Picking the Perfect Personal Project
[by Colleen Wainwright]
As a lifelong sufferer of Shiny Object Syndrome, I’ve generally chosen my non-work pursuits based on whatever glittery thing grabbed me.
While it’s fun yielding to serendipity now and then, bigger projects requiring lots of my precious time/energy/attention tend to work out best when they’re rooted in some deeper longing and aligned with my core values: in other words, when they’re operating from the “important, not urgent” quadrant of Stephen Covey’s famous time-management grid.
The best tool I’ve found for choosing deeply fulfilling outside projects is the Best Year Yet system designed by Jinny S. Ditzler. Through a series of exercises outlined in her book, you uncover your core drivers, skill sets, and areas of focus. Then you create a map of where you’re at and what you should work on on moving forward–both to further your goals and satisfy yourself creatively (because, hey, it ain’t no fun if it ain’t no fun).
Over the past five years of using her system, I’ve done things like read a book a week, create a weekly podcast on marketing, and, most recently, raise $50,000 for a favorite cause via a crowdfunded social media campaign.
Ditzler and her husband designed the program to replace the traditional new year’s resolutions tradition, but you can start your own Best Year Yet anytime; I’m on a Q2-Q2 schedule, myself. My one quibble with this excellent program? It takes far, far more time to work through the questions than the three hours she suggests. Replace “hours” with “days”–and spread the time out over a few weeks–and you’ll be good to go.
Colleen Wainwright is currently plotting personal projects involving calligraphy, recipe deconstruction, and kazoos, in between stops of her multi-chapter tour on marketing for ASMP.
