A super quick clarity shortcut: Choose 3 words

Pooja Venkatraman

Aug 10, 2024

I know you, high achiever.

When you decide to do something, you get it DONE.

When you lock in on what you want to do, it’s like a self-guided missile locking in on a target 🚀

Once the destination is set, nothing can stop the rocket ship.

But sometimes… You have trouble locking in.

Sometimes, it feels like that sense of clarity and conviction has totally deserted you.

And you find yourself waffling, going back and forth between your options, and never really committing to anything.

Or you find yourself getting yanked around by compare & despair. Every person you encounter seems to scramble your internal compass.

Or you look at the list of ALL the things you could do, you can’t find any basis for filtering it, and you just feel overwhelmed, overloaded, and off track.

So you think to yourself “I should clarify my priorities”…

But even THAT feels like a big, hairy project.

What ARE your priorities?

What ARE you trying to get done in the world?

Who ARE you trying to be?

And how the heck do you balance everything?

Suddenly, the whole thing seems like a massive, complex analysis.

You feel like you need to book a weeklong getaway just to get it all straightened out in your head.

But who has time for that??

So let me give you a clarity shortcut.

A simple thought exercise that you can use to cut through the noise and come back to yourself.

Choose 3 words.

Choose 3 words to describe what you want out of this era or this area of your life.

Just give it a try and see what your brain comes up with.

This idea is inspired by stylist Allison Bornstein, creator of the 3 Word Method for your personal style.

I’ve always found personal style to be pretty intimidating.

I have a vague sense that I should dress better and I should be more up on current trends.

But there are SO many options out there, and clothes shopping triggers just enough of my body image insecurities, that I quickly get overwhelmed and just keep wearing what I usually wear.

Because who has time to take on a massive “define my personal style project”?? Not me!

But the 3 Word Method cut through the noise.

It helped me go top-down rather than bottoms-up (no pun intended).

I looked at one piece of clothing I really liked, asked myself why I liked it, and I got my 3 words in a few minutes.

And suddenly, I had a clear and simple filter that I could use to do all my shopping and curate my closet.

And more importantly, it unlocked a sense of confidence and clarity in myself.

I know who I am.

I know what I like.

I know what I’m doing.

So I’ve been trying the method in other areas of my life too :)

Here are my 3 words for my personal style:

Easy / Acceptable / Distinctive

I want everything I wear to be…

Easy: It has to be easy to wear and effortlessly flattering. I want to put it on and not think about it again.
Acceptable: It has to be appropriate for the occasion I’m at and the current fashion trends. I’m not trying to be fashion-forward. I just want to check the box. (Not a very high bar, I know, but it’s what I feel in my heart 😂)
Distinctive: I love it when my clothing has ONE distinctive feature that people comment on, like a cool print or an interesting shape or a striking color.

Armed with those 3 words, I can make any style decisions I want and always feel good about them.

Here are my 3 words for my business decisions:

Win / Win / Win

Everything I do has to be…

A win for the people I serve: It has to help my people and never be scammy or gross or put my interests above theirs.
A win for me: It has to be fun for me to do, play into my strengths, and put me in my zone of genius.
A win for my business: It has to make business sense, fit with my overall growth strategy, and be an efficient use of resources.

There are a bajillion things I could possibly do to grow and maintain my business.

But once you apply the filter of those 3 words…that list gets a lot smaller and easier to choose from :)

Here are my 3 words for my dating life:

Better than single.

Okay, this one is kind of cheating because it’s really just one idea, not 3.

But it’s very, very simple.

I’ve thrown away my lists of criteria and detailed filters and analysis of every little interaction.

And I just ask myself one simple question about the people I meet:
Is being with this person better than being single?

Turns out, that question tells you everything you need to know :)

Now listen, choosing your 3 words isn’t a perfect cure-all for everything.

But if you’ve been waffling and comparing and feeling confused…

And you miss the clarity, energy, and focus of being fully locked in on something…

Give this a try.

Ask yourself: What would my 3 words be?

And then hit reply and tell me what they are.

Or even better, come talk to me and tell me in person :)

And then let’s make the plan to turn those 3 words from strategy into reality 🚀

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What my clients have to say…

“I'm a better leader and a better coach because I'm borrowing from some of the stuff that we worked on.

For example, I’m constantly pushing myself to be more of a leader and less of an individual contributor.

And I was able to borrow some of the tips, tricks, and ideas we worked on for myself and use them to coach a member of my team to also step out of the individual contributor role and into more of a leader role.

I thought that was really cool.”

—Client | Head of Business Intelligence, Biopharma Company

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