My 3 Words 2022

Everyone has their own ritual at New Year. We set our intentions, goals, and resolutions in a variety of ways. My favorite way is to choose three words, a practice Chris Brogan has been kind enough to share with us all over the years.

You can read all about it here and follow along on Twitter to peek at everyone’s choices. It’s so fun!

I’ve found it to be a really valuable approach. I write them down every day. Each year, I learn a little more about myself and get clearer on the person I choose to become.

Past versions of my 3 words

2014 - Balance. Health. Profitability.

2015 - Open. Consistency. Scale. (This one FLOPPED!)

2016 - Fly. Create. Universe.

2017 - Balloon. Build. Unapologetic.

2018 - Habits. Optimise. Partnership. 

2019 - Health. Decide. Relentless.

2020 - Body. Course. Secure.

2021 - Self. Stop. Lead.

My 3 Words for 2022

+1

The idea is that if I break everything I do down into a +1 or -1 decision, life becomes easier. I can let go of control, the need to get everything right, and that feeling of unworthiness when I don’t quite get it right. Instead, all I need to do is keep stacking those tiny +1’s. If I can do that all year long, there’s no way that I won’t end up in a more positive place. 

This works across everything and is a good reminder to be a +1 to others too. I want to actively work on strengthening the relationships I have with the people around me and those I will meet along the way. 

Bonus: No decision fatigue. I free up space! 

Maitrī

(pronounced ‘muh-y-tree’ if you’re like me and say it wrong)

Maitrī is a Sanskrit word that translates to loving-kindness or unconditional friendship with one’s self. It is accepting ourselves for who we are right now, seeing things as they are without judgment, and having compassion for ourselves.

I don’t know if you can relate but so often in life, I’ve found myself fragmented into different personalities. I am accepting and loving to some personalities - kindness, love, friendship. You know, the feel-good emotions. I’m a bully to others - anger, pain, sadness, frustration, doubt etc. I suppress those personalities. I shun them. I don’t see or hear them or let them speak and wonder why there are times those emotions internally feel so loud.

I think, in general, we tend to identify with the personalities we feel comfortable sharing. I say personalities rather than sides of personality because it’s a new and useful perspective for me. When we’re not comfortable, we blame ‘ego’ as if it’s this other person in our mind calling the shots. I don’t think it works that way. I think we are all of these personalities combined into one superorganism. They make up who we are and we need ALL of them in different contexts.

If I can learn to embrace maitrī, I can step into my body as a whole being with a complete sense of belonging. I am then in a place where I can show the same loving-kindness and the same compassion to others. It ripples.

Play-doh

This morning I took a walk with my brother around town while sipping an almond-milk gingerbread latte. It was definitely a +1 experience!

We talked about awareness through movement, the use of language, and the art of learning. I shared that I’d like to become a ‘play-doh’ thinker. Neuroplasticity is a good word but play-doh is more fun, don’t you think? ‘Floor is lava’ is a great way to spark creative solution-based thinking.

Rather than consume and continue on my way, I’d like to play with the knowledge I gain. This means, challenging ideas, connecting them with other ideas, exploring and experimenting from different angles. Going deep and wide and out and in and back again.

I participated in a number of Buddy Wakefield poetry workshops last year where I was introduced to the idea of saying hello in the cellular. This in combination with abstract thinking makes for an interesting playground. That’s where I want to live and work from this year.

Mantras and reminders to take with me:

• Kintsugi

• Head (What) - Heart (Why) - Hands (How)

• “What I want you to know is…”

• Be a friend to all.

• Take up space, Milkyway.

• Speak from the ‘I’.

• Every day, in every way, I am getting stronger and stronger.

• I am on a journey to meet the 100% version of myself.

• Focus on the gain, not the gap.

• Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found. ~ Pema Chödrön

Questions to ask myself daily:

• How do I choose to feel?

• What would this look like if it were easy?

• What is a +1 decision I can make that will move things forward and/or make everything else easier/unnecessary?

• How am I complicit in creating conditions in my life I say I don’t want? (This one comes from Tim Ferriss)

• Can we just play it by ear?

• What if we just chill the eff out a little?

Those last two come from Ann Handley’s newsletter.

My Anchor:

That’s me. How about you? I’d love to hear your 3 words for the year and what they mean to you.

Happy 2022! May it bless you with joy, love, laughter, and purpose.