The Secret to Living Our Lives Fully
For many of us a “well-lived life”, rather than a “great career”, becomes an important objective somewhere mid-way through our careers.
Why do we feel this way? And how do we attain this “well-lived life” where encapsulated as a core & important part of its meaning, is a “great career”? Simply said, somewhere mid-way in our careers, especially if we’ve had highly successful careers, is the belief that “surely life must be much more than work”?
It is usually at this eureka moment that a person will think about “living it” and “giving back”. In short, one begins to think beyond Earning, extending into Living & Giving.
In my work with leaders based on Rested Edge Advisory’s mission of “helping leaders create better futures” --- be it for themselves, their teams, their organizations or their communities --- I have come to the realization that if a leader does a certain set of 5 activities well and all at once, they are more likely to achieve their goal of a “well-lived life” and to have tremendous success & pleasure in getting there. In short, the destination becomes far more reachable, and the journey much more enjoyable.
What are these 5 activities which a leader should practice, at the same time, all the time? They are: (i) Learning, (ii) Earning, (iii) Living, (iv) Giving, and (v) Leading. In my life --- both personal & professional --- I do these 5 activities conjunctively too.
“Leading & Learning are indispensable.” JFK once said. Too many times, I see leaders who are either leading, or they are learning, but very rarely both. To be a great leader one must do both, and Learning should never end when formal Education is completed with the attainment of that diploma and/or degree.
Life is short, sometimes sadly too short. At the tail end of last year, a client & friend of mine passed on within a few short months of falling badly ill, in his early thirties. Life is precious. Time is precious. Many leaders have often heard me mention that Time, I feel, is the greatest & most important asset we each have. How we spend & invest our Time more often than not determines our success, or predicts our failure.
To have a “well-lived life”, it’s not just about Earning, it’s also about achieving a purpose, making a contribution and having an impact. “The difference between a great life and an exceptional life is the difference one makes to society.” --- I sincerely believed this and therefore crafted this tagline when Rested Edge Advisory was created 4 years ago.
Because Leadership improves with Learning, a leader must constantly Lead & Learn, Learn & Lead, and so on. Because a “well-lived life” is so much more than work, a Leader must not only Earn, s/he must also Live & Give.
Finally let us not fall prey to the mistake of living our lives with “unconnected buckets” --- the operative word here is “unconnected” --- a bucket of Learning from when we are born till, let’s say, our early to mid-twenties when formal schooling ends, a bucket of Earning thereafter till our mid to late sixties running a bit like a rat in a wheel chasing primarily material security & wealth, with a bucket of Living & Giving only to be considered and acted on upon formal retirement, when we believe we’ll have much more time to smell the roses.
As Leaders we can do more than that, so much more. Perhaps it’s time to change our mind- & behavior-sets?
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
Rather than keeping Learning, Earning, Living, Giving & Leading as unconnected, separate buckets of our Life & Time, we must connect these buckets and do all 5 activities all at once, every day of our lives. When we are able to do so, and Excellence in these 5 activities comes naturally to us and becomes a habit, we will truly be one giant step closer to a “well-lived life”, one where the journey counts as much as the destination.
