My Three Words for 2018

Like many people, I never fully subscribed to New Year’s resolutions and only halfheartedly created them. Since I never really took them seriously, I pretty much doomed them to failure. Rather than continue something that didn’t work, I just stopped the practice altogether.

Recently I read about the concept of three words on Mike Vardy’s blog, who was introduced to the concept by Chris Brogan. The idea is that instead of promising that you’re going to meet some arbitrary goal, you thoughtfully consider three words that will help guide you to success in your upcoming year.

As you may guess, this can be a very introspective process for some. As luck would have it, I didn’t need to do much soul searching to find my words. I’d already been mulling introspectively for the past few months about my productivity processes, my habits, my lifestyle, and more. Maybe it’s my version of a mid-life crisis. Who knows? At any rate, I’d already been reading blogs and books, listening to podcasts, and thinking about life … which is certainly cheaper (and more productive) than buying a muscle car.

In my soul searching I came across the previously mentioned blog post by Mike Vardy and was immediately intrigued. Suddenly I’d found an idea I could get behind. No more empty promises to “get in shape” or “make more money”. Instead I could think about what I want to accomplish and what concepts or principals will help guide me. Without further ado, my three words for 2018:

ENDURE

My wife and I have been running for almost two years now. We’ve run plenty of 5K and 10K races and a handful of half marathons as well. We signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon last year, but had to postpone due to an injury. We’re determined to make 2018 the year of our first marathon. In order to do that, I’m going to have to endure. One day at a time … just run and train.

Also, in case you’ve been living under a rock, today’s political climate is also a little hostile … to put it mildly. It’s been a tough year no matter your political leanings or social ideologies. So, I feel like I need to mentally endure the world right now.

MINDFUL

I’m a very “go with the flow” type of person; fluid and easy going. The side effect is that I also don’t pay attention to a lot going on … I tend to just be there sometimes. I want to make an effort to be more mindful of my surroundings, my environment, and my choices. I want to be more conscientious with my decisions and be more meaningful.

This is something I’ve been aware of about myself for a while. In an effort to start to change, I started meditating this year (2017) and have really grown to like the moment of self-awareness and calm. I want to expand on that and practice more mindfulness this year.

HYGGE

Happiness has always been my “thing”. I’m a pretty happy person, I can usually see the positive in anything, and I love to make people smile or laugh. Lately, I’ve been trying to read more about happiness, joy, and positivity. The most recent book I read was The Little Book of Hyggehygge (pronounced HUE-guh) is the Danish concept of comfort, happiness, family, well-being, etc. I just loved the concept that the author portrayed and want to incorporate more hyggelig (the adjective of hygge) things in my life. 

From the book, Hygge is about giving your responsible, stressed-out achiever adult a break. Relax. Just for a little while. It is about experiencing happiness in simple pleasures and knowing that everything is going to be okay.” That’s just perfect … and I need more of that in my life.

So those are my three words. If you participate, I would love to hear what you chose in the comments!

5 Comments

  1. […] So, I decided that I want to study “happiness” more. Late last year I read The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living. I really loved the ideas presented there and the idea that happiness was so central to the Danish way of life. I was so inspired actually, that I made hygge one of my “three words for 2018“. […]

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