like “courage”… honestly, I get the concept of “crush it” but it is just a little too… I don’t know, violent for me. But if they work for you – go for it!
@Shonali thanks for the feedback Shonali. Yes it’s great the way we can chop and change as we grow and develop. I like nehadk ‘s words also – ‘focus’ and ‘connect’ – not quite ‘crush it’ – but still provides that sense of working hard and with purpose, and connecting with and learning from those around you.