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three words to guide me

My Three Words in 2023 to Guide Me

January 9, 2023 by Jim Peacock 4 Comments

My 2023 words did not come as easily to me as they had in the past. As always, I did a tech-free retreat to get out of my house, slow down, write, and think. This was a good starting point, and I felt like two words stood out for me. But the third word had been elusive, so I waited.

Journaling helps. Reading helps. Thinking helps. Slowing down helps.

Probably one of the best things I did this fall was to read Brene Brown’s book,  Atlas of the Heart. I love how she broke down so many emotions and explained some of the subtle differences. It’s possible that all three words this year are because of this book. Yes, I had been thinking about some of them, but the book clarified what they mean to me and encouraged me to think deeper about them.

I struggled with the third word until one day when I sat down, pulled out my pen and journal, and just free-wrote for a few minutes:

I want to keep writing ◊ I want to stay humble ◊ I want to keep helping career coaches ◊ I want to slow down ◊ I want to keep working ◊ I want to keep playing ◊ I want to keep learning ◊ I want humor in my life ◊ I want to be outdoors as much as possible.

What I discovered was that the free writing confirmed the three words I had been considering…and it felt great. So much of this process is trusting my instincts and being authentic. So here are my three words for 2023 and why I chose them.

Joy

As I read Brene’s book, her definition of the word joy really stood out for me. It is “the good mood of the soul” and an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation. While experiencing joy, we don’t lose ourselves, we become more truly ourselves. 

She talks about how joy and gratitude are closely connected and can create an “intriguing upward spiral.” The opposite of what I call the “vortex of negativity” when people focus on the negative and all that happens is they get more and more negativity.

Gratitude was one of my 2019 words, and I’ve discovered that my yearly words never really leave me. I try to spend time thinking daily about what I am grateful for. So when I read about the connection between joy and gratitude it really resonated with me. Probably the phrase that really hits home for me is “good mood of the soul.” Yeah, I want some of that every day!

Orange flower with green background and the words, exploration, humility, and joy

Humility

Although I list it here as second, this was the final word I chose. It didn’t really make the list until I did my journal purge and it came out almost immediately. Maybe it’s because I was just visiting my 96-year-old dad in Michigan and have watched him deteriorate from a healthy, vibrant, intelligent, successful man to his small world today. But he still remains thankful and gracious for all Jean (his wife) does for him and for all the times his children visit or call.

I’ve also seen some people in various fields who think they know everything. I am not one of those people and never want to be. I always feel like I have more to learn and that I am never the smartest person in the room. I might have more knowledge about a topic than others, but there is so much to know about any subject and there are so many people I know in the career field doing great work. I never want to lose my humility.

In Atlas of the Heart Brene describes humility  as “openness to new learning combined with a balanced and accurate assessment of our contributions, including our strengths, imperfections, and opportunities for growth.” And most impactful is this quote: 

“I’m here to get it right, not to be right.”

Exploration

This is an interesting word for me that has many meanings already. The word brings with it more questions than answers. Where do I want to spend my time this year? How can I explore new ways of working less while still providing quality? What are some ways to grow Peak-Careers in areas in which I want to do more in? (i.e. workshops) How are all my roles in life going to grow (husband, father, grandfather, mentor, friend)?

Exploration could be my continued effort to explore my 2022 word, balance. This past year I worked to balance my life more by looking at work and life. Exploration seems to be less about balance and more about exploring options to keep my brain growing, me learning, and experiencing new experiences.

We have some travel plans this year too and my curiosity about cultures and meeting new people is always strong. Exploring new environments, a new backpacking trip someplace, and the always present book on my shelf, seems to fit me well for now.

———————– 

If you have tried the New Year’s Resolutions and they have not worked well for you,  you may want to try this activity of choosing three words to guide you each year. You can watch some interviews and read some blogs I’ve written on this topic here https://peak-careers.com/?s=three+words 

My strongest piece of advice is to write them down regularly. Not just print them off and post them, but to physically write them down with a writing utensil. There is something kinesthetically magical about that process where it seems to embed the word in my head better when I write it.

Below are my past words. FYI, I feel like they don’t ever leave me, they just are not forefront in my thinking.

2016 – Health ★ Mindfulness ★ Focus

2017 – Intentional ★ Authentic ★ Wellness

2018 – Reach ★ Capacity ★ Consistency

2019 – Reflection ★ Purposeful ★ Gratitude

2020 – Philanthropy ★ Rebalance ★ Strategic

2021 – Be ★ Kindness ★ Understanding

2022 – Community ★ Balance ★ Positivity

If you have chosen three words to guide you for the year, I’d love to hear what they are and what they mean to you.

Watch this interview with three of us talking about our Three Words to Guide Us in 2023


Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move and The Adventure of Finding Me in New Zealand. He is also the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from the National Career Development Association and the Mid-Atlantic Career Counseling Association’s Professional Contribution’s Award in 2020.

Sign up to receive my TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON. You will also receive the career practitioner’s weekly email on a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more. (Sign up)

Filed Under: Career Tagged With: goals, reflection, three words to guide me

Interview – Guiding Words in 2021

January 25, 2021 by Jim Peacock Leave a Comment

Each year I choose three guiding words that I focus on each day. Sending this “out to the universe” and thinking about these words seems to create opportunities that build on each word.

