Write something...what? Just something...

I got an email from Dan Pink today... I'm a bit of a fan and like the fact that his emails are erratically occasional. Actually my inbox is in love with anyone like this.

Towards the end, he put forward 3 alternatives to New Year resolutions (Life hacks) that he'd gleaned from others...

1. Start the new year with an empty jar and every time something good happens, write it on a piece of paper and pop it into the jar. Should make for some interesting reading at the end of the year! IDoneThis
2. "Come hell or high water, write 20 minutes a day in January" CopyBlogger
3. Video one second of your life every single day 1SED

Anyway, point 2 made me put fingers to the keyboard...and reminded me of Atul Gawande's "Five Rules" and I reckon they are also worth considering as a new year begins.

1. Ask an unscripted question. Get interested, really interested in the person you are speaking with and learn something from them that you didn't already know. For those of us with two mouths and one ear, this may be the only thing to focus on in 2014
2. Don't whine. Yep, we might love to do it, and we also dislike having to listen to someone else doing it. Spit it out, and move on. Don't ruminate and depress yourself and all those around you
3. Count something. We might have to think carefully about this as I am not sure he meant CircleCount, +1s, mentions, likes, connections, followers etc.But then, as he said, "If you count something interesting to you, I tell you: you will find something interesting."
4. Write something. (The connection with Dan Pink's 3 alternatives)  "It makes no difference whether you write a paper for a medical journal, five paragraphs for a website, or a collection of poetry. Try to put your name in print at least once a year. What you write does not need to achieve perfection. It only needs to add some small observation about our world. 
5. Change. Gawande says this is his final rule for a good life in medicine. I think we all know it is a final rule for all of us...it is one of life's great certainties. All things change. He recommends becoming an early adopter and looking for opportunities for change

Gawande's final words are:

"Don’t let yourself be. Find something new to try, something to change. Count how often it succeeds and how often it doesn’t. Write about it. Ask...a colleague what they think about it. See if you can keep the conversation going."

So, coming back to Dan's list... aiming to write for 20 minutes really shouldn't be so hard, and if I can't manage that, something good can be recorded and popped into the jar - at some point I'll be able to count them and also "count" what's on them and I am sure I'll find something interesting! And there is a whole world of family, friends and people to be met who have so many interesting things to share - just got to ask the question and listen!