A Better Life, Every Day

3 Words for 2010

On New Years Day, one of my favorite bloggers to follow, Chris Brogan, once again shared his "3 Words" for the year.  He then uses these three words to guide him throughout the year.  I thought this was a great idea, so I decided to come up with my own three words for 2010:

Health

I need to focus on my health, both physical and mental, more this year than I have in the past.  I want to focus on being more positive this year.  Too often, I have let little things bother me more than I should.  I also need to take better care of myself with more exercise and better eating habits.  I also plan on listening to what my doctors tell me and stop taking life for granted.  I also want to expand this focus on health to my family as well.  I want to set good examples for my stepdaughters to mimic.  Every day I amazed at the impact that I have on them and the way they look up to me.

Persistence

I want to be more persistent in most things that I do.  I am a perfectionist, sometimes in the worst way, and when things don't go perfectly according to my plan, I move on to something else.  This year I will keep plugging away at the things that I truly want to do.  I will accept the fact that not everything will go perfectly, and that very good is good enough.  I will not let negative people or obstacles knock me off course because this year I will make things happen.

Promise

I recently started reading The Promise Doctrine by Craig & Jason Womack and it has really made me think about the promises that I make with myself and to other people.  I need to ensure that I am keeping these promises no matter what, which goes right along with persistence.  Doing what I say I am going to do when I say I am going to have it done needs to be something that I do consistently.

Promise has a second meaning here as well.  It is the potential that others show, and I want to be more aware of that as I interact with others throughout the year.  I want to not only recognize the potential of others, but I also want to help them reach that potential.

This is going to be an amazing year for me and I am looking forward to discovering what life has in store for me in the coming months.  I believe that using the three words above to guide me throughout the year will help lead me to where I want to be by this time next year. 

I would love to hear what your three words are for the year, so please share in the comments section!

Photo courtesy of:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbill/ / CC BY 2.0

A Better Life Quotation - 1.12.09

Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be.

~Henry David Thoreau

My Starting Point

In my previous post, I wrote about finding your Starting Point.  Taking a look at my life, here is mine:

The Good:

Career & work - I am very happy with the job that I have right now.  I enjoy the work that I do, and I wake up in the morning excited to get to work.  While I like what I am doing right now, I also want to take it to the next level, so I will be doing what is necessary to make that happen.

Relationships - I am engaged to a wonderful woman.   She has made  me extremely happy, and along with her two beautiful daughters, has had such a positive impact on my life.

Productivity - I follow David Allen's Getting Things Done philosophy fairly closely.  I do a very good job in 3 of the 5 stages of workflow : Collecting, Processing, and Organizing.  I write just about everything down in a ruled, pocket Moleskine that I carry with me everywhere that I go.  I process regularly, and I am very well organized.  My inboxes (work and home) are at zero.

Recreation - I spend most of my free time with my fiancee and her daughters, and I wouldn't trade that time for anything.  I also spend time watching sports, reading, writing, and taking pictures. 

The Bad:

Finances - I have more debt than makes me comfortable.  While I have cut way back on my spending over the past year, I am still paying for past mistakes.  I look forward to the day that I am debt free.

Relationships - I could do a much better job of keeping in touch with my family and friends.  I enjoy the time I spend with them, but sometimes I get too caught up in the things that I need to be doing.  Next thing I know, the time to hang out with them or call them has passed.

Goals - There are many things I want to do, and many things I want for my life, but I haven't taken the time to write them down, define them, and assign them a deadline.  I must make the time to do this.

Productivity - I mentioned earlier that I do a good job with the first three stages of GTD workflow, but I really need to work on the last two: Review and Do.  I have not been consistent enough with my Weekly Review, and I have a terrible procrastination habit.  In fact, It is so bad, I almost put this in the "Ugly" category.

Recreation - While I enjoy my free time, I have a tendency to have my mind on other things instead of enjoying the moment.  I need to focus more on living in the moment instead of being concerned about all sorts of extraneous things.

The Ugly:

Health & fitness - The bottom line here is that I have really let my physical fitness go over the past few years.  Right now, I am at 270 lbs., and I am amazed at how different my life after putting on 50 lbs. over the past couple of years.  I want, and need, to get more fit for many reasons, and it will take the most work of anything else I want to do.

This is my Starting Point for my journey to an extraordinary life.  I am interested in hearing about your Starting Points, so please share.