This is TheSchoolHouse302’s monthly #review&reflect, wrapping up our focus on Fulfillment–Satisfaction Beyond the Surface. Our review and reflect offers readers the opportunity to take a deep dive into our leadership content by taking time to reflect and identify the skills you need, to explore how you can learn those skills, and to connect with industry leaders to follow to gain greater expertise.
Skills I need…
Everyone definitely has moments of satisfaction and happiness, but what does it mean to be truly fulfilled, to live a life that feels complete regardless of circumstance? The tough question is, do you know what fulfillment is in your own life?
Review: Our lives are really a series of moments with some far more meaningful than others. Some cultures embrace significant moments as rites of passage that delineate key times in one’s life to indicate true significance for that moment and the future. This month we introduced you to Solon, our dear friend, who discovered how to thread all of life’s moments, the significant and the meaningless, into experiences that fulfill his greatest desire in life, which is to live a value-driven existence.
We introduced our readers to the core aspects of fulfillment–value-driven days, value-driven hobbies, and value-driven relationships. All three of these areas require you to take time to identify what truly matters to you, the things that offer significance in your life. By living each day within your values, you set yourself up for success.
Solon discovered his deepest desires while working at the pinnacle of his career. As he achieved one of his greatest life’s pursuits, he realized that there was more to life than his busy career. However, he didn’t abandon his work or look back with regret. He simply decided that the same work ethic, desire, and skills that catapulted him to the top of his firm could serve him in any of life’s endeavors. His gift to us is a model for a sure-fire way to live a life of fulfillment.
Reflect: The beauty of this model is that it captures action-oriented aspects of our lives, and it hones in on our daily existence by requiring us to take time to identify the elements in our life that create a true sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. The key to living value-driven days is in making sure that our daily actions and activities are aligned to our core values. The second feature is at times overlooked because we all have ways of occupying our time. But, purposeful hobbies offer us a way to give back to our communities and relax our minds. The key with a value-driven hobby is that it creates an even deeper passion and purpose in life. The third thing you must do is to develop deep relationships with a few people who you truly trust and can be yourself around. Value-driven relationships require us to develop close and meaningful relationships as a critical aspect of life. Studies reveal that the impact of these three areas is clear on our health and fulfillment, allowing us to live longer and more substantial lives.
Living each day purposefully by staying true to your values is critical to gaining the levels of fulfillment we seek and desire in our daily interactions with one another and ourselves.
Take time to reflect on your daily life to see how aligned your daily actions are to your values.
How do I learn those skills…
What should I read to create stronger fulfillment in life?
Review: In our #readthisseries we featured the work of authors who clearly articulate the power of fulfillment through practical strategies and tools that anyone can adopt:
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Alive at work: The neuroscience of helping your people love what they do by Dan Cable
H3 leadership: Be humble, stay hungry, always hustle by Brad Lomenick
You can’t miss our #readthisseries on Increased Fulfillment In Life and Work.
Reflect: Are your days aligned to your values? Do you feel like your work and personal endeavors offer you fulfillment? What changes would you need to make to be more aligned?
Effective and productive leaders recognize the power of value-driven days, ensuring that those who they lead have the opportunity to align their work with their own values and the values of the organization. How well do you create a value-based culture in your organization? Based on the 3-part assessment, and using a 5-point scale, 1 being ineffective and 5 being highly effective, rate yourself:
Based on the questions above, which aspect of the fulfillment model do you need to develop further?
Who should I follow…
What does an expert have to say about fulfillment, humility, and staying hungry in life and work?
Review: For our #onethingseries, we interviewed Brad Lomenick. Brad is the author of The Catalyst Leader and his latest book H3 Leadership is available at bookstores around the world. Brad has had the privilege of leading and directing a movement of young leaders called Catalyst for the last 12 years. This role empowers him to equip, inspire, and release the next generation of young Christian leaders, and do this through events, resources, consulting, content, and connecting a community of like-minded Catalysts all over the world.
He recently moved into a strategic advisor role with Catalyst, along with other organizations. He is a leadership consultant, speaker, and founder of the strategic advising company called BLINC.
Reflect: Throughout the interview, Brad emphasized the need for us to be humble, stay hungry, and always hustle. He emphasized that each work together as a three-legged stool and how you can’t sit well when one of the legs is much longer than the others. He talks about self-awareness, servant leadership, and satisfaction.
Listen to the entire podcast on iTunes, One Thing Series, and please rate and like (it helps).
Does your daily work align to your values? Why or why not? What could you change right now that would make a strategic difference in your ability to be more fulfilled?
That’s our #review&reflect for Fulfillment–Satisfaction Beyond the Surface. Take a look back to take a step forward.
TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple and maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.
Please let us know how our leadership posts are working for you, what you are reading to improve yourself, and your thoughts on leadership and growth here on our blog and Twitter. Follow our #onethingseries podcast on iTunes and our #readthisseries on YouTube.
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