We’re two weeks into January and I’m already looking for ways to get out of my New Year’s resolutions. I mean really, how pathetic is THAT? But a friend of mine, Deb Nelson, hooked me up with an alternative: Choose 3 words to frame what you would like to accomplish in 2016. She got the idea from Chris Brogan. I already feel better about myself.
I had very little trouble identifying mine, as they almost immediately popped into my head: Discern, Delegate and Delight! (Exclamation point included AND necessary!)
The simple genius of this method is that it allows choice of action and an acknowledgement that Life Happens in ways that often derail our beautifully crafted specific intentions. Last year, mine read: “Write weekly blogpost”, “Meditate daily” and “Lose 10 pounds”.
I did lose the 10 pounds …..but I gained a few back….
But if I apply the 3 word rubric onto those goals…. definitions could become a little looser… and maybe more achievable.
I tend to reach for the New Shiny Thing, or try the New Shiny Activity, or the New Shiny Method of Whatever, but the act of Discerning asks me to stop, breathe, and take notice of what’s around me, what’s inside of me, and what really calls to me in making a considered choice in light of what I am really trying to accomplish. Maybe I won’t be blogging daily, but I can write a listicle, a journal page rant or even a bad haiku and still be writing….which is the most important essence of that goal. Discernment also asks me to dig a little deeper and take a closer look at what is in the way of my goals.
How to remove those roadblocks? I could Delegate some of my time-consuming tasks to others. I could actually contract out some work on my website which tends to take too much of my time, and come up with an arrangement that honors my money and the contractor’s time. And when I dig a little deeper into that, I can look at how much I spend (waste) on social media. Yeah, I know we are all online marketers now but without a strategy… well, that’s a road with way too many potholes for me – like “cute kitty” FB photos or even the TED talk universe I can justify in a myriad of ways. But my new BFF Discernment asks “What is that time really gaining me?” Maybe I need to Delegate the initial stretch of my learning curve and get a pro into the mix – somebody like Judi Jones of Info Harbor. In fact, Judi and I are working to pull together a short series of in-person social media learning groups because I know I’m not alone in my struggle to Discern what’s best for my business when it comes to online marketing.
Other ways to delegate in order to free up time…. to Write, to Meditate, to Exercise in order to lose those 5 pesky Holiday pounds? Some possibilities have my teenager’s name on them; like cooking a meal or two, and a few more have my husband’s…. the Honey Do list grows longer.
Without discernment of how I spend my time, or delegation of tasks that eat my time, I most likely will rarely find time for the third treasured term: Delight! The associations I have with that word are child-like and not particularly responsible, (like cute kitty videos on FB) and I tend to shelve anything truly delightful until all the not-delightful stuff has been finished. Which never happens, does it?
But who wants to turn into THAT person?