A review of My Three Words for 2022

If you are not familiar with the “My Three words for” process, I recommend you visit My 3 Words for 2023 - CHRIS BROGAN where Chris Brogan explains the process, his words for 2023, and you can see his 3 words going right back to 2006.

As part of preparing for my three words for 2023 (link will be added to the comments when I post on this) I reflected on My three words for 2022 | LinkedIn.

Focussing

Chris Brogan warned about using words like focus.?Personally, I found focussing a useful guide, not least as it was an anchor for the behaviour and certainly helped with my self-calibration.??By that I mean my ability to notice my state and respond choicefully.??For sure I did not maintain focus all the time, but I did find that I was able to notice it slipping far earlier than in previous years.?

It also helped to add phrases that supported the noun, for example, in my start-up Entrepleio? , my co-founder and I in our research into the behaviours of entrepreneurs and courtesy of Wyatt Woodsmall came across the phrase “First things first, everything else not at all”.?I use this as a mantra to help remind me of the need for focus.

Yes, I still slip down into rabbit holes and my wanton curiosity can certainly be a distraction, but I have brought in a number of positive behaviours to limit distractions, e.g. setting the scene in terms of my state and environment when needing to focus.

Connecting

This aspect was a great success on many levels, there were certainly meaningful connections with people both new relationships and existing connections, my weekly target of 6x6 (meeting six new connections and six existing connections) was largely successful, and more than a numbers game, I had many important conversations on a range of topics and things that really mattered.???It also helped me to regularly reflect and appreciate how fortunate I am to spend time with the circles of people both personally and professionally.? As an independent consultant you can feel like you are on your own at times and being a member of networks such as Camelot is a huge help in connecting with people.

Linked to this I was able to spend time coaching people as part of the wonderful charity ConnectHive and I deeply appreciate the learning and rewards that helping others brings on an emotional level.

I did focus on expanding my experiences and networks and working in a range of industries, not only did this bring some great new experiences, and opportunities to learn new things, but also to look for the opportunities to bring people, ideas, opportunities together.??For sure, this is additional effort, but critical in ensuring you exercise your own change muscles and expand your knowledge.?

Not all was a success, there were blips for sure, one being the 49 days without a dog after the loss of Dylan, our dog of almost 14 years.??At first, I was very resistant to getting another dog, but the persistence of my wife and daughters resulted in Ralph joining our family.??They regularly remind me of “the love of the dad that didn’t want the dog”, I have to say the impact on my mental, physical, and emotional state was significant, aside from being the only person in the house that remotely listens to me ??, the time spend with Ralph walking, connecting with nature has been hugely positive.?

Which leads to the third word

Flourishing

On a many levels, this was hugely successful, not least thanks to my family (including Ralph) and the fantastic people I get to spend time with personally and professionally.??Professionally, I am truly blessed in that I get to do things I love with wonderful people.

2022 was a hugely busy year, with lots of interesting work and consequently I still made some poor choices in terms of self-care at times.??I did notice that as the year got even busier in Q3/Q4 I did consciously make more time for self-care, particularly around taking time out and stepping back.??

I’ve recognised that I still am not exercising enough and in the later part of the year made some commitments to do things that require an improvement in fitness during 2023, after all who wants to let down a charity ??.

I also made conscious effort (with focus) to get more sleep and this has certainly helped a lot, it’s still a work-on, but trending in the right direction.?

I’ve also worked on being conscious on my intakes and this has also helped a lot.?I’m not living the life of a monk but feel better for the choices I have made.

Final thoughts

The three words support was definitely positive, it’s something I will continue in 2023 and more on that in the next article.

I encourage you to look at Chris Brogan ’s work for more details and sign up to his insightful and weekly newsletters (Get My Newsletter - CHRIS BROGAN.)

If you already practice "My Three Words", how was it for you? If you haven't yet, and you decide to create your own three words, let me know what you've selected (and don't forget to tag it #my3words).