This time of year I usually pick three words to guide me for the ensuing 12 months. In 2015, however, I’m sticking with just the one word…it’s ART.
Not ‘art’ as in Picasso (although it would be awesome to create like he did) – but ART as in how Seth Godin sees it i.e. (a) “Art isn’t only a painting. Art is anything that’s creative, passionate, and personal. And great art resonates with the viewer, not only with the creator.” (b) “Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another.”
I’ve spent so long in the consulting game, to be honest it’s what I default to.
And I enjoy it. I enjoy advising companies and organisations on how to:
- improve (and generate impact from) their social media and content marketing efforts;
- add value through the original content they produce;
- become more connected with the industry or community in which they operate.
In recent years, I’ve also spent a fair bit of time mentoring too. I really enjoy helping individuals and in-house marketing communications teams to not only plan their social media and content marketing activity but also implement it as well, with passion, purpose and strategic intent. This side of what I do obviously brings out the teacher in me 🙂
So I’ll continue to consult and mentor this year. These are things I want to continue doing in 2015.
But I also want to create more art.
In 2007 I started writing this blog. This is art. It will continue.
In 2013 I released my first book through the global publishing house, Wiley. Producing a book is art. By and large I enjoyed the process, and I want to go through it again.
But whether I shoot for a fully-blown traditionally published book or take my chances in the self-publishing arena remains to be seen, but at this point I’m thinking self-publishing via Amazon Kindle a series of smaller more focused books versus the production of one major physical release.
I’m also working on an online personal branding course. This is going to take some effort, but I’m really pumped to ‘ship it’, as Seth Godin would say. Thus, it makes my ‘art list’ (gosh, this is going to come back to haunt me, isn’t it?).
The books and e-course are, of course, art in their own right.
And if the signature educational event I’m super-keen to stage actually gets off the ground, well that’s ART too. Ditto creating signature keynote presentations for conferences and business events, plus the series of educational workshops I run (I’m looking to do more of these in 2015 too). I might as well lump in Reputation Revolution, the podcast I started last year!
So all in all it looks like I’m going to be busy in 2015 with my consulting and mentoring, plus my art (books, online courses, public speaking, workshops, blog and podcast and, fingers crossed, a signature event of sorts).
How is your year shaping up? What’s your word for 2015?
Leave a Reply