Three Little Words

I’ve never been big on New Year’s resolutions. Any moments of self-reflection and goal-setting sessions are always tied to the school year calendar. I have to rein myself in at Staples and Target in late summer or I find my shopping cart filled with new notebooks and markers in quantities I simply can’t justify any more. Just try to tell me opening a new notebook isn’t a fresh start!

I don’t remember how I found @ChrisBrogan on Twitter, but 9 times out of 10 I find myself clicking through to whatever he’s tweeted. A few weeks ago I found a link to his post “My Three Words for 2010” and here is his post for 2011 words. Not long after, I saw that Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, had posted “Choose One Word to Set the Tone for Next Year.”

Never satisfied with one word when I can have three, here are my picks for 2011. Note they are NOT resolutions; they are thematic, even strategic!

Forward. The new decade and new circumstances in both my personal and professional lives require that I forge ahead. Don’t worry, I won’t be rash (it’s not in my DNA) but I’ve got momentum and need to remind myself that one foot in front of the other is progress, even in the dark days of February.

Remember. While I’m moving forward, I need to continue to recall both the good and not-so-much experiences in my life. They combined to make me who/what I am. Strengthening connections is something I want to do for/with lots of people this year so remembering what I already know sounds like a good place to start.

Queens. I went to Hendrix so there are lots of connotations for that word which I won’t go into here. I’m using it as a focus word since 1) I want to “maintain poise and balance and charm and demeanor when dealing with life’s unpleasant moments,” as Chris Brogan so aptly described; and 2) it honors the strong women—too many to single out—who provide lessons and support for all aspects of my life.

It’s your turn now…what’s your one- (or three-) word theme for 2011?