Three Words.

Chris Brogan wrote a New Year non- resolutions post that I loved. Instead of resolutions, pick 3 words and spend the year honing those 3 words. Simple, right? Probably not, but I won't know until 2012 becomes 2013. Here are my three words for 2012.

source: Kids Math Games Online

Time.

Like natural resources and drinkable water, time is in limited supply. There are only 24 hours a day and 365 (366 during a leap year) days a year. In 2012 I want to invest time in working on making better use of my time. T. Boone Pickens is quoted "Work eight hours, sleep eight hours. Make sure they're not the same eight hours." I don't feel the need to squeeze the juice and grate the rind of every day. I want to plan and execute work and relaxation and keep both in their proper column.

Choice.

I do many things each day. Almost everything I do (spending time, eating, reacting to others) is by choice. I regularly fool myself by saying "I have to..." but in fact, unless it is a matter of life and death "I choose to...". Some of these choices my involve not wasting food or avoiding arguments, but these actions are still choices. Having a better year means making better choices.

Google+.

After reading "What Would Google Do?" on the advice of Gini Dietrich (well a blog post by Gini actually, but it sounds much better if I intimate she was addressing me personally), I switched my browser to Chrome (until Microsoft decided it was foreign matter and locked me out. I haven't had time, energy or anger management skills to restore my beloved Chrome). When it came to time to select a smartphone, I went Android. So when Google introduced their powerful new social network, I invested time and energy to become proficient in Google+. Not exactly. Pretty much not at all. I learned Twitter and how to blog. I've improved on LinkedIn and Facebook. If I'm going to continue building the brand of me, I must slay Google+ in 2012.

How about you? How do you feel about words and/or resolutions? What are you going to do to make 2012 the kick-ass year you want it to be? Hey, whet my appetite and I'll invite you to guest post.

How I Scored A Triberr Invite.

Increase Your Reach.

I first heard about Triberr in April via a post from Gini Dietrich. You could say that Gini's shtick makes for clicks that stick. Or not. The fact is when Gini says investigate, I click. I saw all this stuff about Tribes and Invites and Chiefs and Bones and Bonfires and again realized why I wouldn't join a fraternity. Frankly, it was more than I wanted to assimilate at the time so I went on to something else.

Triberr, Again?

Within the last 10 days the name Triberr appeared on my radar again. I clicked and the whole "reach multiplier, invite required" showed up. I went onto the blog (Bonfires) and looked for some back door way to get an invite. No such luck. I read a post about getting an invite and set a standing search on Seesmic for #Triberr. That's right, I was going to cyberstalk.

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

The first thing I noticed on the #Triberr search was the large amount of people pissing and moaning about how Triberr is spam. That's right, complaining about the application on the hashtag for devotees of said application. Great, I thought, another future blog topic for free.

Desperately Seeking Triberr Invite.

Within a day I saw tribal chieftains scouring the hashtag for potential members.

• "Seeking German Opera Blogger"-no, not me.
• "Looking for left handed auto mechanics with a passion for writing"-still not me.
• "Do you hate social media, especially blogging? Come join my tribe." -ironic, but not for me.
• From @erinswallace: "Have a tribe Passionate Parents, looking for bloggers, tweet me". - well not really my portfolio, there's always tomorrow.

Be Patient, Collect Reward.

The next day I saw a Chief looking to fill a writing tribe. Again, not really me but I asked via tweet "How tightly are you defining writing?" Well, @erinswallace responded to my tweet and asked if I was interested in joining her tribe of Passionate Parents. I'm as passionate a parent as there is with a deep seated hatred and total mistrust for my kids (These are qualities of being a good parent, trust me). @erinswallace and I exchanged a few tweets about fit with both of us asking questions. I received an official invite code, joined the Passionate Parents tribes Saturday night and had my first parenting post up well before kickoff on Sunday.

My Plan Can Work For You.

That's it. A little time, some honesty and I got my Triberr invite in under a week. It didn't hurt that I am new to Triberr and my blog doesn't look like a NASCAR race car. If you're looking for an opportunity to join Triberr, I just gave you a 3 day roadmap. If you're not looking to join Triberr, why are you still reading?

ROL: Don't Drown, Drink It Up.

