I heard several people say things like "I wonder what next year will bring" or "I hope we all have a better 2016" in the last few days and while they seem nice sentiments, they are also very passive and have a suggestion that things will just happen to us. Sure, some things do just happen to us, but I think we need to be more active in making 2016 the year we want it to be. As part of that I have taken some time, following Chris Brogan's lead, to think about three words that can help me focus on what is important for the coming year and how to, as my husband often says, "get 'er done." So drum roll ... this year's words are Vision, Science, and Nesting.
I recently learned that my mom has to have surgery to correct her vision due to cataracts. She is terrified but she will have it taken care of. She will take action and she is a good role model for this word both because of her actual vision, which will necessitate me travelling back and forth to New Orleans multiple times in the early part of the year, and because she is one of my beacons of keeping in mind what is truly important. She helps drive my vision of the future I am creating. It is a vision that has been forming and remained a bit blurry in recent years, as if my planning eyes had cataracts of their own. But this year is the time for both of us to get clarity with our vision.
Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world." ~ Joel A. Barker
While I have always been fascinated with all things science, both real and fiction, I included this word in the spirit of MythBusters tweet that "The only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down."
I am taking a much more "scientific" approach to my progress this year. I'm planning the work and working the plan by keeping better systems in place to do just that. And I'm writing stuff down. No excuses about it takes too long or I don't have time or whatever. I'm writing it down. Lists. Blogs. Ideas. Everything. Who knows how much time has really been lost over the years of me not doing this.
I'm going to have to science the shit out of this." Matt Damon as Mark Watney in The Martian
My third word for this year may, on the face of it, sound too passive, but bear with me. Over the past year I have gotten married, packed up all my stuff, moved to another state (OK, I went from New York City to NJ, but it's still another state), and live in a house my husband already owned. So there's been a lot of figuring out how to meld the households and there's still stuff in boxes and it is ultimately not productive. The boxes kind of mock me and distract me from other things that need to get done. I've also become a commuter, going from a brisk 20 minute walk to work to a car to a bus to a walk to work. I've started building in checklists of things to do on my commute to make great use of the "captive" time on the bus. So I'll continue to get my house in order, both literally and figuratively.
So, what are your three words? I can't wait to see what others have come up with.