Every year Chris Brogan chooses three words for the year ahead instead of setting resolutions. A few years ago he asked others what their words were and I liked it so much that every year I set them. Here are my three words from 2010.

As I chose mine for 2011, I couldn't remember what I had chosen the year before and I was happy to find out that I had in fact picked different words. My three words for 2011 are Create, Inspire & Teach.

As a consultant, entrepreneur and author I see the year ahead full of opportunity. It isn't going to be easy and it isn't always going to be pretty, but I'm optimistic that we are headed in the right direction. So what do these three words mean to me and how am I going drive them throughout 2011?

Create

You know I love content and will never stop creating my whole life. I always wanted to be an artist when I was growing up and being creative is in my blood.

But, this word stretches beyond just this in 2011 for me. I want to help create companies, revenue streams and more with my hands (beer is at the top of that list). I've been having discussions with lots of people about tons of possibilities and at the end of the year I want to be able to look back and say "I helped create that" for several things.

Inspire

Listeners of Managing the Gray know that I shifted the focus of the show a while a go so that it was much more focused on self improvement. That is certainly going to continue (and even be ramped up some more), but I want to take it beyond the podcast.

I'm on stage quite a bit and want to take each of those opportunities to challenge the audience more than I have been. I also want my writing to be more often, since people are connecting with it and I get a huge satisfaction out of hearing something I create inspires someone.

I also want to do more mentoring. Through my work with non-profits like Wediko and Know My World I've got a unique opportunity to inspire the next generation and I don't want to miss that opportunity.

Teach

I've got years of experience under my belt and in my head and I should be taking that and teaching it to others. I've always had a knack for being able to take a topic and boil it down to the most basic of explanations. This allows me to work with everyone from the grunts making things happen all the way up to the executives making the big decisions.

I want to take my knowledge and teach it to others. Sure, I share a lot here and when I speak, but I want to do more actual teaching of the skills to build on top of inspiring others. I believe there are opportunities to work with agencies, their clients and brands of all shapes and sizes.

If you can't tell, my three words also build on each other. If I do it right, I'll create something which will inspire others and then I can teach them how to do it.

I've got a lot of work ahead of me in 2011. What are your three words?