What if you were an over-the-moon success in your career, but the rest of your life was miserable? What if you were at the top of your field, but your personal relationships were in tatters? What if you achieved everything you set out to do in your career, but your health was on the skids?
How successful would you feel?
Your life is an interconnected system
We live in a culture where career takes precedence and life is something we shove in around the edges if there's room. The trouble with that is that life doesn't work that way. Your work and the other components of your life are all interconnected.
To counter the culturally-ingrained tendency to give work a disproportionately large piece of our focus, stop breaking your life into isolated, disconnected silos. Think of it as a system.
When you see life as a system, you see that you can't realistically focus on one thing without taking into account the other aspects of that system. You can't say, "I'll do whatever it takes to succeed," and not ask, "Do the 12-hour days I'm putting in align with my goal of having a rich, fulfilling relationship at home?"
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those 12-hour days, but unless you consciously make the decision in light of how it affects the rest of your life, you're in dangerous territory.
360-degree ROI
One way to increase your whole-system awareness is looking at what I call your 360-degree Return on Investment (ROI). Most of us think of ROI - if we think of it at all - in terms of the money we get in return for the work we do. And maybe the power and prestige. But the investment we make there (time spent working, education, etc.) doesn't happen in a vacuum.
When you look at your 360-degree ROI, you ask, "How does what's happening here affect the whole picture?" How are these 12-hour days affecting my relationships? How are they affecting my health? How are they affecting the joy I get out of life?
It's not just about work, either. You can look at any decision in terms of its effect on the whole. How does my decision to eat fast-food for lunch every day affect my energy levels? And how does that affect my work? My relationships? My ability to fully engage in the hobbies that add a savory richness to life?
More than money
Typically when we think ROI, we think of money. While that's definitely a valid and important piece of the puzzle, life would be pretty grim if that's all we got. When you're looking at your 360-degree ROI, consider what else you would like in your life. For example:
- Love
- Health
- Rich interpersonal connections
- Energy
- Fun
- A sense of meaning
- Spiritual connection/experience
This is far from an exhaustive list of other kinds of return you might gain from your investment of time, effort, and attention in various aspects of your life. It's simply an off-the-top-of-my-head list of examples.
System scan
"OK," you might be thinking, "nice idea, but it sounds waaaaay too complex." Here's a simple way to think about it. Instead of a deep system check, practice doing a quick scan regularly. Take a look at each of the following areas and ask, "How is what I'm doing affecting the other areas?"
- Work
- Relationships
- Health
- Finances
- Hobbies & Fun
- Contribution / Making a difference
- Spirituality
As you look at how each area impacts each of the others, assign it one of three options: positive, negative, or neutral.
You can do a quick mental scan of this, but if you want something more concrete to work through,trying making a spreadsheet with each of those areas along the top and along the side.
Create a habit
One nice thing about this approach is that, repeated often enough, it becomes a habitual check-in with yourself. "OK, what's going on in the full picture?" When you regularly pay attention, you don't have to wait for things to become critical before taking action on them.
--
Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams
--
by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
Comments