The Commitments

I got the idea from Chris Brogan:

Every year since around 2006, I’ve been challenging people to forego the idea of a resolution, and instead, to come up with 3 words that will help you define your goals and experiences for the coming year. Resolutions are often too vague, or too directed towards one goal.

Here at the shop, we decided to make commitments to three ideals critical to professional success in 2012.

We all had a week ahead of our annual company retreat to think about and commit to three little words.

I’d love to know yours. Here are mine:

Finish

Starts are fun. Starts are exciting. Starts are, frankly, pretty easy, huh?

I’ve been an awfully good starting pitcher for sixteen years – heck, maybe closer to 41 years – now. I need to finish projects with as much energy and power as I start them. That last mile’s awfully tough sometimes, but that’s usually where you see the most benefit, isn’t it?

Coffee’s for closers, pal.

Publish

Imagine. Write. Create. Deliver. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I have a weird brain. I’ve got a virtual bookstore in my head, but what good are the volumes of stuff if the doors are locked and no one can get it?

This year, I’ll finally be publishing my first book (the draft goes to my editor this weekend). Plus, I’ve got to get the couple dozen presentations I regularly give into e-books and video presentations. I’m editing a set of really cool e-books for my business partners.

Oh, and there’s the small matter of these 300-700 words each day. I’ve got The Daily Blur editorial calendar plotted through the end of March. I simply have to reach up into the air and grab the words and put them down.

Team

I’ll be writing more about this tomorrow and Friday, but as we transition from practice to business, the degree to which we’ll grow is directly proportional to the degree to which we become operationally excellent as a company.

That requires way more than a weird brain. It requires several weird brains that don’t necessarily agree with one another. It also requires systems, policies and procedures that not only work in our shop here in the middle west but across states and countries and continents.

Continents, dude.

I mean, we’re kinda dealing with some stuff here.

Some amazing, irresistible, powerful stuff.

2012 is going to be a wild ride, isn’t it? If I can simply honor these three commitments, it’ll be a year without parallel.

What three words will help you say the same? Are you willing to commit to them publicly, too?

Cool.