<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/1fc960ce-e2e0-4562-990d-fce19e9ab7d4/39be5e57-a67c-457a-969b-37be76406ac2/info-light.svg" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/1fc960ce-e2e0-4562-990d-fce19e9ab7d4/39be5e57-a67c-457a-969b-37be76406ac2/info-light.svg" width="40px" /> My Three Words

I’ve been writing a My Three Words post every year since 2013.

If you don’t know what it is all about, check out this post for context 👉 About My Three Words

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Here are my three words for 2023.

Sustainable

I’m ambitious and measure the value of my time here (my existence) by the impact I’m able to make. As a result, I have a habit of taking on too many things. Not only that but because I get excited by the prospect of every new idea, I tend to imagine the biggest possibility for every idea. I also have ADHD, so here’s the loop I get stuck in:

1. Hyperfocus: Because of my ADHD, I get super excited about new ideas and spend 8 hours straight building out the entire strategy with everything required to do it to completion.
2. Executive Dysfunction: Then, I get overwhelmed by the enormity of the project and my brain shuts off.
3. Object Impermanence: Then, once the next idea comes along, it pushes that previous big idea out of sight and out of mind

I go through this loop over and over building up a backlog of projects that when combined with the reality of time constraints makes it obvious why I only complete most projects halfway.

This is unsustainable.

In order to accomplish my goals, release more projects, and help more people, I need to reconfigure things so my efforts, ambition, and output are sustainable.

Here’s how I plan to do this:

1. Focus on Minimum Viable: Rather than structure every idea as something that will chgange the world, I’m going to reduce the scopes of my projects to get the idea out the door and into the world instead of waiting for or working toward perfect. This means I will be streamlining all processes around simplicity-first.
2. Watch the waves: I know that my energy comes in peaks (hyperfocus) and valleys (executive dysfunction). Yet, I often plan as if my energy will be consistent. Instead, I’m going to plan around the reality of my energy so that I can sustain through the natural ups and downs.

In order to do this, I’m following the brilliant advice of Jeanette Bronée in her book The Self-Care Mindset beginning a practice of pausing on purpose. Before saying yes to anything, I’m going to slow down, breathe, and reflect.
3. Remember that saying yes means saying no: There’s a question in Michael Bungay Stanier’s book The Coaching Habit that I’ve willfully ignored for too long:

”If you say yes to this, what are you saying no to?”

I am building out a priority tracker for myself that will have limited slots open for yes. This means that I will have to physically confront this question. In order to say yes to something new, it will require me to say no to something else.

169

This one is straight-forward.

I want to get my weight under 170lbs. That’s when I’ve felt the healthiest in my life.

This is the first time I’ve chosen a word that is specifically related to health, weight, or fitness.

I’ve watched the scale as my weight has steadily crept upward over the last 8 years and have continued to put my health off to the side because I continued to tell myself that I’d start paying attention to my health…soon.

It’s time. We just welcomed our second child and I’m keenly aware that I have to take care of myself now if I’m going to be around for them later.