Every January, I choose three words to guide the vibe of the coming year. In 2012 I chose the words present, in-person, and reclamation. (Read about how it went, here). Guiding the vibe of 2013 are the words Go! No! and Flow. Here’s what I want them to mean to me.
Go! About mid-year last year, I increased my focus on communications coaching and consulting because I realized that deep listening, pattern recognition and my ability to guide people expeditiously to the heart of the matter is not only what makes me truly unique, it’s also how I can add the most value for my clients.
Now that I know what my mission is, and have a clear vision of what I want to create, it’s time to step on the gas, and Go! Go! Go! Starting with a new website slated to launch in early February, with the help of WordPress wrangler extraordinaire, Chel Wolverton
During 2012 I also re-discovered meditation and it was through a combination of meditation and serendipitous events I also returned to my yoga practice, and Four Winds Yoga. Four Winds is a great yoga studio with a wonderful director, Jill Gutowski – and it’s 20 steps from my office! Emotionally, it feels great to be back. Physically, it’s still a challenge. Asana is tough for me on a whole bunch of levels. To be able to come back I had to make whatever happened on the mat okay. That means I make it okay to look awkward. To fall. To rest. And to cry. Okay to not be able to do scissor legs side crow pose. The only thing that matters is that I Go!
Maybe eventually I will do scissor pose. That would be great. Or maybe I will fail at it all the time, forever. If so, I know I can learn something from that too.
In addition to yoga and meditation, I also will be applying Go! to the way I eat and work out. A new book, “Thinner This Year” breaks down, in science-based gory detail, what the food I eat (live vs. dead) does to my system and what effect consistent exercise (or lack of it) has on my body. If you’re motivated by hard science and facts, you will find this book extremely motivating. I know I did. You’ll never look at a cheese laden pizza the same way, that’s for sure.
No! To ensure that I have maximum energy available to Go! I will need to say No! to shiny things that will provide low or no rewards and sap energy and attention away from Go!
One way I’m dealing with this is with “If-Then” planning. The way If-Then planning works is that you decide ahead of time what you will do in certain circumstances. For instance, this year I have decided to say No! to impulsively buying clothes and direct those resources instead toward buying stuff to make the house more beautiful instead. So one of my If-Then parameters is “If I get an email enticing me to buy clothing, then I will delete it or unsubscribe from the list.” Another is “If I need to go to a store, then I will buy only the thing I came for. If the store does not have it, then I will head for the door, without browsing or making any unplanned purchases.” Try it. It totally works.
If you want to know more, check out this article on If-Then Planning by Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson.
Flow Go! and No! are very definite intentions and definiteness is polarizing and can lead to high contrast experiences. The key to navigating these high contrast events – and avoiding the useless energy sapping drama that often accompanies them – is to literally “Go with the flow.” That said, not being in flow also can be quite instructional!
I also intend to, as much as possible, search out and surf those experiences of creative flow, in the way Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes in his book, aptly titled, “Flow.” (Dense read, but very well worth the time and effort required to acquire the concepts.)
Go! | No! | Flow
My three words for 2013.
This is my third year of doing the three words exercise and if you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend you do. (Hat tip to Chris Brogan for starting the “Three Words” tradition!) And Happy New Year, everyone!
P.S. If you’re not feeling the three words thing, you might want to practice reflecting on basic goodness instead.
I’ll go with nourish, create, flourish. Nourish relationships, delight, ideas. Create connections (people and ideas), opportunities, community. Flourish: may I and everyone I touch flourish in 2013.