Listen to this interview with four other people who also do this practice of choosing guiding words. Learn what their words are for 2021 and how they choose them.

powerpoint slide 3 words to guide me
WATCH / LISTEN NOW

Read my blog explaining my guiding words and how I choose them this year. (READ NOW)

BIOs of the interviewees

Candina “Dina” Janicki is a Global Career Development Facilitator , Certified Career Services Provider, and a Certified Professional Resume Writer with a specialty in the Military Community. Dina works as a Project Operations Manager and Career Development Manager, aiding transitioning service members through the Microsoft Software and Systems Academy (MSSA). She has been a military spouse for 20+ years and volunteers her time to aid other military spouses and veterans through mentorship and career development assistance. She has also authored the article, “Opportunity Found: Chaos Theory for Military Spouse Employment” which talks about the Advantages of Chaos Theory of Careers for Aiding Military Spouses. (Opportunity Found: Chaos Theory for Military Spouse Employment (ncda.org)) . Connect with Dina on LinkedIn

Renée Beaupré White is passionate about helping individuals explore their interests and develop their skills. With more than 30 years’ experience in career counseling in higher education, Renee is highly skilled at assisting students and adults in career exploration, development, transition, and the job search process.  As the current Director of Career Services at Castleton University, her alma mater, Renee is also a part-time career coach at Proctor Jr. Sr. High School.

Celeste J. Hall, M.Ed, currently works with the Virginia Community College System providing training and support to their state-wide career coaching program for students in high schools and community colleges.  Her education career includes classroom teaching and roles as a school counselor and career counselor in high schools and a technical center. She is currently a Trustee representing School Career Counselors and Specialists for the National Career Development Association. Celeste has been involved in the Virginia Career Development Association, her local counseling association, the Virginia Counselors Association, Virginia School Counseling Association and a member of the American School Counseling Association. She is a FCD and SCDA Instructor and holds both the CCSP and GCDF career credentials.

Rob Hatch is the co-founder and president of Owner Media Group, providing strategies and skills for the modern business. He brings a unique blend of knowledge and background in the field of Human Development with his experience as a successful business leader and executive coach, and his weekly newsletter is read by tens of thousands of individuals all over the world. As a speaker, trainer, and coach, Rob works primarily with business leaders and teams, guiding them through critical transitions in their organization. He’s the best-selling author of “Attention! The power of simple decisions in a distracted world.”


Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move and the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from the National Career Development Association.

Sign up here to receive my  TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON.  You will also receive the career practitioner’s weekly email on a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more. 

Peak Careers - Professional Development for Careers

Filed Under: Interviews Tagged With: #my3words, guiding words, new years resolution, resolutions, three words to guide me

Intention Setting Time for 2020

January 6, 2020 by Jim Peacock 10 Comments

It is my intention setting time where I choose
“3 Words to Guide Me in 2020”.

Intention setting
——–Sunrise picture I took in Hawaii in 2012——-

This intention setting process of choosing 3 words takes a few months of processing and pondering. I spent some time at my last retreat reviewing my journals to see what types of things I was writing about and thinking about. As I listened to the news, podcasts, YouTube videos, TedTalks, read the paper and books, I paid attention to which words or themes were jumping out to me.

It’s interesting that most of my words seem to simmer to the surface rather than jump out at me. The power of simply thinking about things to create an intention setting framework in my day is important. 

Recently, I met with a new business coach for a complimentary session as I am thinking about starting that up again, and she required that I answer some thought-provoking questions before we met. That helped simmer more thoughts.

I am also looking to update my website as I have outgrown mine over the past 10 years and that person also asked many questions about where I want to be in 3-5 years, which also helped me “simmer more thoughts” leading to my intention setting for 2020.

Here are my 3 words for the past four years which helped me set my intentions daily throughout the year.

2016 – Health ★ Mindfulness ★ Focus

2017 – Intentional ★ Authentic ★ Wellness

2018 – Reach ★ Capacity ★ Consistency

2019 – Gratitude ★ Purposeful ★ Reflection

My Three Intention Setting Words for 2020

intention setting 3 words to guide me

Philanthropy

I ended 2019 with giving a young man 3 complimentary sessions which carry over into 2020. I had been thinking about the word “giving” and he came along and needed some help making his next career move. I love the feeling of being able to give back to my community in some way. This is a great start for my word ‘philanthropy’.

Definition: Goodwill to fellow members of the human race. An act or gift done, or made, for humanitarian purposes. Altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement.

When I looked up the definition of philanthropy I found it meant more than giving money. As I look to 2020, I want to give more of my time, energy, and resources this year. If just feels right…which is how I choose my words. It has to “feel right”.

Rebalance

I love what I do and I love to share lots of free career content across a variety of platforms and mediums. One thing I want to do is to identify the areas that are having the biggest impact and keep doing them. For those things I do that have limited impact, I will reduce or remove. I am also trying to rebalance my work week to be closer to a 32 hour week compared to the 40+ I have worked over the past 10 years. I want to consider how and where I spend my time daily.

Strategic

I knew last year my effort and energy (and resources) were going to my book. This year I want to be more strategic with my efforts. Not the least of which is to update my website. It was done 10 years ago and tweaked 3 years ago, but I’ve really outgrown it. This is just one example of me being more strategic. I also want to identify new markets to make a presence in, like New Brunswick and Ottawa, National College Transition Network (which I attended in November), and more. 

Have you chosen 3 words to guide you?

Have you created goals for 2020?

If so, please share them here.

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly career news email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching. He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move

Sign up here to receive my  TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON.  You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more. 

Peak Careers - Professional Development for Careers

Filed Under: Career Tagged With: 3 words to guide me, intention setting, three words to guide me

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