ROL (Return on Life) is a qualitative counterpart of the quantitative marketing analytic, ROI. ROI greatly increases when a little input generates a significantly greater output. Likewise, ROL increases when small life changes produce a greater quality of life. This week's ROL is...well, read on.

I can't believe it's already Thursday afternoon and I'm not set to go with an ROL topic. I have two posts nearly done but can't get what I need in time to make my self-imposed Thursday deadline. I've posted just once since last Thursday. What's going on?

As a starter, the Trust30 prompt for Tuesday was a great idea to help promote my website, "Crowdsourcing A Good Life". Unfortunately, I've been blocked and hadn't posted a new question to the site in over a month. Luckily, Gini Dietrich posted about Spotify. Gini's post planted the seed that lifted the block. The site was updated along with the corresponding Facebook page. A large portion of my social media time allotment was tied up with the site and FB updates but there was more going on, as well.

This past Sunday, my wife rejoined the workforce after a 12 year absence.  Given current conditions and a gigantic hole in my wife's resume (Hole? Spending 12 years concentrating on a household. Birthing and raising two kids, 1 of which is special needs lite and the other which is special needs lighter. This is a hole?), we're thrilled she landed as a 2nd shift CSR at a call center. My wife's new schedule required me to become a primary with the kids. I'm responsible for lunch and dinner and clean up and putting leftovers in a container for wifey's next day dinner. A large portion of computer allocation disappeared with the 1st week of the new schedule. I expect to reclaim this time, but change is turbulent.

My point? I consider building my brand and sharpening my skills in the e-community as part of my day to day responsibilities. When cooking for my kids took my time and energy I could have become angry; the new schedule was stealing my time. A wave of frustration and self pity could have washed over me and gotten the rest of my household wet, too. Instead I relished in literally feeding my family. I chose to enjoy the after dinner time alone with the kids (very challenging during the kids non-medicated hours). Sure, I'm not pleased to have blown a week without promoting me, but frankly that was "money in the pot" anyway. I didn't lose a week of family time along with the unwritten blog posts.

No matter how much we resist, change happens all the time without permission. Those changes will take that which we all hold dear. If we persist in ongoing anger about those already happened changes we lose the joy that new circumstance can bring. Occasionally, changes can be life altering and not in a good way. Too often, meaningless crap consumes us and robs us of the ability to adapt and turn those challenges positive.  

It's a waste to get lost in what has slipped away. 

Find all the good that awaits the next day.

A Little Help From My Friends.

When you take another person's work as your own it is plagiarism. When you do the very same thing but give credit, it is research. Using these parameters I have been engaged in research this morning to pull together this post.

As I opened my email this morning I found a great post from Sarah Robinson. The essence from this post, "Five Percent Better" is that standing out does not take a Herculean effort. It is not necessary to give yourself a complete "no prisoners taken, balls to the walls" makeover. Just choose one thing and do it 5% better. Make a commitment to doing that one thing 5% better consistently. Attempting a full makeover is overwhelming and keeps us stuck in place. Doing one thing 5% better can start today and pay dividends tomorrow and every day after that. That incremental change executed daily actually moves you forward at a very rapid pace.

A few minutes later, another post appeared in my Facebook stream. This post, "Competing for Who Is Most Stressed" is from Gini Dietrich. Simply restated, Gini talks about the stress at her PR firm, Arment Dietrich with the launch of Spin Sucks Pro. Early in the week, Gini feels she is a supportive listener to her staff. As the week goes on (and her patience and energy lag) she spends more time fueling the fire with her share of  "You think that's bad? This is what I have to deal with". As a result, neither Gini nor her team are feeling or dealing any better. Until today, as Gini vows to stop adding her tales of woe.

Wow, Gini found her 5%. Listen, empathize, commiserate and stop there. It's good advice for everyone, not just business owners. When a friend, colleague, employee shares a story of challenge, frustration or sadness; they want you to listen. They want to know they're not alone. They are not looking to hear about the crap you are dealing with. Listen, lend support and stop there. If you need the very same thing, go to your support system. Don't make someone feel a need to reciprocate when they come to you for support; neither of you will get what you need.

Think about it. How much better a friend, colleague, employee, consultant you will be simply by listening. It's a small step, maybe less than  5%, but it does require discipline and consistency.  Find a way to do it and you will be leaps and bounds ahead of the crowd.